Dropping a citation should not open it

Development
1

When dragging and dropping a note on a note list, the note is simply added to the list, and no new window is shown. When dropping a citation to a citation list, I would expect the same behavior, because the citation is already complete. Opening a window only makes sense when you drop a source (which creates a new citation, that you have to complete), or when dropping something with a *Ref type (for instance, to complete the role in an EventRef).

Could the code be modified not to open the citation window when dropping a citation, similar to dropping a note? Or is there already an option that I haven’t seen?

2 Likes
2

If you drop a “Citation ref”, I think it has some extra “sharing” context and doesn’t need a confirmation dialog. (Just like dropping an ‘Event ref’ has the extra Role context. While dragging an Event has an ‘Uknown’ role and needs a dialog.)

3

Unless I’m mistaken, there’s no “citation ref” in the data model. How do you get one? I can get a citation in the clipboard by dragging from a citation list area to the clipboard. The clipboard does say “Citation” and not “Citation ref”

When I drop an “Event ref”, it still opens a confirmation dialog: the Role is ‘unknown’ although the rest of the fields are copied from the Event reference in the clipboard.

4

If the confidence level was in this CitationRef, it would be worth having to validate the citation because we could change the confidence level each time we use the citation and depending on the context: a birth certificate for someone’s birth has a high confidence level, on the other hand the age of the witness in this same certificate a little less, it is only declarative on his part.

5

I think the window is opened because the two records are now not the same. E.G. the original record may have the role of Primary and the new record as unknown. This is a flag that there is a difference and gives the user a chance to change it as necessary. I use it in this manor all the time.

6

I understand the window is opened for an event, but a citation does not have relation-dependent information. This is why I think it should not open, just like notes.

1 Like
7

Correct.

In the past we had a SourceRef and a Source. The SourceRef was replaced by a shared Citation to handle large sources. See GEPS 023 - “Storing data from large sources”.

Yes. That is a good point. Perhaps we made a mistake in removing the old SourceRef. A CitationRef would be useful.

1 Like
8

Another thing that could be interesting in these CitationRef: a citation details note (see video at 9’30’’ from the webpage link published by @emyoulation on the Reunion for Mac thread)