Won't make it for 0.8.0.
Maybe for a 0.8.x

Created attachment 484 [details]
template patch for bug 4342

A couple changes, always populate the file source, and always show the encoding
and doctype dropdowns. One possible problem is the content within the textarea
has an added newline character to the last line -- usually not a problem.

(In reply to comment #2)
> Created an attachment (id=484) [edit]
> template patch for bug 4342

Excellent! Your patch looks good, I applied it a few minutes ago.
(I'm "giving" the bug to you ;) as a result)

> A couple changes, always populate the file source

I made a little patch to this, to not pass the file source to the template
object if not needed (so as to save a bit of proc/memory footprint).

One thing that surprised me in your implementation is that you give the source
as direct input even in the case of file upload. Was this a deliberate choice?

I guess it would make sense from usability perspective, since at least a
textarea can be pre-filled with the content while a file upload control could
not. It just might be a little surprising, and I can imagine some hairy issues
(related to XML detection or charset), but this may be a good compromise
nevertheless.

Working in this area could also be an opportunity to clean up the usage of
$File->{'Is Upload'} and $File->{'Direct Input'}. I can't understand why the
former is TRUE when the input mode actually is "Direct input". 

(In reply to comment #3)
> I made a little patch to this, to not pass the file source to the template
> object if not needed (so as to save a bit of proc/memory footprint).

Ahh yes, very good.

> One thing that surprised me in your implementation is that you give the source
> as direct input even in the case of file upload. Was this a deliberate choice?

Not deliberate... but the 'File Upload' results page suffers from the same
problem Alastair McKenzie noted, no easy way to re-validate the file.

> I guess it would make sense from usability perspective, since at least a
> textarea can be pre-filled with the content while a file upload control could
> not. It just might be a little surprising, and I can imagine some hairy issues
> (related to XML detection or charset), but this may be a good compromise
> nevertheless.

This may be the best compromise --- I find copying and pasting the content
easier than a file choosing window, but I'm sure some will want the file upload
interface again. We could provide a file input to choose the file again...? 

> Working in this area could also be an opportunity to clean up the usage of
> $File->{'Is Upload'} and $File->{'Direct Input'}. I can't understand why the
> former is TRUE when the input mode actually is "Direct input". 
> 

Right, this is somewhat confusing, and even now on file upload results the <th>
left of the textarea states "Direct Input" instead of "File" (regression?).

Hard to predict what people will find more useful, a textarea populated with
the content or a blank file input. I suspect most users would expect a input
for file upload --- and then complain that it wasn't automatically populated
with the file they chose in the previous screen.   :-)

(In reply to comment #4)
> Not deliberate... but the 'File Upload' results page suffers from the same
> problem Alastair McKenzie noted, no easy way to re-validate the file.
> 
> Hard to predict what people will find more useful, a textarea populated with
> the content or a blank file input. I suspect most users would expect a input
> for file upload --- and then complain that it wasn't automatically populated
> with the file they chose in the previous screen.   :-)

Right. I actually think that most people would be happier with a pre-filled
textarea than an empty file input, but I'm  always wary of pretending to know
what people want. If people are using file upload in the first place, maybe
they prefer file upload...

For now, I think I want to clean up the $File->{'Is Upload'} and
$File->{'Direct Input'} mess, and survey the list for opinions (knowing full
well that the list is not entirely representative of all the users, but that's
a pool of users nonetheless). Then we can decide which way to go. 

Delaying the 0.8.2 release a few days for this won't be too much of an issue.

I also modified the template to use the POST method when revalidating through
the textarea. Doing this with GET would be problematic.

(In reply to comment #5)
> For now, I think I want to clean up the $File->{'Is Upload'} and
> $File->{'Direct Input'} mess

Done in CVS. In Upload mode the form shows a file upload control, in direct
input, it shows the source in a textarea. I'll post something to survey for
opinions/ideas.

Thanks Olivier.. everything looks great. Feel free to close when you're ready,
otherwise I'll wait for feedback to your post on the list - then close when a
consensus is reached.

Seeing no objection (no opinion at all actually) for now on the mail thread,
I'll close this. Let's revisit when/if the public release provides us with more
feedback.