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Bug #2891

closed

Workbench error pages should be helpful

Added by Brett Smith almost 10 years ago. Updated almost 10 years ago.

Status:
Resolved
Priority:
Normal
Assigned To:
Category:
-
Target version:
Story points:
1.0

Description

Examples
  • A user recently tried to view a collection they did not have permission to read (see #2890). The API server returned 404 for this request, and Workbench rendered a 422 Fiddlesticks. Workbench should render a more-specific 404 for this specific error.
  • If an object is not found, but the desired/expected object type can be determined, offer a link to a "search all X" page.
  • Unexpected errors from the API server should be presented with some more boilerplate rather than just "blah [API 422]".
    • "Workbench received an error response from an Arvados API method. The details of the request and response follow:"
    • Show request URL (but avoid showing posted parameters, in case they are huge or include API tokens)
    • Show pretty-json-formatted API response in a PRE block
    • Show timestamp of request or response (and, perhaps better: on the API server side, include some sort of unique identifier in each error response, like timestamp+random, and send that to logger.error as well. Workbench can also log that ID when rendering an error page. This would make it much easier for a server admin to cross reference a user's error report / screen capture with the relevant parts of the Workbench and API log files.)
    • Suggest an appropriate next step. "It's possible that you can fix this by refreshing the page, but it's more likely a software bug: either API server is not behaving the way Workbench expects, or Workbench has made a mistake by offering to let you do something that isn't really possible. In that case, your best option is to report this information to the server administrator via {Rails.configuration.bug_reporting_contact_link}."
  • Error page should not give the appearance of being logged out if in fact the user is still logged in.

Files

Workbench Errors 404.png (68.5 KB) Workbench Errors 404.png New 404 page with search link Brett Smith, 07/15/2014 05:58 PM
Workbench Errors 422.png (88.3 KB) Workbench Errors 422.png New Fiddlesticks page with error token Brett Smith, 07/15/2014 05:58 PM

Subtasks 5 (0 open5 closed)

Task #3074: Review 2891-workbench-errors-retain-login-wipResolvedPeter Amstutz06/20/2014Actions
Task #3032: Error in rendering error.htmlResolvedBrett Smith06/17/2014Actions
Task #3092: Review 2891-improve-workbench-errors-wipResolvedPeter Amstutz06/25/2014Actions
Task #3080: Workbench "not found" page links to the object type indexResolvedBrett Smith06/23/2014Actions
Task #3079: Render 404 for not found Collections and filesResolvedBrett Smith06/23/2014Actions
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