UI for editing workflow

[Gervase Markham]

LpSolit is working on custom statuses and editable workflow. I've mocked 
up a UI for configuring what transitions are permitted.

What we are basically doing here is configuring permitted and forbidden 
transitions in a state machine. This particular application cries out 
for a matrix where you mark a transition as yes/no at each intersection.

http://landfill.bugzilla.org/qa30pg/page.cgi?id=editworkflow.html

[When you define a new status, you say whether it's an open status or a 
closed one, and that drives the colour (and other things like whether a 
resolution is required).]

Note click behaviour and tooltips. I think this UI is good because you 
can visually pick out patterns in the workflow, e.g.:

* The big blue block in the top left shows you can move from any opened
   state (apart from UNCO) to any other one - except you can't do
   REOPENED -> NEW.

* The vertical line of three in the middle shows that you can REOPEN
   from any closed state apart from BURIED.

* The diagonal line in the bottom right shows that RESOLVED -> VERIFIED
   -> CLOSED -> BURIED is a progression.

* The nearly-empty vertical line on the left shows there's no way back
   to UNCONFIRMED.

Other features:

* Impossible or meaningless transitions are clearly marked by the lack
   of a checkbox.

* It easily answers the obvious questions in *both* directions - i.e.
   "Where can I go from UNCONFIRMED", and "How can I get to VERIFIED". A
   list-based system would only answer one of those easily.

What do you think?

Gerv

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