Problem/Motivation

Smart Date Recur's use of the simshaun recurr library means that it already has the infrastructure to support having events that repeat hourly or even every x minutes.

Proposed resolution

Remaining tasks

  • Update the widget to allow these additional frequency values
  • Perhaps add a widget configuration option to set which frequency options to expose
  • Add an advanced widget to allow restricting by hours within the day
  • Are changes to the formatter needed? Maybe a specialized formatter?
  • For a frequency in minutes (or possibly hours too), should it enforce a frequency that is no less than the duration?
  • Should there be some way to prevent or at least throw a warning if an excessive number of instances are created?

User interface changes

CommentFileSizeAuthor
#7 smart_date-recur_by_hour_or_minute-3176021-7.patch26.93 KBmandclu
#5 Screen Shot 2020-10-11 at 9.01.01 AM.png61.43 KBmandclu
#5 smart_date-recur_by_hour_or_minute-3176021-5.patch18.27 KBmandclu
#4 smart_date-recur_by_hour_or_minute-3176021-4.patch15.45 KBmandclu

Comments

mandclu created an issue. See original summary.

mandclu’s picture

mandclu commented
Issue summary: View changes
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mandclu commented
Issue summary: View changes
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mandclu commented
Status: Active » Needs work
StatusFileSize
new smart_date-recur_by_hour_or_minute-3176021-4.patch15.45 KB

The attached patch needs some work, but should be a reasonable proof of concept for how I see this working.

One big caveat here is that the changes included require a schema update, including a change in the length of a database field, which means that until a database update can be written, it will be necessary to either test this on a fresh install, or uninstall and reinstall smart_date_recur.

Other known issues with the current state of this patch:

  • Widget should have a configuration option to restrict recurring intervals
  • Should validate that the minute interval isn't less than duration
  • Check for excessive instances?
  • hook_update_n to update field length (as mentioned above)
  • When all day checked, should disable hourly and minute options
  • Range slider(s) for hours instead of checkboxes (alternate UI)

All that said, if anyone could test the updated functionality and provide feedback, it would be appreciated.

mandclu’s picture

mandclu commented
StatusFileSize
new smart_date-recur_by_hour_or_minute-3176021-5.patch18.27 KB
new Screen Shot 2020-10-11 at 9.01.01 AM.png61.43 KB

This updated patch now includes a hook_install_n implementation, so running drush updb should perform the necessary schema and database updates.

That leaves the remaining issues as:

  • Widget should have a configuration option to restrict recurring intervals
  • Should validate that the minute interval isn't less than duration
  • Check for excessive instances?
  • When all day checked, should disable hourly and minute options
  • Range slider(s) for hours instead of checkboxes (alternate UI)

Here's an example of what the updated recurring formatter outputs with an hourly event, with some parameters set:

I do wonder if a new, specialized formatter would be more appropriate for events likely to be happening several times a day. Maybe listing times, grouped by day? Open to suggestions here.

mrpauldriver’s picture

mrpauldriver commented

I have applied the patch from #5 without difficulty and have successfully updated the database with Drush.

First impressions are that the UI is a lot to take in, and for this reason I haven't attempted to create any dates yet. It must have taken ages to code.

I'll dive deeper in the coming days and I'd like to thank you for working on this. I think it could form a basis for Smart Date being used for appointment systems and it will be interesting to see what use-cases others come up with.

mandclu’s picture

mandclu commented
Status: Needs work » Fixed
StatusFileSize
new smart_date-recur_by_hour_or_minute-3176021-7.patch26.93 KB

Thanks for the feedback.

I did roll another patch, this time including an option in the widget configuration to select which frequency values will be available. By default it leaves hourly an by minutes disabled, to preserve previous behaviour, and match popular calendar software.

This updated patch also includes some changes designed to ensure compatibility with custom entities.

I've gone ahead and merged this into a new 3.1.x branch, in the hopes of getting a new minor release shortly.

Status: Fixed » Closed (fixed)

Automatically closed - issue fixed for 2 weeks with no activity.