#5774 Allura Code Viewer: provide 1-click access to file History from directory view
Originally created by: dcommander
This is one of several tickets I am creating to log what I feel are shortcomings in the new (Allura) code viewer relative to the old (ViewVC) code viewer. In all of these cases, simply providing a way for users to continue using ViewVC would be an acceptable workaround.
When viewing a directory in ViewVC, the default when clicking on a file name was to bring up the log (history) view for that file, and clicking on a file's latest revision number brought up the code view for that file.
In the new Allura code viewer, clicking on a file name brings up the code view instead, and clicking on a file's latest revision number brings up the revision view. Arguably, that makes more sense than ViewVC's approach, but it means that there is no way to bring up the history view for a file without first bringing up its code view. That is too many clicks, since the history view of a file is the most important view. Visualizing the repository history is the main reason why people use these online code viewers.
Suggested resolution:
(1) add a new link to the directory view that allows the user to pull up the history view for a file without first pulling up the code view.
OR
(2) provide a configurable option for changing the default behavior whenever a user clicks on the file name. As with other options, such as side-by-side diff, this option should be retained, so that the user doesn't have to reset it each time they enter the code viewer.