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Feature flag for custom options#13871

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feerrenrut merged 7 commits into
addFeatureFlagHelperfrom
featureFlagOptions
Jul 8, 2022
Merged

Feature flag for custom options#13871
feerrenrut merged 7 commits into
addFeatureFlagHelperfrom
featureFlagOptions

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@feerrenrut feerrenrut commented Jul 5, 2022

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Link to issue number:

Extension of #13859 as per discussion: #13859 (comment)

Summary of the issue:

Some feature flags require more than just a Boolean enabled/disabled outcome (in addition to 'default'), E.G.:

  • AllowUiaInMSWord [WHEN_NECESSARY, WHERE_SUITABLE, ALWAYS]
  • AllowUiaInChromium [WHEN_NECESSARY, YES, NO]

Several approaches have been tried:

  • Store integers in the config that match with enum values, as per (AllowUiaInMSWord and AllowUiaInChromium)
  • Use "options" in config (several string values). Literal strings in code to compare refer to these.

These approaches can hide errors:

  • Looking at the config, what are the valid values when an integer is used.
  • Using string "options":
    • what are the valid options?
    • how do you find all usages?
    • Change the strategy for default?
  • For both, when looking at the config or configSpec, how can the behavior of default be determined?

Description of user facing changes

Where the user is a developer adding a new feature flag:

  • Define a new enum in featureFlagEnums.py (include a DEFAULT member) E.G.: MyNewFeature
  • Add the entry to the configSpec.py E.G. shouldUseMyNewFeature = featureFlag(optionsEnumClass="MyNewFeature", behaviorOfDefault="ON_WEEKENDS")
  • Add a GUI option for it, using FeatureFlagCombo
  • Wrap the code for the feature with config.conf["section"]["shouldUseMyNewFeature "] == MyNewFeature.ON_WEEKENDS

Description of development approach

  • The configSpec explicitly defines what the behavior of default is.
  • The enum class that backs the config is defined, allowing for type / value checking.
  • Existing flags have not been upgraded, these would require upgrade code for the config, this introduces unnecessary complexity.

Testing strategy:

Known issues with pull request:

Change log entries:

None

Code Review Checklist:

  • Pull Request description:
    • description is up to date
    • change log entries
  • Testing:
    • Unit tests
    • System (end to end) tests
    • Manual testing
  • API is compatible with existing add-ons.
  • Documentation:
    • User Documentation
    • Developer / Technical Documentation
    • Context sensitive help for GUI changes
  • UX of all users considered:
    • Speech
    • Braille
    • Low Vision
    • Different web browsers
    • Localization in other languages / culture than English

@feerrenrut feerrenrut mentioned this pull request Jul 5, 2022
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@feerrenrut feerrenrut marked this pull request as ready for review July 5, 2022 08:00
@feerrenrut feerrenrut requested a review from a team as a code owner July 5, 2022 08:00
@feerrenrut feerrenrut requested review from seanbudd and removed request for a team July 5, 2022 08:00
Comment thread source/config/featureFlagEnums.py Outdated
Comment thread source/config/featureFlagEnums.py
@feerrenrut feerrenrut merged commit 5b300b2 into addFeatureFlagHelper Jul 8, 2022
@feerrenrut feerrenrut deleted the featureFlagOptions branch July 8, 2022 09:52
@nvaccessAuto nvaccessAuto added this to the 2022.3 milestone Jul 8, 2022
feerrenrut added a commit that referenced this pull request Jul 12, 2022
See base PR #13851
Adds support for multi value feature flags from PR #13871

### Summary:
NVDA increasingly makes use of feature flags to expose experimental changes to users.
There are already several approaches already in use.
It is easy to miss use-cases for changing default behavior, potentially overriding an advanced users preferred config.

Some feature flags require more than just a Boolean enabled/disabled outcome (in addition to 'default'), E.G.:
- AllowUiaInMSWord [WHEN_NECESSARY, WHERE_SUITABLE, ALWAYS]
- AllowUiaInChromium [WHEN_NECESSARY, YES, NO]

Several approaches have been tried:
- Store an int in the config that match with enum values, as per (AllowUiaInMSWord and AllowUiaInChromium)
- Use "options" in config (several string values). Literal strings in code to compare refer to these.

These approaches can hide errors:
- Looking at the config, what are the valid values when an integer is used.
- Using string "options":
  - What are the valid options?
  - How do you find all usages?
  - Change the strategy for default?
- For both, when looking at the config or configSpec, how can the behavior of default be determined?

### Description of user facing changes
The target user of this change are developers.
This introduces constructs and utilities to streamline the approach to adding feature flags.

Adding a new feature flag:
- Most feature flags can use the BoolFlag.
- If more values are required, define a new enum class in featureFlagEnums.py (include a DEFAULT member) E.G.: MyNewFeature
- Add the entry to the configSpec.py E.G.
  shouldUseMyNewFeature = featureFlag(optionsEnumClass="MyNewFeature", behaviorOfDefault="ON_WEEKENDS")
- Add a GUI option for it, using FeatureFlagCombo
- Wrap the code for the feature with:
   config.conf["section"]["shouldUseMyNewFeature "] == MyNewFeature.ON_WEEKENDS

### Development approach
Introduction of a generic BoolFlag type (enabled/disabled) which needs to account for 3 states:
- The current NVDA default (IE user has no preference)
- User has a preference of enabled
- User has a preference of disabled

To facilitate this, one of the three values (default, enabled, disabled) is stored in the config.
Spec/config transformations are provided to streamline the support.
A featureFlag type in the spec is automatically converted to a FeatureFlag class instance.
The FeatureFlag class abstracts the consideration of "default", allowing the FeatureFlag to treated as a boolean within internal NVDA logic.

A utility GUI control is added which presents the FeatureFlag option to the user, and allows developers to give translated names to the logical values (enabled, disabled), the name for default incorporates the behaviorOfDefault (and is also translated).

Note:
- The configSpec explicitly defines what the behavior of default is.
- The enum class that backs the config is defined, allows for type / value checking.
- Existing flags have not been upgraded, these would require upgrade code for the config, this introduces unnecessary complexity.

### Known issues:
This approach bypasses the handling for defaults provided by configObj.
It was considered whether the default not written on read behavior (of the configObj library) to facilitate the third (default) state.
However:
- This would require explicit code to test for the existence of the key to know if the value returned by `conf["section"]["myKey"]` was just the default or an explicit setting.
- It also requires careful diligence to ensure that the value is not ever written accidentally.
- Code to delete the key is required whenever attempting to return to the default.
- The way validation checks are created in `configObj` makes transforming the type (to provide an abstraction) difficult. It is not possible to get access to the `default` without a similar approach used in this PR. If adopting the complexity of a spec and config transform step, then it is preferable to have explicit values for default. Explicit values make the config easier to inspect and make the approach more robust.
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3 participants