The progress bar that doesn't convey any sense of progress (was Re: ...)

[Gordon Tyler]

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Martin Pool wrote:
> What I typically see is
> 
> [#########/          ]   1071KB   182KB/s | Fetching
> revisions:Inserting stream
> 
> I don't see where the "20 characters" thing comes from.

I've seen some weird overwriting artifacts. Maybe that's just the
regression you were talking about.

Now, I like ASCII art as much as the next guy but I think the text
progress UI might be better if done so:

(/)  45%   1071KB  182KB/s | Fetching revisions: Inserting stream

In order: Spinner, Total progress, Total data transferred (down + up),
Overall average transfer rate, Techno-babble.

The spinner indicates immediate activity, i.e. if it ain't spinning, it
ain't doing stuff. Total data transferred and the overall average
transfer rate should scale their unit (KB, MB, etc.) as appropriate. I
personally like the instantaneous transfer rate because I find the
fluctuations interesting but for most people the overall average should
be fine.

I named techno-babble as such because for the most part, it's of no use
to the average user. I have no idea what "inserting stream" means. It
could be gotten rid of entirely, or it could be changed to display
something more understandable to the average user. For bzr developers
who still want to see the full techno-babble in all its gory glory,
verbose mode should enable that.

> Maybe we should have an option (or just always) print the total data
> and time at end end, like what -Dhpss does?

You could hide it behind verbose mode. If so, you should also include
things like average transfer rate.

Ciao,
Gordon

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