Suggestion: An extra reminder when the output path is not empty

[shan-luan]

I've just been creating a new project with gdx-liftoff, and I've changed a lot from the config I left over from last time, but I forgot to modify the output path, so the gradle script from my previous project was replaced a lot. I haven't to apply version control tools like git to my projects yet, so I have to fix all of them manually, and most of them are libraries be like to javacv that aren't included in the libgdx ecosystem, which means that there is no quick way to import them automatically, and I have to spend hours rewriting the compilation script and configuring all the subprojects, especially the Android part, which is hell.

So we need a more obvious way to show that the output path isn't empty, such as giving it a bold red display and a pop-up confirmation dialog, in order to prevent the above tragic situation from happening

Version: gdx-liftoff-1.12.1.12

[SonicGDX]

That's very unfortunate. If you were working in IntelliJ Idea or Android Studio, perhaps you may be able to recover your previous work using the IDE's Local History feature?

https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/local-history.html

[shan-luan]

I've fixed it in an afternoon when I brought this up and I just want to prevent someone from doing the same thing as me in the future,(at the moment this tip is even green and looks harmless)

[tommyettinger]

I've fixed it in an afternoon when I brought this up and I just want to prevent someone from doing the same thing as me in the future,(at the moment this tip is even green and looks harmless)

As you can see in the sources, that isn't green.

notEmptyDirectory=[YELLOW]Caution: Project destination folder is not empty.[] It even says "Caution" already.

Congratulations, you probably have some form of color-blindness! The exam was free! You should not associate any green you perceive with the green non-color-blind people perceive, which can actually be yellow and indicate a warning.

Also, you already mentioned the obvious fix, which is to use version control. Just use version control, i.e. Git! It addresses the exact problem where you can lose projects. If you aren't using version control, you implicitly consider that it's fine for the project as it stands to be lost for any reason.

Reasons such as...

• Burglary! 💔
• Fire! 🔥
• Vandalism! 🖌️
• Electrical damage! ⚡
• Animals run off with your shiny laptop! 🦝
• Human error! 🫵

As @SonicGDX mentioned, IDEA has a Local History feature that can handle at least the last reason in some cases, but it's still unable to help with the first five reasons.

I'm probably going to add TextraTypist or Typing-Label as a dependency at some point so I can make text change colors in a gradient, which at least makes the app more accessible. That should make slowly-changing and still "this is good" text distinguishable from rapidly-changing and maybe occasionally-moving "this is bad" text.

[SonicGDX]

I agree that the color probably isn't the issue, although maybe orange would be more suitable than yellow.

However, I do think it is very easy to just click through and generate before you even think about or process the warning, just by repeatedly pressing the bottom right corner button. I've done this once or twice myself while trying to quickly generate a project. In my opinion either the warning should be in a popup which you have to explicitly dismiss by pressing "OK" after you press generate, or the app should just not use the previous project path by default (maybe by default it could be blank, with a button that restores the path of the previous generated project).

[shan-luan]

Sorry, when I rechecked it today, I found that it was indeed yellow (hex#eeee00), maybe I was staring at my chartreuse tablemat for too long, or maybe my screen had a color cast, because my used screen was only $20 when I bought it, I did a quick online test to rule out that I have color blindness
But in any case, a more obvious warning is always appropriate, and perhaps they will help people who are really colorblind, who are used to receiving a confirmation dialog before performing a dangerous operation, non-native English speakers who are not sensitive to English, and who are not using git on their projects :)

[tommyettinger]

I've done part of a solution by making the warning and error texts look substantially different now, using Typing-Label. Error texts flicker from red to slightly darker red, and look "broken" by having characters drop and return at random. Less serious warning texts (which may be fine for some conditions, but you should just be aware of) have "Caution" wave up and down, and the warning has a yellow-to-pink gradient. Both of these do catch the eye the first time you see them, at least, and are distinguishable even for people with total colorblindness (grayscale).

@SonicGDX the idea for a "restore previous path" is a good one for the user folder, and we should maybe have something similar for the Android SDK because it's a pain if it gets changed and you need to find it again.

@shan-luan $20 is a good deal for a screen that works, I'd say it's worth it! 😆

@raeleus Do you have any thoughts on how to present a "Restore Previous" button to users? I don't think an icon-only button is the best idea, since this isn't a common action in other GUI apps. This would probably just store the previous path as it does now, but only auto-fill for Android SDK.