Make the UI actually usable

Hi Shreya,

Thanks for reviewing my idea.

Regarding link renaming: My standard practice is to use temporary short names (e.g., 'x') for faster, more readable expression development (x. + autocomplete), renaming them descriptively later.

Generally, ETL tools originated as productivity enhancers, but now often feel slower and more clumsy [or cumbersome/less streamlined] than SQL/Spark development, particularly with GenAI-enabled IDEs offering rapid assistance. Core developer efficiency needs to be a primary focus again.

I'd also love if you would consider how to leverage the power of concise textual editing – the effectiveness of osh code comes to mind – perhaps by making it a directly editable component alongside the visual design.

It would be a real winner if you cleverly combine text and visuals: e.g., you could display the constraint expressions on the outgoing links from the transformer stage, or display the join key(s) and join type underneath the join stage icon. This would enable a developer to grasp critical parts of the job logic without actually opening the stages.

Regards,
Timm

Hi Timm - Thank you for the feedback on the new Transformer stage. Below we have responded to a few of your comments with information on work we are conducting for the stage (we are investigating the timestamp display options outside of Transformer), as well as some info to help you as you work:

Items we intend to implement (roadmap):

• Shift + click for column range selection

• Column width adjustments and improved controls

• Enhanced constraint field functionality (preventing cutoff expressions using a smaller window)

General comments:

• Input link renaming - Feature not included in this location to avoid redundancy

• Multiple column selection - You can click individual columns and select them until you have selected all columns you want, then drag them to the location you want to move them to

  • Shift + click is a roadmap feature to be implemented (see above)

• Constraint fields - Calculator button available for dedicated constraint editing

• Metadata display - NULL properties editable in Edit columns tearsheet for consistency

• Reordering columns

  • Check the box on a column you want to move and click one of the four arrow options that appear in the top right corner: move to top, move up one, move to bottom, or move down one. Note: In this context, ‘top’ means the leftmost in the table and ‘bottom’ means the rightmost in the table.

• Overflow options (three dots) - These follow CP4D conventions that are found elsewhere when there are three or more actions (e.g., delete, edit, and advanced changes)

Furthermore in lists and tables, cell padding is too wide. That wastes room. Less information is visible and makes users to scroll a lot.

Another screenshot of a bad UI piece... Properties of stages. Why do we need 3 tabs when only one is displayed. I suggest: you could have the stage properties on the right, the input/output column list in a separate box on the bottom of the screen. Or maybe instead of having a dialogue box for the stage properties, why not have a code editor (text box) with syntax highlighting and code completion where you can easily change the behaviour, properties and input / output columns / mappings of the stage.