Protect Theme Edits: Prevent Data Loss In Superset

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Protect Theme Edits: Prevent Data Loss in Superset

Hey everyone, let's talk about a crucial feature enhancement for Superset, the open-source data visualization and exploration platform. We're diving into how to safeguard user work when they're tinkering with themes in the Settings > Themes section. This is all about preventing those frustrating moments where your hard work vanishes with a click! We are going to explore the proposed solution to add unsaved changes protection to the Theme CRUD modal. Let's get into it!

The Problem: Accidental Data Loss

Imagine spending ages crafting the perfect theme in Superset, tweaking the colors, fonts, and overall look to match your brand. You're deep in the JSON configuration, and everything's just right. Then, bam, a careless click on the "Cancel" button or the "X" icon, and poof – all your changes are gone. This is the reality for users when editing or creating themes in Superset, and it's a major pain point. This feature is important because it prevents accidental data loss. This can be particularly devastating when dealing with complex JSON configurations, where even minor tweaks can take a lot of time and effort.

The current behavior is straightforward but lacks a critical safety net. The Theme modal lets you create new themes or edit existing ones, but there's absolutely no warning or protection against accidental data loss. This means that if you make changes to either the theme name or the JSON configuration and then try to close the modal, your changes are immediately discarded without any confirmation. It's like having a project file that doesn't autosave – a recipe for disaster.

Reproduction Steps to Highlight the Issue

To really drive home the problem, let's go through the steps to reproduce this behavior:

  1. Navigate to Settings > Themes in Superset: This is where all the theming magic happens.
  2. Click "Add Theme" or edit an existing non-system theme: Get ready to make some changes.
  3. Make changes to the theme name field: For example, change "My Theme" to "Updated Theme".
  4. Click the "Cancel" button or the X icon to close the modal: Time to see the problem firsthand.
  5. Observe: The modal closes immediately, and all changes are lost without any warning.
  6. Alternatively, make changes to the JSON configuration in the editor: Get your hands dirty with some JSON.
  7. Attempt to close the modal or navigate away from the page: Try to leave the page.
  8. Observe: Changes are lost without confirmation, and browser navigation occurs without warning.

See? It's easy to lose your work in a blink of an eye. That's why we need a solution!

The Solution: Unsaved Changes Protection

So, how do we fix this? The proposed solution is to implement unsaved changes protection. The goal is simple: when a user makes changes to a theme and tries to close the modal or navigate away, they should be prompted with a confirmation dialog. This dialog will give them options to save their work, discard their changes, or keep editing. This will provide a much-needed safety net and prevent accidental data loss. This is the unsaved changes protection that the article is about!

Expected Behavior

Here's what we expect to happen:

  • When a user modifies the theme name or JSON configuration and attempts to close the modal, a confirmation dialog appears.
  • This dialog has three clear options: "Keep editing", "Save and close", and "Discard changes".
  • The dialog does NOT appear if no changes have been made (no need for a warning when everything is pristine).
  • The dialog does NOT appear when viewing a read-only system theme (system themes are not meant to be altered).
  • The dialog does NOT appear after successfully saving changes (changes are saved, so no need for warnings).
  • When attempting to navigate away from the page or close the browser tab with unsaved changes, the browser's native "before unload" warning appears.
  • All three confirmation options work correctly: "Keep editing" returns to the editor, "Save and close" saves changes and closes the modal, and "Discard changes" closes without saving.

This behavior ensures that users are always in control of their work. They will have the opportunity to save, discard, or continue editing. This is all about improving the user experience and making Superset more user-friendly.

Acceptance Criteria: Ensuring the Solution Works

To make sure this solution works as expected, we need to define some acceptance criteria. These criteria will guide the development and testing process. The goal is to make sure everything works perfectly!

  • Confirmation Dialog: Verify the unsaved changes alert appears when the user attempts to close the modal with unsaved changes.
  • "Keep editing": Ensure that the user returns to the editor with their changes intact when they choose to keep editing.
  • "Discard changes": Confirm that the modal closes without saving when the user chooses to discard changes.
  • "Save and close": Make sure that the theme is saved and the modal closes when the user chooses to save and close from the alert.
  • Browser Warning: Ensure the browser's native warning appears when the user attempts to close the browser tab with unsaved changes.
  • Read-Only Themes: Confirm that no unsaved changes warning appears when a read-only system theme is open.
  • Successful Save: Verify no warning appears after saving successfully, and then immediately closing the modal.

These acceptance criteria are very important, as they confirm that the main functionalities are running smoothly. Let’s get into the steps to test it!

Steps to Test: Putting the Solution to the Test

Alright, time for some testing! To make sure everything works, we'll go through a series of steps. Here's how you can test the unsaved changes protection:

  1. Navigate to Settings > Themes: Head to the theme section.
  2. Click "Add Theme" and enter a theme name and valid JSON configuration: Create a new theme and set it up.
  3. Click "Cancel" - verify the unsaved changes alert appears: Test the first part.
  4. Click "Keep editing" - verify you return to the editor with your changes intact: Check to keep editing.
  5. Click "Cancel" again, then click "Discard changes" - verify the modal closes without saving: Test discard changes.
  6. Click "Add Theme" again, make changes, then click "Save and close" from the alert - verify the theme is saved and modal closes: Test save and close.
  7. Edit an existing theme, make changes, and attempt to close the browser tab - verify the browser's native warning appears: Test the browser tab warning.
  8. Open a system theme (read-only) - verify no unsaved changes warning appears regardless of actions: Test system themes.
  9. Create a new theme, save it successfully, then immediately close the modal - verify no warning appears: Test a successful save.

These tests will ensure that the unsaved changes protection works as intended and prevents accidental data loss.

The Goal

By adding this unsaved changes protection to the Theme CRUD modal, we're making Superset more robust and user-friendly. No more accidental data loss, no more lost hours of work. It’s all about creating a better experience for the users!

So, what do you guys think? This is a win-win for everyone involved. Let's make Superset even better, one feature at a time! This improvement focuses on preserving user work, preventing data loss, and enhancing the overall user experience within the Superset platform. It is a critical step in providing a more reliable and user-friendly experience.