Suggestion: TSV - better management of display order and versioning
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- Java
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Description
Hi there :)
For the sake of easier code reviewing and file modification, I propose to use the display order a little smarter by incrementing current numbers with a 100 multiplicator.
This won't change the background mechanism but will help to identify changes the display order inside TSV files.
Ex:
field1 100
field2 200
field3 300
could change to
field1 301 or 310
field2 200
field3 300
and new field could be added flawlessly
field1 310
field2 200
field4 210
field3 300
This way it will be easier to see code differences (git diff) either done by Dataverse or compare (diff/meld) with a customized TSV by a Dataverse instance.
Currently, adding a new field in between field forces to rewrite whole ids of the file, for argument sake this is the kind of diff that breaks my heart : https://github.com/IQSS/dataverse/commit/e1383d77d3304418ebf3decfd257ca0610994ce1#diff-9a87ef9131a9320671e94ee2b06991ee64d8ae37ddad2bff052215c55e2ddb10
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
The issue concerns display-order values in TSV files, with examples of preserving gaps when fields are inserted. Start by locating the Java code that reads and writes these TSV display orders, then determine how existing ordering is maintained. Done means new fields can be inserted without renumbering unrelated fields and the resulting diffs remain focused.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- java
- Domain
- backend
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Needs clarification
- Newbie friendliness
- 25/100