[Bugs] #2063 UNSP: Sugar should bring up an alert when an unhandled Python exception occurs

[Sugar Labs Bugs]

#2063: Sugar should bring up an alert when an unhandled Python exception occurs
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    Reporter:  bernie                     |          Owner:  tomeu                      
        Type:  defect                     |         Status:  new                        
    Priority:  Unspecified by Maintainer  |      Milestone:  Unspecified by Release Team
   Component:  sugar                      |        Version:  Git as of bugdate          
    Severity:  Unspecified                |       Keywords:                             
Distribution:  Unspecified                |   Status_field:  Unconfirmed                
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Comment(by eben):

 Replying to [ticket:2063 bernie]:
 > Many UX designers abhor the idea that the computer would scare off users
 with incomprehensible error messages. Ideally, we would have a 100% bug
 free system in which this never happens, but current today's  is very
 different.

 Of course they would! An incomprehensible error message is useful to no
 one, and can—as you say—frustrate or confuse people. However, most UX
 folks are not inherently opposed to error message or dialogs of all kinds;
 it just happens to be rather difficult to design good ones, and bad ones
 are often really bad.

 >
 > Currently, users and are left wondering why some operation isn't doing
 anything and have no way to tell that their log is full of tracebacks.

 Most UX people would be just as concerned about an absence of feedback.
 Feedback is critical to a user's understanding of the tool they are using,
 and a lack of feedback can cause uncertainty and confusion as well.
 Feedback is a very good thing, as long as the feedback is actually useful
 or informative to the audience it's directed at (in this case, kids, not
 developers!).

 > To keep things simple, I would suggest to print the exception message in
 a notification alert, and suggest users to open the Log activity for
 further details.

 It's unfortunate that some errors make it through, though its also
 inevitable, especially in an ecosystem that encourages learners to
 participate in its creation and augmentation.

 I'm in favor of showing an error message for an uncaught exception (since
 feedback is good!), though I caution against displaying the actual
 exception string in this instance. It's unlikely to make sense to the
 primary audience. Instead, I would generate some friendly message that
 lets them know that the action they attempted didn't work as expected, and
 then offering a link into the Log activity to learn more should they want
 to dig deeper.

 This will a) ensure there is feedback, preventing uncertainty b) provide a
 friendly message that kids will understand, even if they don't understand
 WHY something didn't work, and c) offer those with more expertise—or those
 desiring to learn—a shortcut to the gory details.


 (All this to say I mostly agree with Bernie, but hopefully I've set some
 misunderstandings about us "UX folks" straight. =) )

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Ticket URL: <http://bugs.sugarlabs.org/ticket/2063#comment:1>
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