[josm-dev] Commit message not empty

Frederik Ramm frederik at remote.org
Wed Apr 22 22:20:28 BST 2009


Hi,

Ulf Lamping wrote:
> My fear is that especially newbies are prevented from uploading stuff: 
> "what do I have to add here?!?" - please remember: not everyone has 
> several years of subversion or wikipedia experience.

We'll add a help button to explain.

> But, what puzzles me most (if I understand it correct) is that only JOSM 
> has this policy. 

The problem is that Potlatch has to open the changeset before the user 
has done anything. And while I am a great fan of commit comments, 
requesting that the user describe what he is about to do, before he has 
even done it, would be going to far in my eyes! So there is no way to 
really enforce the policy with an online editor.

> All in all, I'm against forcing users to add comments this way. The idea 
> to ask on an empty comment something like: "It would be nice to add a 
> comment, so other users can easier understand what you've changed" would 
> be a good idea IMHO.

If complaints persist, I might be talked into doing

"Are you sure you want to annoy everyone by leaving the commit comment 
empty? [Yes/No]"

and if you say "Yes" then we display

"You have decided to leave the commit comment empty. Do you perhaps want
to change your mind for the better and enter a comment? [Yes/No]"

and only if you say "No" in this dialog then you get to the upload.

Oh, and there will be no "Yes" and "No" buttons. You will have to type 
the word.

Bye
Frederik

-- 
Frederik Ramm  ##  eMail frederik at remote.org  ##  N49°00'09" E008°23'33"




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