[tahoe-lafs-trac-stream] [tahoe-lafs] #1973: wui: "since" and "announced" columns are confusing

[tahoe-lafs]

#1973: wui: "since" and "announced" columns are confusing
----------------------------------+----------------------------------------
     Reporter:  leif              |      Owner:
         Type:  defect            |     Status:  new
     Priority:  normal            |  Milestone:  soon
    Component:  code-frontend-    |    Version:  1.10.0
  web                             |   Keywords:  usability wui welcome time
   Resolution:                    |
Launchpad Bug:                    |
----------------------------------+----------------------------------------
Changes (by daira):

 * keywords:   => usability wui welcome time
 * owner:  davidsarah =>
 * component:  unknown => code-frontend-web
 * milestone:  undecided => soon


Old description:

> The list of storage servers in the gateway's web ui includes two columns
> containing timestamps, labeled "since" and "announced".
>
> I expected that "announced" would be the most recent time that introducer
> received an announcement from the storage server, and "since" would be
> the time that the gateway's current connection to the storage server was
> opened (or, in the case of a disconnected server, the time that the
> connection was lost).
>
> Instead, it appears that "announced" is actually the time that the
> gateway first received the announcement from the introducer (which is the
> time that the running instance of the gateway first successfully
> connected to the introducer, except in the less common case of storage
> servers that the introducer learned about after that time).
>
> It appears that the "since" column is doing what I expected in the case
> of connected servers (showing when the connection was made) but in the
> case of disconnected servers it shows the current time (when the page was
> rendered).
>
> The "announced" column is rarely useful with its current behavior, and
> perhaps should simply be removed.
>
> The "sent" column is useful for connected servers, as it shows how long
> they've been connected. For disconnected servers the current behavior is
> also somewhat useful as a stopgap until #1972 (wui: show time page was
> rendered) is implemented.
>
> However, for disconnected servers there are two things that would be more
> useful to know, neither of which are currently displayed: when it became
> disconnected (or better, when it last responded to communication), and
> when the last connection attempt was made. (Or is that what the current
> time actually is? Is it constantly attempting to reconnect?)
>
> Related: #816 (Add ping-all-servers button to welcome page)

New description:

 The list of storage servers in the gateway's web ui includes two columns
 containing timestamps, labeled "since" and "announced".

 I expected that "announced" would be the most recent time that introducer
 received an announcement from the storage server, and "since" would be the
 time that the gateway's current connection to the storage server was
 opened (or, in the case of a disconnected server, the time that the
 connection was lost).

 Instead, it appears that "announced" is actually the time that the gateway
 first received the announcement from the introducer (which is the time
 that the running instance of the gateway first successfully connected to
 the introducer, except in the less common case of storage servers that the
 introducer learned about after that time).

 It appears that the "since" column is doing what I expected in the case of
 connected servers (showing when the connection was made) but in the case
 of disconnected servers it shows the current time (when the page was
 rendered).

 The "announced" column is rarely useful with its current behavior, and
 perhaps should simply be removed.

 The "since" column is useful for connected servers, as it shows how long
 they've been connected. For disconnected servers the current behavior is
 also somewhat useful as a stopgap until #1972 (wui: show time page was
 rendered) is implemented.

 However, for disconnected servers there are two things that would be more
 useful to know, neither of which are currently displayed: when it became
 disconnected (or better, when it last responded to communication), and
 when the last connection attempt was made. (Or is that what the current
 time actually is? Is it constantly attempting to reconnect?)

 Related: #816 (Add ping-all-servers button to welcome page)

--

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/1973#comment:1>
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