• From: Singapore, India, Chennai
  • Registered: 05/02/2009
  • Posts: 6,160

Topic: Show Hints - no hints anywhere

In Setup => Display Setup there is a checkbox for enabling hints for new users. Where do these hints come from? Is there a hints table missing in FA? All places where it should be displayed, the following code is present:

(user_hints() ? "<span id='hints'></span>" : '')

Is this some sort of Ajax implementation reserved for custom themes? Even then, these hints must come from somewhere - a table or an array of hints.

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2 Reply by poncho1234 (edited by poncho1234 02/18/2018 04:37:12 pm)

  • From: Colombia
  • Registered: 12/29/2014
  • Posts: 629

Re: Show Hints - no hints anywhere

If I make a purchase, I first get this hint in the top right corner:-

Select supplier

This string occurs only once in the code:-

File: includes\ui\ui_lists.inc

542:         'sel_hint' => $mode ? _('Press Space tab to filter by name fragment') :
543:         _('Select supplier'),

But I am unable to get any further hints for the rest of the page

If it helps sel_hint occurs 10 times and all in the above file; so I'm assuming that there are only 10 hints There seems to be only three hints:- Select customer, select customer branch and select supplier
From line 91 in the same file may help too.

There is a box_hint as well that doesn't seem to be used.

Are you thinking of making the hints better or deleting unused code?

The FrontAccounting Wiki(Manual, examples, tips, setup info, links to accounting sites, etc) https://frontaccounting.com/fawiki/
  • From: Singapore, India, Chennai
  • Registered: 05/02/2009
  • Posts: 6,160

Re: Show Hints - no hints anywhere

It currently appears to be coded into these 3 places. In others $rel and the $selector are used. In yet others, the search box context is used.

@joe: What is the intended way of using it?

apmuthu's Website

  • Registered: 12/25/2007
  • Posts: 2,448

Re: Show Hints - no hints anywhere

Hints are visible for those html form elements which have 'title' property defined. Unfortunately this feature is used inconsistently in FA code. As FA is multilanguage application using gettext text coding, adding database table for hints storage is not the best option. On the other hand adding hints to all the form elements would enlarge translation files enormously, while the feature is rarely used, and only until user is accustomed to FA features.

The irreversible contradiction between translation completeness and newbie FA user comfort is the real source of inconsistent hints implementation. To change this status we should probably implement some mechanism to use separate gettext domain for hints, which would help prioritize text translations in FA.

Janusz

  • From: Singapore, India, Chennai
  • Registered: 05/02/2009
  • Posts: 6,160

Re: Show Hints - no hints anywhere

@itronics: Thanks for stating the design decision reasons. A separate hint gettext is probably in order.

apmuthu's Website