[Patternfly] Pattern for form actions

[Petr Vobornik]

On 9.4.2014 23:49, Gabriel Cardoso wrote:
> I’m working on a project that has lots of forms (LiveOak), and I’m thinking about the best way to display the buttons “Cancel”, “Save”, “Delete” and “Clear changes”.
>
> - Scenario 01: the user is trying to create some artefact, e.g. “Create Application”.
> 	- Initial state: the buttons “Cancel” and “Save” are displayed. “Cancel” takes to the previous page if clicked. “Save” is disabled, since the required fields where not yet fulfilled.
> 	- Required fields are edited: “Save” is now enabled. The user stay in the same page after Saving.
>
> - Scenario 02: the user is editing some artefact, e.g. “Edit Application”.
> 	- Initial state: the button “Delete” is displayed.
> 	- After some edition: “Delete” is hidden and replaced by “Clear changes” and “Save”.
> 	- After saving or clearing changes: “Clear changes” and “Save” are replaced by “Delete” again.
>
> I’m struggling more with the scenario 02, since buttons appear / disappear depending on the action. However, the interaction feels good in the console.
>
> Another point is that we are using “clear changes”, which undo the user’s changes and keep him in the same page. The button “Cancel” could work to, but the difference is that “cancel” would take it to the previous page (probably the applications list).
> What do you guys think about this approach? How are you guys dealing with this in your projects?
>
> Thanks,
> Gabriel
>
> ---
> Gabriel Cardoso
> User Experience Designer @ Red Hat
>

I assume that you want to keep the number of visible buttons to a 
minimum otherwise there is no point of hiding 'delete' button if the 
form is dirty. I.e., if you want to delete the record, you don't care 
about the unsaved changes you already made.

We have similar buttons in FreeIPA just with different names:
- 'Refresh' reload from server - always enabled
- 'Reset' undo changes - enabled if form is dirty
- 'Update' save changes - enabled if form is dirty

We also have 'undo' next to each form control. It's visible only when 
the item is dirty.
-- 
Petr Vobornik