2024-01-25, 12:07 AM
(This post was last modified: 2024-01-25, 12:09 AM by theskyhound.)
So, just thinking out loud here... Why do we want that info on an observing list on the Nightly Planner? The purpose of the NP is to determine which objects to observe on a particular night and then when the best time is to observe each of them. Its not a spreadsheet, even though you can see that I lost that argument a few times over the years... as long as I can see how it can work in step with the primary purpose then I have gone ahead and added more of that side stuff.
But... why couldn't the Log Browser perform the same function? Or maybe the Object Info? The Nightly Planner is just one tool of many: the very most fundamental thing about SkyTools is to choose the right tool for the job rather than try to use one tool to do everything. That's why there is more than one chart, for example. Yet people who never used anything but the atlas, have demanded I put an eyepiece FOV on it (which I only did because it could serve another purpose as well) and then there are other people who ask me to put the features of the atlas (which they never tried) into the finder chart. But I digress.
When people ask me how to ask for features I always tell them the same thing: never tell me how you imagine something should work. That will only end in frustration for both of us. Instead, it is much more useful for me to understand the problem you are trying to solve or the goal you are trying to achieve. Give me that. Let me come up with the best solution. Right now, I don't understand why you need this information. That is my true sticking point. Tell me that. I already know how to program databases.
So I like to start with this:
What is the purpose of the feature? I mean, really, what is its primary purpose? Why do different objects need to be tied together in a more or less arbitrary fashion? How is that connection employed usefully and to what end?
Examples are great, but not of how you want it to work. Tell me what you are trying to accomplish in some detail. To play devils advocate, I can look at this and think, why not have separate logs for each object in the same field of view? After all, if they were observed together its an easy matter to make two log entries (using the context capabilities of the logging), with the bonus that they can have separate descriptions. What purpose does it serve to link them, especially since they are already linked by the night they were observed on?
But... why couldn't the Log Browser perform the same function? Or maybe the Object Info? The Nightly Planner is just one tool of many: the very most fundamental thing about SkyTools is to choose the right tool for the job rather than try to use one tool to do everything. That's why there is more than one chart, for example. Yet people who never used anything but the atlas, have demanded I put an eyepiece FOV on it (which I only did because it could serve another purpose as well) and then there are other people who ask me to put the features of the atlas (which they never tried) into the finder chart. But I digress.
When people ask me how to ask for features I always tell them the same thing: never tell me how you imagine something should work. That will only end in frustration for both of us. Instead, it is much more useful for me to understand the problem you are trying to solve or the goal you are trying to achieve. Give me that. Let me come up with the best solution. Right now, I don't understand why you need this information. That is my true sticking point. Tell me that. I already know how to program databases.
So I like to start with this:
What is the purpose of the feature? I mean, really, what is its primary purpose? Why do different objects need to be tied together in a more or less arbitrary fashion? How is that connection employed usefully and to what end?
Examples are great, but not of how you want it to work. Tell me what you are trying to accomplish in some detail. To play devils advocate, I can look at this and think, why not have separate logs for each object in the same field of view? After all, if they were observed together its an easy matter to make two log entries (using the context capabilities of the logging), with the bonus that they can have separate descriptions. What purpose does it serve to link them, especially since they are already linked by the night they were observed on?
Clear skies,
Greg
Head Dude at Skyhound
Greg
Head Dude at Skyhound