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Add 'Published' or Channel attribute to feature scripts to reduce trash scripts being visible.
brett_sutton
Member Posts: 42 ✭✭✭
I've posted elsewhere about feature script 'copy hell' but have another idea. that might help
I've often copied a feature script to have a 'play' with the script but in the end didn't do anything useful with the script but nor did I delete it.
The problem is that this script is now part of the public library of searchable feature scripts, yet it adds absolutely no value to the community and in fact as I mention in my post on 'Copy Hell', actually detracts from onshape as it makes it hard (impossible?) to find useful scripts.
Now I'm not looking to break the whole public/private document model as I understand that is critical to onshapes revenue model and we all want onshape to be profitable so we can keep getting great new features.
However it would be extremely useful if the search function only showed documents which are useful.
I couple of possible ideas.
Add a 'published' flag to a feature script. The search function would only show published documents unless I clicked a flag to see unpublished documents.
Perhaps a better idea would be to adapt a similar model to what the Ubuntu 'snap' installer uses where you have 'channels'.
The channels could be something like:
“
“
“
“
When searching for a feature script the search function would automatically search for 'stable' releases only.
I can then change the search criteria to include 'candidate' or beta etc.
If I copy someone else's script my version automatically is labeled 'edge' and so will be ignored by most people unless I explicitly do something to publish the feature.
The same approach could be applied to documents.
I don't believe this will break your revenue model. I can see how some people might think they can hide clients documents by labeling them as 'edge' but I doubt its going to be much of a threat. Any cad professional isn't going to be in business for long if they are that stupid so there were never a possible revenue stream to begin with.
I've often copied a feature script to have a 'play' with the script but in the end didn't do anything useful with the script but nor did I delete it.
The problem is that this script is now part of the public library of searchable feature scripts, yet it adds absolutely no value to the community and in fact as I mention in my post on 'Copy Hell', actually detracts from onshape as it makes it hard (impossible?) to find useful scripts.
Now I'm not looking to break the whole public/private document model as I understand that is critical to onshapes revenue model and we all want onshape to be profitable so we can keep getting great new features.
However it would be extremely useful if the search function only showed documents which are useful.
I couple of possible ideas.
Add a 'published' flag to a feature script. The search function would only show published documents unless I clicked a flag to see unpublished documents.
Perhaps a better idea would be to adapt a similar model to what the Ubuntu 'snap' installer uses where you have 'channels'.
The channels could be something like:
“
stable” - a well tested release version of a script“
candidate” - a release candidate that is going through final testing“
beta” - script which is in development but has a stable set of features“
edge” - script is under heavy development - use at your own peril.When searching for a feature script the search function would automatically search for 'stable' releases only.
I can then change the search criteria to include 'candidate' or beta etc.
If I copy someone else's script my version automatically is labeled 'edge' and so will be ignored by most people unless I explicitly do something to publish the feature.
The same approach could be applied to documents.
I don't believe this will break your revenue model. I can see how some people might think they can hide clients documents by labeling them as 'edge' but I doubt its going to be much of a threat. Any cad professional isn't going to be in business for long if they are that stupid so there were never a possible revenue stream to begin with.
Tagged:
4
Comments
The existing search feature can simply allow a user to 'filter' based on the channel. For noobs, the default is 'stable' so they don't even have to think about how to search for a stable feature.
When the producer of the script 'versions' their script they can assign it to a channel. An 'unversioned' script would always be 'edge' or perhaps we should have a special channel called 'unversioned' which would tell any user that the script is really just trash that they should ignore. The unversioned tag meets the onshape requirement that these scripts need to be public unless you have a pro license.
It would be useful to differentiate unversioned from 'edge' as at least in the 'snap' world where I stole the idea from an script in the 'edge' channel suggests that the script is maintained but that you want the bleeding edge version. Where as unversioned means that the author really had no intent of publishing the script.
Its perhaps worth pointing out that the channel feature I'm suggesting would be a very minor enhancment (add a channel to the version dialog, add a channel selection to the search page) and we would have an instance fix for the Copy Hell with very little development effort.
Development effort estimates:
Channel implementation: 3 business days - including testing
Store development effort: 1 man year