Bug 148672 – Web Inspector: Reorder columns in the Rendering Frames data grid by importance

• Status: RESOLVED
• Resolution: FIXED
• Component: Web Inspector

[Matt Baker]

* SUMMARY
Reorder columns in the Rendering Frames data grid by importance.

Current column order:
Location | Start Time | Script | Paint | Layout | Other | Total Time

Better column order:
Total Time | Script | Layout | Paint | Other | Start Time | Location

* NOTES
Total Time - Should be first. It's the most important item, and tracking across the row while expanding script nodes is painful.
Location - Should be last. It's often empty, and only needs to be referred to when a record of interest has been located.
Start Time - Useful for returning records to chronological order after applying other sorting criteria, but doesn't need a prominent position in the column order.
Paint and Layout - Should be switched to stress the order of these tasks in the event loop.

[Radar WebKit Bug Importer]

<rdar://problem/22515390>

[Matt Baker]

Created attachment 260356 [details]
[Patch] Proposed Fix

[Blaze Burg]

Can you upload a before/after screenshot? I follow your argument but it would be good to see it too.

[Timothy Hatcher]

I think Start Time and Total Time should be next to each other. I read it as "when did this start, and how long did it take."

[Matt Baker]

(In reply to comment #4)
> I think Start Time and Total Time should be next to each other. I read it as
> "when did this start, and how long did it take."

We could place Start Time second, after the Total Time. I feel Total Time should be first, as it's the most often viewed column, and having the timing info adjacent to the tree makes a huge difference when scrolling/expanding profile nodes to locate expensive functions.

[Matt Baker]

Created attachment 260382 [details]
[Image] Revised column order

[Matt Baker]

I agree that (In reply to comment #4)
> I think Start Time and Total Time should be next to each other. I read it as
> "when did this start, and how long did it take."

I agree that it reads better this way, but I had another motivation for having the 'Script' column follow 'Total Time':

I've been wanting to add 'self time' values for profile records, and lacking a dedicated column for this, was planning on using the Script column (which is empty for all rows but the top-level frame record).

Self time is essential for performance debugging, and it makes the most sense for it to be adjacent to Total Time. I acknowledge that this is all a bit awkward, as the Rendering Frames grid combines disparate timeline record types, but a debugging workflow would largely focus on analyzing script/profile records, so I feel its fair for this to receive special treatment.

[WebKit Commit Bot]

Comment on attachment 260356 [details]
[Patch] Proposed Fix

Clearing flags on attachment: 260356

Committed r189232: <http://trac.webkit.org/changeset/189232>

[WebKit Commit Bot]

All reviewed patches have been landed.  Closing bug.