[Ovirt-devel] Re: oVirt server wui console integration

[Jeremy Perry]

I've posted the mockups and descriptions mentioned here to the the  
ovirt.org wiki:
http://ovirt.org/page/Terminal_UX

one more comment below...

On Jan 8, 2009, at 10:04 PM, Jason Guiditta wrote:

> On Thu, 2009-01-08 at 18:23 -0500, Jeremy Perry wrote:
>> On Jan 8, 2009, at 5:37 PM, Mohammed Morsi wrote:
>>
>>> Currently the idea for the console interface in the wui is that a  
>>> user
>>> can navigate the the 'virtual machines' tab under a vm pool, click
>>> on a
>>> specific vm, click on 'console' in the details pane and will be
>>> presented with a console to that vm. There were a few ideas as to
>>> where
>>> the console should appear,
>>>
>>> * in a minimally themed popup window, most likely the first
>>> implementation as it is simplest, but may result in many popups when
>>> connected to several vms
>>> * in the dialog / popup box interface we have now, we will want to
>>> introduce a tabbing mechanism for access to multiple vm consoles
>>> * in another tab in the main content area, same vm-tab concept
>>> needed here
>>> * a rollover, eg the user rolls over 'console' in the vm details  
>>> pane
>>> and the console appears so long as the user holds his mouse over  
>>> it /
>>> the link
>>>
>> I've taken the liberty of mocking some of these ideas up.
>>
>> I didnt mockup the new themed popup window yet, since its simple to
>> imagine. I think its a decent approach, but wondering if we can
>> eliminate the multiple popups issue by targeting our popup once there
>> is at least one open. Subsequent terminals would nest via tabs in the
>> one terminal window, so all you deal with is one window with tabs for
>> each vm terminal.
>
> I like the idea of the popup window, then adding tabs to it as needed,
> and like the pop-out (thanks google!).  My first choice is the design
> with the initial console on the right of the details in the same pane.
> The other with them stacked felt too squished.  The tabbed one could
> work too, but I kind of think the terminal being in the detail pane is
> not super usable, since you can't see that much in the space  
> allowed.  I
> agree on the modal dialog thing, no need to force them to have only  
> that
> accessible, but another idea could be a non-modal dialog that you  
> could
> minimize somewhere w/in the application.  If done right, I think this
> could be pretty slick, but perhaps not worth the effort, as the single
> popup window seems like a perfectly good way to go.

I agree on the popup window, and will take a stab at it. As for the  
non-modal idea, this would be pretty cool to look at. Well executed  
examples in the wild is Google chat in gmail and the alerts/etc bar in  
facebook.

>
>>
>>> Its currently looking like the console frontend and apache-proxied
>>> backend daemon will be driven by anyterm http://anyterm.org/ . We  
>>> will
>>> use anyterm to launch ovirt-viewer or the virsh console to connect  
>>> to
>>> the vm and then present the anyterm html / js / css ui to the  
>>> user. A
>>> rough layout of the setup can be found here
>>> http://ovirt.org/page/Image:Anyterm.png
>>
>> I based my mockups on their demos - let me know if the actions I
>> included (like copy, paste) make sense or not.
>>>
>>> Looking for thoughts / feedback / suggestions as to the interface
>>> placement of the console or the backend.  Thanks alot,
>>>
>>>  -Mo
>>
>>
>> Finally, I wanted to propose we settle on the term "Terminal" instead
>> of "Console" - at least in the UI - since that is what is used in
>> Fedora. I know terminology consistency is a challenge for us, is this
>> a place we can make a choice in the UI and be consistent?
>>
> Seems reasonable to me, matches more closely with the 'anyterm' name
> too.
>> Thanks!
>> - Jeremy
>