[development] Re: [consulting] Module to view/edit module weights

[Khalid B]

On 6/16/06, Greg Knaddison - GVS <Greg at growingventuresolutions.com> wrote:
> On 6/16/06, Khalid B <kb at 2bits.com> wrote:
> > > Never used it, I'm going to guess a majority of Drupal administrators
> > > haven't either.
> >
> > That does not mean it is not there, just that you did not come across it.
> >
>
> I think neil's point is that while it exists, he never needed to use
> it.  And if that's not his point, I'll make it:  I've only rarely had
> to edit init script numbers and I spent some time being in charge of
> writing installer software for a custom server based on jboss and
> apache and...but the init scripts that those guys shipped with were
> good enough and I didn't have to think about the numbers.  Drupal
> should strive for a similar situation.

Good point and well stated.

I only had to add them on occasion as well. For example to add the
special device for a tape drive that does not get added automatically.
In this case, it really did not matter what the number was, I just
put it as late as possible.

> Similarly, sticking a weightsUI onto admin/modules is distracting,
> confusing, and useless for 99% of Drupal users.  It would be nice to
> be able to edit the weights, but I don't think it makes sense in the
> interface.
>
> If a module's weight is wrong in a situation- maybe log a bug to fix
> it or to reengineer an "after these modules" and "before these
> modules" system, but exposing control over the weights seems like the
> wrong solution even if it gets the job done in those 1% of cases.

In the case of UNIX init script numbers, someone (not necessarily the
machine user) decided the numbering scheme (the makers of the distro,
or the packagers of the said daemon).

I realize that no doubt the "load after" and "load before" functionality is
a better (longer term) solution for the module order dilemma. The user
interface can specify that (e.g. from a drop down list that has modules
in it). Under the hood, the code could take the data and then sort the
modules with the weight (simpler SQL, less code to load when not
editing the order).

Meanwhile, Barry's module is something that works today until that
better solution is developed.