Functionality and UI Semantics Specification

The following topics describe the pages of the web application, listing all the active UI elements and several passive elements, and describing their purpose and the result of the user actions.

• Common page elements

• Login Page Elements

• Tasks List Page Elements

• Task Info Page Elements

• Help Page Elements

Common page elements

All pages of the web application contain the following elements:

• Page Header

• Page Footer

Page Header

The page header provides helper information for the user as well as some common controls. It includes the following blocks:

• Title Block

  A static text block showing the title of the web application.

• Pages Menu Block

  The Pages Menu is a set of links to the most commonly used pages of the application. Currently all of them point to the Tasks List page, but with different filters.

  • All Tasks link

    A link control. If it is activated, the page is reloaded and the Tasks List page appears, showing all tasks visible to the user thfcat are in one of the following states: ASSIGNED, CLAIMED or ESCALATED.

  • My Tasks link

    A link control. If it is activated the page is reloaded and the Tasks List page appears, showing all tasks that are claimed by the current user and are in one of the following states: CLAIMED, COMPLETED or ESCALATED.

  • Last Query link

    A link control. If it is activated, the page is reloaded and the Tasks List page appears, showing the result of the last query run. If there is no such query, the link is not visible.

• Other Menu Block

  In this section of the menu, auxiliary information is displayed.

  • Current User Data

    A static text block. If a user is logged in, it shows a welcome string together with the user's username. If no user is logged in (such as on the Login page) it shows a note about not being logged in.

  • Help Link

    A link control. When it is activated, the page is reloaded and the Help page appears.

Page Footer

This control shows additional information about the current page and the web application as a whole. It includes the following elements:

• Copyright Block

  A static text block showing the copyright information, currently "(c) 2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc."

• Debugging Information

  A static text block showing some debug information about the current page, such as the amount of time it took to generate the page.

Login Page Elements

The URL of this page is: context-root/login.jsp. In addition to the common page elements the Login page shows the Login form, which allows a user to authenticate in the system using a private username and password combination.

• Login Field

  A regular text field. You enter a username into the field when logging into the system. There are no limitations on the characters allowed to be entered or the overall length of the field's value because these are dependent on the limitations of the underlying authentication system.

• Password Field

  A password text field and all characters are hidden. You enter a password into the field when logging into the system. There are no limitations on the characters allowed to be entered or the overall length of the field's value because these are dependent on the limitations of the underlying authentication system.

• Submit Button

  When this button is activated, the page reloads and the system attempts to log the user in. If the login procedure succeeds, the last opened page appears if the login was due to a session timeout; otherwise the non-filtered variant of the Tasks List appears. If the login procedure fails, the console returns to the Login page and an appropriate error message appears.

Tasks List Page Elements

The URL of the page is: context-root/index.jsp or just context-root/. In addition to the common page elements the Tasks List page shows the Tasks List Table, which is the main user interface element on the page. The table contains data about all the tasks that are currently available to the user. The tasks are displayed in pages, the display can be controlled by the pages navigator, the page size selector and the sort selector.

If no tasks were found the contents of the table are not shown, instead the user is presented with an appropriate information message. By default the tasks displayed in the table are those that allow any action from the user, which are those in one of the following states: ASSIGNED, ESCALATED, CLAIMED This can be refined using the Advanced search box. Each row in this table corresponds to a single task.

The table includes the following elements:

• Tasks List Table

• Page Navigator

• Page Size Selector

• Sort Selector

• Priorities Legend

• Search Box

• Basic Search Box

• Advanced Search Box

Tasks List Table

• ID column

  This column contains the numeric id of the current task and additionally the background of the column is painted according to the current task's priority. The colors used are defined in the Priorities legend. The column contains only static textual content.

• Title Column

  This column displays the textual title of the task. If the task does not have a title or it is an empty string, a special string like "<No title>" is displayed. The task title itself is just some static text. This column includes the following control:

  • Claim Link

    This is a regular link. It is shown only for tasks which can be claimed, that is for tasks in ASSIGNED or ESCALATED states. When it is activated the page is reloaded and the Task Info for the current task is shown. The task is moved to the CLAIMED state

• Status Column

  This column displays the textual name of the current task's state. The column contains only static textual content.

• Submitted On Column

  This column displays the date and time of the moment when the task was created (submitted to the system). If this moment is today, only the hours and minutes are shown. If the moment is within a week, the date and time (day, month, hours, minutes) are shown. If the moment is at some more distant past, just the date (day, month, year) is shown. The column contains only static textual content.

• Assigned To Column

  This column shows the names of the groups and users which this task is available to (has been assigned to). If the current task is not assigned to anyone, an m-dash is displayed (which is an impossible situation, as in this case the current user would not see this task). The column contains only static textual content.

• Claimed By Column

  This column shows the name of the user that this task has been claimed by. If the current task was not claimed by anyone, an m-dash is displayed. The column contains only static textual content.

• Deadline Column

  This column shows the deadline moment of the current task. Like the Submitted On column, the date is formatted differently based on how far away the given moment is. If the moment is today, it is shown in hours and minutes. If it is within a week, it is shown in day, month, hours, and minutes. If it is in a more distant future, it is shown in day, month, and the year. If the current task has no deadline, an m-dash is displayed.

Page Navigator

This control helps you to navigate between the paged list of the available tasks. It is displayed twice, before the Tasks list table and after it. It is a composite control and contains the following elements:

• First Link

  A regular link. It is active (not static text) if there is a possibility to move to the first page; that is, the user is currently viewing a page with index larger than 1. When it is activated the page is reloaded and the user is taken to the first page of the tasks list. The URL of the page shows this fact in the start query string parameter.

• Previous Link

  A regular link. It is active (not static text) if there is a possibility to move to the previous page; that is, the user is currently viewing a page with index larger than 1. When it is activated the page is reloaded and the user is taken to the previous page of the tasks list (the one with index less by one). The URL of the page shows this fact in the start query string parameter.

• Pages Links

  A set of regular links. These links show the closest seven pages of the page list. For example, if the user is viewing the first page the following pages will be shown: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. If the user is viewing page 7, then 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 are shown. If the user is viewing page 20 and 20 is the last page, then 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 are shown. The current page is not a link, but a regular static text. If there are not enough pages to show (that is. the total amount of pages is less than seven), a reduced set is shows. For example, if the total number of pages is three, the set of links will always contain: 1, 2, 3. When any of the links is activated the page reloads and the user is taken to the corresponding page of tasks list. The URL of the page shows this fact in the start query string parameter.

• Next Link

  A regular link. It is active (not static text) if there is a possibility to move to the next page; that is, the user is currently viewing a page with index less than the last page's one. When it is activated the page is reloaded and the user is taken to the next page of the tasks list (the one with index less by one). The URL of the page shows this fact in the start query string parameter.

• Last Link

  A regular link. It is active (not static text) if there is a possibility to move to the last page; that is, if the user is currently viewing a page with index less than the last page's one. When it is activated the page is reloaded and the user is taken to the last page of the tasks list (the one with index less by one). The URL of the page shows this fact in the start query string parameter.

Page Size Selector

This is a drop-down list. It allows you to define how many tasks should be shown on a single page. The available options are: 10, 20, 50 and 100. When the value of the selector changes, the page is reloaded and the user is presented with the updated list, this field's value on the reloaded page will contain the chosen value. This fact is reflected in the URL of the page in the size query string parameter. The system tries to keep you on the same page you were viewing before changing the size of the page. For example, if you were viewing page with the index 5, you will stay on this page unless there are not enough pages. In the latter case you is taken to the last page of the updated tasks list.

Sort Selector

This is a drop-down list. It allows you to define the sort order of the tasks list. The available options are ID, Title, Submitted on, Assigned to, Deadline, Priority, Claimed by, Status. The corresponding sort directions are ascending, ascending, descending, ascending, ascending, descending, ascending, ascending.

When the value of the selector changes the page is reloaded and the user is taken to the same page of the tasks list he was viewing before changing the sort order (that is, the index of the tasks list page stays the same.) This field's value on the reloaded page will contain the chosen value. The sort order is shown in the URL of the page in the order query string parameter.

Priorities Legend

This is a static block explaining the color values of the task priorities. Basically the priorities are split in three groups: blue (1-3), yellow (4-7) and red (8-10).

Search Box

This block contains one of the two possible sub-blocks: Basic search box and Advanced search box. By default the Basic search box is visible and the Advanced search box is hidden.

Basic Search Box

The basic search box allows you to perform a simple text-based search on the tasks list, and includes the following elements:

• Search Criteria Field

  A regular text field. When performing a basic search, enter the search criteria into this field. There are no limitations on the characters and total length of the field value.

• Simple Search Button

  A button. When it is activated the page is reloaded and the Tasks List page appears with the tasks list filtered according to the specified search criteria. The value of the Search criteria field in the reloaded page shows the value entered for the search. Additionally the search criteria are shown in the URL of the page in the search query string parameter.

• Switch to advanced link

  A regular link. When it is activated, the page is not reloaded, the Basic search box is hidden and the Advanced search box is shown instead of it.

Advanced Search Box

This block allows you to define fine-grained search criteria, and includes the following elements:

• Status Selector

  A multi-select list. It contains the statuses that can be used as search criteria, namely: ASSIGNED, CLAIMED, ESCALATED, COMPLETED, EXPIRED and FAILED. By default ASSIGNED and CLAIMED are selected.

• Users Field

  A regular text field without any limitations on the allowed characters and the total length. When performing an advanced search, enter the names of the users for the tasks you want to view.

• Groups Field

  A regular text field without any limitations on the allowed characters and the total length. When performing an advanced search, enter the names of the user groups for the tasks you want to view.

• Text Search Field

  A regular text field without any limitations on the allowed characters and the total length. This field is the same as the Search criteria field of the Basic search box, and allows the user to enter additional text criteria for an advanced search.

• Advanced Search Button

  A button. When it is activated, the page reloads and the Tasks List page appears with a list of tasks filtered according to the specified search criteria. The values of the Status Selector, Users Field, Groups Field and Text Search Field in the reloaded page show the values entered for the search, the Basic search box is hidden and Advanced search box is displayed instead. Additionally the search criteria are shown in the URL of the page in the status, users, groups and search query string parameters.

• Switch to Simple Link

  A regular link. When it is activated, the page is not reloaded, the Advanced search box is hidden and the Basic search box is shown instead.

Task Info Page Elements

The URL of the page is: context-root/task.jsp. In addition to the common page elements the Task Info page includes the following elements:

• Task Info Box

• Task Input Data Box

• Task Output Data Box

Task Info Box

This is a block of static text providing general information about the task being viewed. It includes the following elements:

• Task Title and ID

  The title of the current task alongside with its numerical ID.

• Task Status

  The textual representation of the current task's status.

• Task Priority

  The numerical value of the tasks priority (as opposed to the color coded indicator in ID column of the Tasks list table) .

• Task Submitted On

  The date time of the task creation (submission) moment. The rules for displaying the date time are the same as in the Submitted on column of the Tasks list table.

• Task Deadline

  The date time of the task deadline moment. The rules for displaying the date time are the same as in the Deadline column of the Tasks list table. If the current task has no deadline an m-dash is displayed.

• Task Assigned To

  The names of the groups and users to which this task is available. If the current task is not assigned to anyone, an m-dash is displayed. Note that this is an impossible occurrence as in this case the current user would not see this task.

• Task Claimed By

  The name of the user who claimed the task. If the current task has not been claimed, an m-dash is displayed.

Task Input Data Box

This block of user interface controls shows the information and the available actions for the current task and its input data. Since this is one of the major points for user-customization, we specify only the default controls here.

• Task Input Data Field

  A regular multiline text field. It has no limitations on the allowed characters or the total length. The value of the field is the input data (in XML format) of the current task. The text field is never editable because input data should never be modified. You can customize the display of this field according to the types of tasks you expect users to work with.

• Claim Button

  A regular button. It is available only if the task has not yet been claimed by any user; that is, the task is in one of the following states: ASSIGNED or ESCALATED. When it is activated the page is reloaded and the task is changed to the CLAIMED state.

• Reassign Link

  A regular link. It is available only if the task has not yet been claimed by any user; that is, the task is in one of the following states: ASSIGNED or ESCALATED. When it is activated the page is not reloaded; the Claim button and the Reassign link are hidden; and the Reassign button, To Users field, To Groups field, and Claim link appear.

• Reassign Button

  A regular button. It is available only if the task has not yet been claimed by any user; that is, the task is in one of the following states: ASSIGNED or ESCALATED. When it is activated the page is reloaded; the task is moved to the ASSIGNED state; the Assigned To value is set to the values specified in the To Users field and To Groups field; and the Tasks List page appears , filtered according to the last query.

• To Users Field

  A regular text field without any limitations on the allowed characters or the total length. It is available only if the task has not yet been claimed by any user; that is, the task. is in one of the following states: ASSIGNED or ESCALATED. Enter a space-separated list of user names to reassign the task to.

• To Groups Field

  A regular text field without any limitations on the allowed characters or the total length. It is available only if the task has not yet been claimed by any user; that is, the task is in one of the following states: ASSIGNED or ESCALATED. Enter a space-separated list of group names to reassign the task to

• Claim Link

  A regular link. It is available only if the task has not yet been claimed by any user; that is, the task is in one of the following states: ASSIGNED or ESCALATED. It is hidden by default. When it is activated the page is not reloaded, the Reassign button, To Users field, To Groups field, and Claim link are hidden, and the Claim button and the Reassign link appear.

Task Output Data Box

This block of user interface controls shows the information and the available actions for the current task and its output data. Since this is one of the major points for user customization, only the default controls are specified here. This block is shown only if the task is in one of the following states: CLAIMED, COMPLETED, EXPIRED, ESCALATED, or FAILED.

• Task Output Field

  A regular multiline text field. It has no limitations on the allowed characters or the total length. The value of the field is the output data (in XML format) of the current task. The field is editable only if the task in the CLAIMED state and has been claimed by the current user. A developer may customize the display of this field according to the types of tasks he's expecting the users to work with.

• Save Button

  A regular button. It is visible only if the task in the CLAIMED state and has been claimed by the current user. When it is activated the page is reloaded and the task's output data is updated according the value specified by the user. If an error occurs when updating the task's output data an error message is displayed, but the Task output field keeps the value entered by the user before attempting to save.

• Save and Complete Button

  A regular button. It is visible only if the task in the CLAIMED state and has been claimed by the current user. When it is activated the page is reloaded, the task's output data is updated according the value specified by the user and the task is moved to the COMPLETED state. If an error occurs when updating the task's output data an error message is displayed, the task is not moved to the COMPLETED state, but the Task output field keeps the value entered by the user before attempting to save and complete.

• Revoke Button Revoke Button

  A regular button. It is visible only if the task is in the CLAIMED state and has been claimed by the current user. When it is activated the page is reloaded and the task is moved back to the ASSIGNED state, the "Claimed by" value is cleared.

Help Page Elements

The URL of the page is: <context-root>/help.jsp. The Help page is inherently very simple. In addition to the common page elements, it shows a block of static text describing the usage scenarios of the web application.