Help needed in with documentation for new FxOS developer settings

[Chris Mills]

Hello all,

I’ve looked over the FxOS 2.0 Developer settings today, and updated the docs at:

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Firefox_OS/Debugging/Developer_settings

There are a few that I have no idea about, however. Can people who know about these help me fill in short descriptions?

Dump layers tree
Layers: Enable tiles
Layers: Simple tiles
Layers: Progressive paint
Layers: Draw tile borders
Displayport Heuristics
Default:
Center displayport:
Assume perfect paints:
Taller displayport:
Faster paints:
No checkerboarding:
Cards View: Enable scree...
Keep killed app in task …

Many thanks,

Chris Mills
Senior tech writer || Mozilla
developer.mozilla.org || MDN
cmi...@mozilla.com || @chrisdavidmills

[Evelyn Hung]

Hi Chris,

Again, thanks for documenting Settings app. I did a few git blames to dig out the original bug numbers, hope they help. :)
More comment inline.

Regards,
Evelyn

----- Original Message -----
> Hello all,
>
> I’ve looked over the FxOS 2.0 Developer settings today, and updated the docs
> at:
>
> https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Firefox_OS/Debugging/Developer_settings
>
> There are a few that I have no idea about, however. Can people who know about
> these help me fill in short descriptions?
>
> Dump layers tree

Introduced in bug 977209, it's related to Graphics layers. From a comment I found in this Gecko code: http://dxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/source/gfx/thebes/gfxPrefs.h#30
it looks like we enable this for calling gfxPrefs::LayersDump() from any thread, I don't know what it means though.

> Layers: Enable tiles

> Layers: Progressive paint
> Layers: Draw tile borders

Note: This part has been reorganized after bug 995358. These 3 settings were introduce in bug 967094 which expose more Graphic layer preferences to Gaia. I can find some code snippets related to them by searching these mozSettings keys in dxr.mozilla.org.
Someone who is familiar with GFX layers can explain.

Layers: Enable tiles(key: 'layers.enable-tiles'): http://dxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/search?q=%2Bfunction-ref%3AgfxPrefs%3A%3ALayersTilesEnabled%28%29

Layers: Progressive paint(key: 'layers.progressive-paint'): http://dxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/search?q=%2Bfunction-ref%3AgfxPrefs%3A%3AUseProgressiveTilePainting%28%29

Layers: Draw tile borders(key: 'layers.draw-tile-borders'): http://dxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/source/gfx/thebes/gfxPlatform.cpp#1403

> Layers: Simple tiles

Note: This also has been reorganized after bug 995358.

Layers: Simple tiles (key: 'layers.simple-tiles') was introduce in bug 981733: http://dxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/source/gfx/layers/client/ClientThebesLayer.cpp#144

> Displayport Heuristics
> Default:
> Center displayport:
> Assume perfect paints:
> Taller displayport:
> Faster paints:
> No checkerboarding:

Introduced in Bug 967098. You can ask Kartikaya to get a correct answer. :)

> Cards View: Enable scree...

If you enable this, long press home button you will see a list of app screenshots. Otherwise, you will see a list of app icons.
The list we called "cards view" which represents opened app.

> Keep killed app in task …

Note: This part has been reorganized after bug 995358. Now it's "App suspending" under Window management session.

This was introduce in bug 935750, per it's comment on the code https://github.com/mozilla-b2g/gaia/pull/16061/files#diff-cfa1d9813ade22ddb10164655efc52b9R61, enabling this will NOT remove the iframe of a crashed app, but re-use it when the app launches next time.

>
> Many thanks,
>
> Chris Mills
> Senior tech writer || Mozilla
> developer.mozilla.org || MDN
> cmi...@mozilla.com || @chrisdavidmills
>
>
>

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> dev-gaia mailing list
> dev-...@lists.mozilla.org
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>

[Jan Keromnes]

Chris, thanks a lot for documenting the developer menu!
Evelyn, thank you so much for digging up what each of these options do.

Sorry that bug 995358 shuffled everything for you. That bug has a
`dev-doc-needed` keyword, but contrary to my comment when adding it,
the change invalidates more than just a few screenshots in the
documentation.

In
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Firefox_OS/Debugging/Developer_settings
, here is what should be changed:

- Item order, and several names.
The new UX spec at https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=995124
(the PDF attachment) has been implemented, changing strings and adding
new categories.
Here is a complete screenshot of the new developer menu (excluding the
Developer HUD submenu):
https://bug995358.bugzilla.mozilla.org/attachment.cgi?id=8408188

- The first screenshot is outdated.
In FxOS 2.0, options were reorganized, and submenu buttons changed from
solid grey to italic. Other screenshots are also slightly outdated, but
updating them is not crucial.

- The Developer HUD is a submenu, with its own item categories.
Currently in the documentation, Developer HUD items are mingled with
the other developer options.
I think "Developer" menu options and categories should be separate from
"Developer HUD" submenu options and categories.
I'll upload a screenshot of the new Developer HUD to
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=995358

If you have any question about this, please ping me on IRC.
:janx

[Jan Keromnes]

Follow-up, https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=995358 now has
updated screenshots of the developer menu and the developer hud.

Best,
:janx

[Jan Keromnes]

Second follow-up:

- Bug 1003228 will completely remove "Progressive paint" and
"Displayport heuristics", and probably uplift the changes, so maybe
there is no need to document these features anymore.
- Bug 1000407 changed the "Remote debugging" string to "Debugging via
USB".

Best,
:janx

[Kartikaya Gupta]

Hi Chris, see comments inline...

On 25/4/2014, 14:45, Chris Mills wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I�ve looked over the FxOS 2.0 Developer settings today, and updated the docs at:

>
> https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Firefox_OS/Debugging/Developer_settings
>
> There are a few that I have no idea about, however. Can people who know about these help me fill in short descriptions?
>
> Dump layers tree

This option causes a copy of the compositor's layer tree to be dumped to
logcat on every frame composited to the screen. This is generally not
that useful for web content developers and more useful for the
platform-side gfx team.

> Layers: Enable tiles

This enables the painting of content to the screen in smaller chunks
("tiles") rather than doing the whole screen at once. This was a new
feature landed in 1.4 to help reduce checkerboarding. I think it makes
sense to leave this option in for the time being as it can help QA with
finding regression windows but it's not useful to web content developers.

> Layers: Simple tiles

This flips between two different implementations of the tiling behaviour
described above. We should be able to remove this option, I think.

> Layers: Progressive paint

I'm getting rid of this one in bug 1003228. Again, it's for an
implementation detail with respect to tiling.

> Layers: Draw tile borders

This is similar to the "draw borders" option, except it also draws the
borders for individual tiles rather than just the borders around layers.

> Displayport Heuristics
> Default:
> Center displayport:
> Assume perfect paints:
> Taller displayport:
> Faster paints:
> No checkerboarding:

This option was added for QA to experiment with different repainting
heuristics to see which resulted in the least amount of checkboarding.
I'm removing this option in bug 1003228.

> Cards View: Enable scree...
> Keep killed app in task �

Not sure about these two; they are not gfx-related.

Cheers,
kats

[Chris Mills]

Hi Jan,

Sorry for the delay in getting to this; I’ve been out of the office for a while.

I have updated the screenshots, option labels, and order of options, to get them up to date.

Let me know if it all looks ok.

I still need descriptions for:

* Cards View: Screenshots
* App suspending

See below for a couple of comments.

Thanks!

Chris Mills
Senior tech writer || Mozilla
developer.mozilla.org || MDN
cmi...@mozilla.com || @chrisdavidmills

On 5 May 2014, at 11:01, Jan Keromnes <j...@mozilla.com> wrote:

> Second follow-up:
>
> - Bug 1003228 will completely remove "Progressive paint" and "Displayport heuristics", and probably uplift the changes, so maybe there is no need to document these features anymore.

Ok, I’ve moved them to the “Obsolete settings” section.

> - Bug 1000407 changed the "Remote debugging" string to "Debugging via USB”.

Updated.

>>>>> I’ve looked over the FxOS 2.0 Developer settings today, and updated

>>>>> the docs
>>>>> at:
>>>>>
>>>>> https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Firefox_OS/Debugging/Developer_settings
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> There are a few that I have no idea about, however. Can people who
>>>>> know about
>>>>> these help me fill in short descriptions?
>>>>>
>>>>> Dump layers tree
>>>>

>>>> Introduced in bug 977209, it's related to Graphics layers. From a
>>>> comment I found in this Gecko code:
>>>> http://dxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/source/gfx/thebes/gfxPrefs.h#30
>>>> it looks like we enable this for calling gfxPrefs::LayersDump() from
>>>> any thread, I don't know what it means though.
>>>>
>>>>> Layers: Enable tiles
>>>>> Layers: Progressive paint
>>>>> Layers: Draw tile borders
>>>>
>>>> Note: This part has been reorganized after bug 995358. These 3
>>>> settings were introduce in bug 967094 which expose more Graphic
>>>> layer preferences to Gaia. I can find some code snippets related to
>>>> them by searching these mozSettings keys in dxr.mozilla.org.
>>>> Someone who is familiar with GFX layers can explain.
>>>>
>>>> Layers: Enable tiles(key: 'layers.enable-tiles'):
>>>> http://dxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/search?q=%2Bfunction-ref%3AgfxPrefs%3A%3ALayersTilesEnabled%28%29
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Layers: Progressive paint(key: 'layers.progressive-paint'):
>>>> http://dxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/search?q=%2Bfunction-ref%3AgfxPrefs%3A%3AUseProgressiveTilePainting%28%29
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Layers: Draw tile borders(key: 'layers.draw-tile-borders'):
>>>> http://dxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/source/gfx/thebes/gfxPlatform.cpp#1403
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Layers: Simple tiles
>>>>
>>>> Note: This also has been reorganized after bug 995358.
>>>>
>>>> Layers: Simple tiles (key: 'layers.simple-tiles') was introduce in
>>>> bug 981733:
>>>> http://dxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/source/gfx/layers/client/ClientThebesLayer.cpp#144
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>

>>>>> Displayport Heuristics
>>>>> Default:
>>>>> Center displayport:
>>>>> Assume perfect paints:
>>>>> Taller displayport:
>>>>> Faster paints:
>>>>> No checkerboarding:
>>>>

[Alive]

Chris Mills <cmi...@mozilla.com> 於 2014/5/12 上午6:40 寫道：

Hi Jan,

Sorry for the delay in getting to this; I’ve been out of the office for a while.

I have updated the screenshots, option labels, and order of options, to get them up to date.

Let me know if it all looks ok.

I still need descriptions for:

* Cards View: Screenshots

This means if we will take app's screenshots in card view or not.

* App suspending

If an app is killed at background, this option will keep it in history and reopen the app while you open it from homescreen/cardview again.

--

Alive C. Kuo, Senior Front-end/Software Engineer, FirefoxOS, MoCo. Taiwan, Taipei office.

al...@mozilla.com

[Chris Mills]

On 12 May 2014, at 14:50, Alive <al...@mozilla.com> wrote:

>
> Chris Mills <cmi...@mozilla.com> 於 2014/5/12 上午6:40 寫道：
>
>> Hi Jan,
>>
>> Sorry for the delay in getting to this; I’ve been out of the office for a while.
>>
>> I have updated the screenshots, option labels, and order of options, to get them up to date.
>>
>> Let me know if it all looks ok.
>>
>> I still need descriptions for:
>>
>> * Cards View: Screenshots
>
> This means if we will take app's screenshots in card view or not.

Thanks! So what happens if the option is not enabled, and the screenshots are not taken for card view?

>
>> * App suspending
>
> If an app is killed at background, this option will keep it in history and reopen the app while you open it from homescreen/cardview again.

Again, what happens if it is not enabled?

[Alive]

Chris Mills <cmi...@mozilla.com> 於 2014/5/12 下午1:22 寫道：

* Cards View: Screenshots

This means if we will take app's screenshots in card view or not.

Thanks! So what happens if the option is not enabled, and the screenshots are not taken for card view?

The application icon put in middle of the card is the alternative when screenshot is disabled.

* App suspending

If an app is killed at background, this option will keep it in history and reopen the app while you open it from homescreen/cardview again.

Again, what happens if it is not enabled?

The app will be removed at background once OOM/crash happens. Not kept in history/cards view.