Improving Identify UX making some parameters configurable from UI

[tdipisa]

Description

At the moment certain key parameters of the Identify request (WMS GetFeatureinfo) are hardcoded or totally missing. In particular we have:

• feature_count: always set to 10 (this value should remain anyway the default)
• buffer (GeoServer's vendor param): missing (online doc here)

We should improve the UX by including the possibility to configure these options both at Catalog tool level (a dedicated section in the form would be clearer, I think) and Layer Settings (Feature Info section I would say) in line with the current logic.

In MS we have the concept of server type (see Catalog tool):

which means that the buffer option should be available only if the server type is GeoServer.

What kind of improvement you want to add? (check one with "x", remove the others)

• Minor changes to existing features
• Code style update (formatting, local variables)
• Refactoring (no functional changes, no api changes)
• Build related changes
• CI related changes
• Other... Please describe:

Other useful information

This issue requires some UI design first.

[Binabh]

Above are UI I purpose for this feature for this feature.

In catalog section it I purpose a straightforward UI with Feature Info section and in that section option for buffer shows up or hides bases on if Geoserver is selected or not.

In Layer settings section it seems little bit tricky to know if the layer is from Geoserver for enabling the buffer option. If user has selected Geoserver in Catalog we can know from that but in case they have not selected anything in catalog advanced options we have option of looking into url property of layer for word /geoserver/ but it may not be always reliable.

So, @tdipisa what do you suggest about showing buffer input option in layer settings (Feature Info section)?

1. Show buffer input option only if Geoserver is explicitly set in catalog advanced settings.
2. Show buffer input option also if url property in layer has /geoserver/ word.

Also, for actual feature implementation I see that things like feature_count are there with value of 10. I would wire those functions to take value from input box(I will sanitize values before using). For buffer I will have to add a new variable, store it and use it in accordance with geoserver docs (i.e. passing properly in params)

Please let me know your feedback on this or if I need to fill in any gaps in my current implementation plan.

[allyoucanmap]

@Binabh The UI inside the feature info settings panel will change see this issue #12595, so we should avoid to include the the new setting inside a card. I think it's enough to add the needed inputs in the settings panel as we are doing inside the catalog settings.

So, @tdipisa what do you suggest about showing buffer input option in layer settings (Feature Info section)?

1. Show buffer input option only if Geoserver is explicitly set in catalog advanced settings.
2. Show buffer input option also if url property in layer has /geoserver/ word.

I think we should not check the url but just verify the serverType. At the moment the logic is, when serverType is undefined is considered a GeoServer type, so based on this the buffer should not be visible only when serverType is not NO_VENDOR

[Binabh]

@tdipisa After clarification and suggestion from @allyoucanmap below is my final implementation plan with UI mockups:

Catalog Advanced settings

When vendor is Geoserver

Show Buffer option and Feature Count option

When vendor is No Vendor

Only show Feature Count option but do not show Buffer option

Layer Settings Feature Info section

Identify if layer is from Geoserver using serverType property. We only do not show buffer option only when serverType is NO_VENDOR else show buffer option

When serverType is NO_VENDOR

When serverType is not NO_VENDOR

Implementation Plan

• Wire value for Feature Count and Buffer from input to the functions using these values
• For Feature Count the default value of 10 should be shown in input box as it is initial default value.
• Sanitize values from input to handle edge cases (negative values, empty values, decimals etc.)
• Pass buffer value to Geoserver properly in parameters
• Write tests for added features both in catalog and layer settings section
• Manual Verification and testing