[uportal-dev] Questions regarding uPortal portlet moveability and precedence

[Eric Dalquist]

1. If a portlet is marked as immovable it cannot be moved directly and 
no movable portlets with a precedence lower than the immovable portlet 
can be moved above it in the column.
1.a The second (immovable) portlet would move up, filling the space left 
by the first (movable) portlet.

2. Precedence is only useful when deciding if a movable portlet can be 
moved above an immovable portlet. If both portlets are marked movable 
precedence doesn't matter.

3. In the current UI the only thing the user sees are arrows indicating 
which directions each portlet can be moved. The details of 
immovable/precedence is hidden other than just showing the only current 
valid movements. Keep in mind that the current UI only allows the user 
to move a single portlet a single space in one of the four directions 
(up, down, left, right) per click.

4. I'm not sure, I would have to dig into code to figure that out.

5. I'm not sure, I would have to dig into code to figure that out.

6. The portlet is immovable with reference to its immediate container. 
If it's container is movable the entire column could move moved left/right.

7. Same as 6. even though the portlet can't be removed from the column 
the column can still be removed from the tab.


And the grand summary of all of this is the reorderer shouldn't care 
about any of it. The goal with the JSON objects is to hide 100% of this 
logic and just describe the general structure of the objects the 
reorderer will be working with and where each object can be moved to.

-Eric

Anastasia Cheetham wrote:
>
> The Fluid team is working towards implementing the Fluid Reorderer in 
> uPortal for rearranging portlets. Our discussions have raised some 
> questions about the meaning and effect of precedence and restrictions 
> on movement. We have our own guesses as to the answers to some of 
> these questions, but we'd like some expert verification :-)
>
> These questions arise out of a plan to encode the current portlet 
> layout, and the potential drop targets for moving portlets, in a pair 
> of JSON objects. This plan is roughly described on the Fluid project 
> wiki, at
>
>     http://wiki.fluidproject.org/x/FAka
>
> Our understanding is that there are (at least) three pieces of 
> information associated with a portlet that are relevant to moving 
> portlets:
>     a) a boolean flag indicating whether or not a portlet is moveable 
> at all
>     b) a precedence - an integer ranging from 1 to 100, 100 being 
> highest precedence
>     c) a boolean flag indicating whether or not a portlet can be removed
>
> Given this...
>
>
> Question 1: What, exactly, does it mean that a portlet cannot be moved 
> (point (a) above)?
>
> Considering a mouse-based drag-and-drop scenario for simplicity of 
> discussion, I understand that it means I cannot click on a 
> non-moveable portlet and drag it to a new location.
>
> However: Suppose, for example, the non-moveable portlet is currently 
> the second portlet down its column (the first portlet being moveable). 
> Does it also mean I cannot place another portlet into the same column 
> anywhere above the non-moveable portlet, because if I did that would 
> effectively 'move' the non-moveable portlet to become the third item 
> in its column?
>
> Another question regarding non-moveable portlets:
>
> Suppose the first portlet at the top of a column is moveable, but the 
> second portlet below it is not. If I move the top portlet to another 
> column, does the second portlet, which is not moveable, move up to 
> become the first portlet, or does it remain where it was, leaving a 
> gap above it?
>
>
> Question 2: How, exactly, does precedence affect moveability?
>
> Consider the following example scenario:
>   - Portlet P1, the top portlet in column 1, has precedence 70
>   - Portlet P2, the top portlet in column 2, has precedence 50
>
> My understanding is that P2 cannot be placed above P1 in column 1, 
> since the precedence of P2 is lower than that of P1.
>
> Can P1 be placed below P2 in column 2? That would result in P2 being 
> 'above' the higher-precedence P1 - is that allowed, or prohibited?
>
>
> Question 3: Will the user who is moving portlets about know anything 
> about the current moveability and precedence settings of the portlets? 
> If so, how -- for example are they coloured differently?
>
> Question 4: What is the default precedence of a portlet, if none is 
> specified?
>
> Question 5: Can columns have a precedence?
>
> Question 6: What is the implication of having a non-moveable portlet 
> inside a moveable column?
>
> Question 7: What is the implication of having a non-removeable portlet 
> inside a removeable column?
>
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