This is the Spring 23 final website.

as5: Undo

Last revised: 09 May 2023
Assigned:
  • Part 1-8 Wed 10-May
Due:
  • Code and video Fri 19-May, 10:00pm
  • Reflection Sun 21-May, 10:00pm

HCI Goals:

  • Actively modify an existing application in a consistent fashion, keeping in mind code style, declared variables, etc.
  • Develop accessible and usable modifications
  • Utilize mental models to design and support the working functionality of the undo and redo features

Android Goals:

  • Efficiently analyze, understand, and modify an existing user interface
  • Analyze and modify implementations for floating action buttons
  • Carry out the integration of a custom ColorPicker view as a feature of the main application
  • Implement core data structure classes to create a working Undo functionality

Turn-in links

Overview of assignment

Demo of our solution (with no extra features):

Explanation of Codebase

This is one of the more complex programs we are giving you in terms of code. Moreover the starter code is already has a couple of fully functional features that you will be modifying as part of this assignment.

The initial interactor hierarchy at instantiation is shown below (shown at the side is a legend for the visibility status of different interactors). Hidden means on screen and drawn but hidden behind something else.

The Floating Action Button (FAB) subtrees are the menus at the top of the screen (for undo and redo) and bottom (for color and thickness), made up of one or more floating action buttons. The DrawingView is the place where drawing takes place. Each new stroke is saved as a separate, new StrokeView added to the DrawingView.

graph TD M[ReversibleDrawingActivity] --> D[DrawingView] M --> FUndo[FAB:Undo] M --> FRedo[FAB:Redo] M --> FColor[FAB:Color] M --> FThick[FAB:Thickness] FColor --> Red[Red] FColor --> Green[Green] FColor --> Blue[Blue] FThick --> Thin[Thin] FThick --> Med[Med] FThick --> Thick[Thick] Vis[Visible] --> In[Invisible] In --> Hid[Hidden] classDef normal fill:#e6f3ff,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px; classDef start fill:#d1e0e0,stroke:#333,stroke-width:4px; class M,D,FColor,FThick,Vis start class Red,Green,Blue,Thin,Med,Thick,Hid normal

When the user draws on screen (by clicking and dragging inside the DrawingView, this adds a new StrokeView to the interface. Notice that the Undo button is now visible instead of invisible because there is an action to undo.

graph TD M[ReversibleDrawingActivity] --> D[DrawingView] D --> Stroke1[StrokeView] M --> FUndo[FAB:Undo] M --> FRedo[FAB:Redo] M --> FColor[FAB:Color] M --> FThick[FAB:Thickness] FColor --> Red[Red] FColor --> Green[Green] FColor --> Blue[Blue] FThick --> Thin[Thin] FThick --> Med[Med] FThick --> Thick[Thick] Vis[Visible] --> In[Invisible] In --> Hid[Hidden] classDef normal fill:#e6f3ff,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px; classDef start fill:#d1e0e0,stroke:#333,stroke-width:4px; class M,D,Stroke1,FUndo,FColor,FThick,Vis start class Red,Green,Blue,Thin,Med,Thick,Hid normal

The sequence in the interface:

Empty drawing program window Drawing program window with one red stroke and undo button visible

You can play around with the interface to change color and thickness. Each new stroke you add adds another StrokeView to the interface.

Codebase Structure

This is a complete codebase for a drawing program. It is designed to be as modular as possible and includes support for Command Objects which encapsulate changes to the application model.

Actions

Actions are Command Objects, which encapsulate changes to the application model. An AbstractAction has a single method, doAction(view) which, when called, will apply the action to the view. Our provided implementation of AbstractAction#doAction is incomplete, it is overridden it in the concrete subclasses, such as ChangeColorAction, ChangeThicknessAction, and the subclass you will create to support your new feature (see Part 5).

AbstractReversibleAction extends AbstractAction to add undoAction(view) which, when called, reverses the action.

classDiagram AbstractAction <|.. AbstractReversibleAction AbstractReversibleAction <|.. ChangeColorAction AbstractReversibleAction <|.. ChangeThicknessAction AbstractReversibleAction <|.. AbstractReversibleViewAction AbstractReversibleViewAction <|.. StrokeAction class AbstractAction { doAction() } class AbstractReversibleAction { +boolean done +undoAction } class AbstractReversibleViewAction { +invalidate }

As with events, AbstractActions are part of an inheritance hierarchy. AbstractReversibleAction has three subclasses – ChangeThicknessAction, ChangeColorAction and StrokeAction. All of them modify properties of the DrawingView class. ChangeThicknessAction modifies the stroke width, ChangeColorAction will modify current color of the stroke, and the , and StrokeAction.represents the creation of a child view object that encapsulates a painted stroke (a StrokeView that is added to the DrawingView).

Application Code (/app)

We’ve mentioned a DrawingView (which is the main canvas for the drawing application) and StrokeView (which encapsulates a specific stroke for the drawing application).

classDiagram AbstractDrawingActivity <|.. AbstractReversibleDrawingActivity AbstractReversibleDrawingActivity <|.. ReversibleDrawingActivity class AbstractDrawingActivity { DrawingView: "Canvas the user draws on" addMenu() addCollapsableMenu() doAction() } class AbstractReversibleDrawingActivity { +AbstractHistory +doAction() +undo() +redo() } class ReversibleDrawingActivity { +onAction() +onColorMenuSelected() +onThicknessMenuSelected() } class StrokeView { Path onDraw() }
stateDiagram-v2 [*] --> DRAWING: Press/
onDrawStart() DRAWING --> [*]: Cancel/
onDrawCancel() DRAWING --> [*]: Up/
onDrawEnd() DRAWING --> DRAWING: Move/
onDrawMove()

Color Picker (/app/colorpicker)

A color picker is a type of interactor that will allow a user to choose from a wide variety of colors. Two example color pickers are shown below: The one on the left is a circular color picker which allows a user to choose from color values along a wheel while it displays the currently selected color in the middle. The color picker on the right is a 3x3 square of pre-chosen common colors.

The CircleColorPickerView with a light blue selelected The SquareColorPickerView a 3 by 3 grid of colors

The code for these two color pickers, as well as three others, are included in the app\colorpicker directory of your starter code. The implementations of these interactors inherit from ColorPickerView.java which inherits AbstractColorPickerView.java.

You will want to read through all of these classes, including all of the comments in AbstractColorPicker.java and AbstractMainActivity.java before using them to ensure you understand the class hierarchy and what methods are being used by the ColorPickerView you choose to use.

classDiagram AppCompatImageView <|-- AbstractColorPickerView AbstractColorPickerView <|-- ColorPickerView ColorPickerView <|-- CircleColorPickerView ColorPickerView <|-- SquareColorPickerView ColorPickerView <|-- GradientColorPickerView ColorPickerView <|-- SliderColorPickerView ColorPickerView <|-- ValueColorPickerView class AbstractColorPickerView{ +DEFAULT_COLOR #mCurrentPickerColor -mColorChangeListeners +setColor()* +addColorChangeListener() +removeColorChangeListener() #invokeColorChangeListeners() } class ColorPickerView { #mState #essentialGeometry +setPickerColor() #updateModel() #essentialGeometry() +onTouchEvent() } class CircleColorPickerView{ #RADIUS_TO_THUMB_RATIO #mCenterX #mCenterY #mRadius #... #updateModel() #onDraw() +onLayout() #essentialGeometry() +getAngleFromColor() #getTouchAngle() +getAngleFromColor() } class SquareColorPickerView{ #BOXES_WIDTH #BOXES_HEIGHT #mBrushes #mBorderPaint #... #updateModel() #onDraw() +onLayout() #essentialGeometry() +getColor() }

Parts 1-6: Programming requirements

There are five parts for the programming portion of this assignment:

You can also (optionally) improve the usability of the application.

Part 1: Implement ChangeThicknessAction

In order to familiarize yourself with Action objects and reversible logic, implement ChangeThicknessAction. This will be very similar to ChangeColorAction, so first read and understand that code before implementing the TODO items in ChangeThicknessAction.

Part 2: History

Actions are the objects that are used in the history. An AbstractHistory simply allows an AbstractReversibleAction to be added and supports undo() and redo(). We subclass this with a stack-based history class called StackHistory to support undo() and redo(). You will implement the methods to support these features in this StackHistory class.

A StackHistory has a capacity (a max number of actions that it can store), a undoStack (the history) and a redoStack (actions that have been undone and can be re-applied). It also supports specific capabilities you must implement (see comments in the code for specifically what to do):

classDiagram AbstractHistory <|.. StackHistory class AbstractHistory { addAction(AbstractReversibleAction action) undo() redo() canUndo() canRedo() } class StackHistory { +capacity: "Max stack size" }

Related APIs

Deque

Undo/Redo behavior

Here is an example where the user performs a set of operations in the Undo app, and the state of the Undo Stack, Redo Stack and Interface after each operation. In this scenario we have denoted the user’s operations as:

(1) draw a stroke in the default color/thickness
(2) change the color
(3) change the thickness
(4) draw another stroke in the original thickness and color

with various undos and redos mixed in.

Action Undo Stack Redo Stack Interface state
drawstroke (1) 1   1
change color (2) 1,2   1,2
undo 1 2 1
redo 1, 2   1, 2
change thickness (3) 1, 2, 3   1, 2, 3
undo 1, 2 3 1, 2
undo 1 3, 2 1
drawstroke (4) 1, 4 CLEARED 1, 4
undo 1 4 1

Part 3: Adding a thickness 0 FAB to the thickness menu

There are two main things you will need to do to add a “thickness 0” FAB button to the thickness menu.

First, find the place in thickness_menu.xml to modify. For example, this is the XML in that file for the thickest FAB Action Button:

<android.support.design.widget.FloatingActionButton
        android:id="@+id/fab_thickness_30"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_gravity="bottom|center"
        android:layout_marginBottom="@dimen/fab_label_margin"
        android:alpha="0"
        android:clickable="false"
        android:contentDescription="@string/thickness_desc"
        app:fabSize="mini"
        app:srcCompat="@drawable/ic_thickness_30" />

You must use the @string notation for your android:contentDescription, meaning you’ll need to add a string definition to values/strings.xml.

Next, you will need to update onThicknessMenuSelected to respond when your FAB is pressed. It must change the stroke width to 0.

Finally, you will need to make sure that ReversibleDrawingActivity is updated to account for your new 0 thickness menu item. You will need to look for where the code or comments mention thickness and change it to include this new item.

Part 4: Integrating a ColorPickerView

In addition to adding a thickness, we want to be able to draw strokes of any color instead of being limited to 3. We have provided you with a choice of five different custom interactors that allows users to choose a wide variety of colors. However these are not integrated into the final project and it s your job to connect a ColorPickerView into this application! To do this, you’ll need to:

  1. Add a ColorPickerView to your drawing_activity.xml layout. The easiest way to do this is to first edit the code for drawing_activity.xml and add the following:
<cse340.undo.app.colorpicker.SquareColorPickerView
        android:id="@+id/colorPicker" />

Once this is in, you’ll need to modify the properties for this view. You can do this in either the code or design view.

  1. Change the behavior of the color FAB so that, when clicked, it opens up the color picking interface instead of opening the collapsible color menu. For reference on how to do this, take a look at ReversibleDrawingActivity.java#onCreate (hint: make sure to take a look at what interfaces ReversibleDrawingActivity.java implements).

  2. The Undo app now has to “listen” to any changes from the ColorPickerView. There is a ColorChangeListener interface defined in AbstractColorPickerView. ColorChangeListener has one method: onColorSelected(@ColorInt int color). You will need to register the ReversibleDrawingActivity.java as a listener for changes from the ColorPickerView in order for your code to respond to those changes.

  3. Ensure that the location of your ColorPickerView, when visible, is not impeded by any of the FAB buttons on the screen as those buttons can impact your user’s interaction with the colorpicker. You may choose to solve this problem however you want. If you don’t choose to use layout constrints, you could set the Y location of the mColorPickerView in ReversibleDrawingActivity to the R.dimen.color_picker_y_offset value read in from dimens.xml. (Feel free to change this value in dimens.xml as needed). Remember, to get the value you must use getResources().getDimension(R.dimen.color_picker_y_offset).

  4. When users have the color picker interactor open, they must not be able to access any other FABs (undo, redo, thickness change) so be sure to disable them when you show the color picker and visually indicate to the user that they are disabled. This behavior should be very similar to the what happens when you try to change the thickness using the collapsible menu. If a color change is undone or redone, the color picker must reflect the correct color. Once you set up all the listeners to respond correctly, your color picker interactor must allow users to pick any stroke color they want!

  5. Choose which ColorPicker you want to use with your application! You can feel free to use any of the five pickers we gave you, you’re welcome to modify one of these or create your own! To switch which picker your app uses, simply change the SquareColorPickerView class name to another one in the drawing_activity.xml.

  6. Finally, think carefully about what of the original color menu you could remove in order to make the app more readable and matainable. Remove that code from ReversibleDrawingActivity. However, please leave the color_menu.xml file in your repository.

Related APIs: View#using-views

Part 5: Saving and restoring state with SharedPreferences

As we learned with our Accessiblity assignment, we can store data in key/value pairs in persistent memory on our device using SharedPreferences. This allows us to retrieve the data and reset our information back to a previous state if the app is completely unloaded from memory or the phone is turned off.

At a minimum you must store and retrieve the values for the current paint color and thickness in your Undo app. To do this you will need to:

Related APIs and Documentation: SharedPreferences Storage Lecture

Part 6: Improve the application

Create an interesting way the user can interact with the application that can be undone and redone. This means that whatever interaction you add must have a custom undo and redo function (it might help to take a look at AbstractReversibleAction#doAction and AbstractReversibleAction#undoAction(DrawingView)).

Whatever you choose to implement, you will be describing how the user interacts with your addition in your reflection and justifying the design of this new feature using Application Design Principles we discussed in class.

In addition, make sure that the action you add is accessible.

Below is a video of an app with the a new Clear Screen and other features.

Other examples are shown on this playlist.

Note for 23wi and beyond: We are no longer accepting a “Change Opacity” feature. We expect you can find another interesting interaction to implement.

Optional addition: Improving usability

Try to identify at least one usability problem and address it (optional). As with adding a feature, there are several options here. Here are some examples of things we think are usability issues. You may not agree, if you choose to do this, you should focus on something you think is a usability issue.

Whatever problems you address, please briefly describe the problems and solutions in your reflection.

Part 7: Video

You will need to make a video of your final solution. To create a video, click on the … at the bottom of the panel to the right of your emulator, then select “screen record” and “start recording” (see images below).

Empty drawing program window Drawing program window with one red stroke and undo button visible

Note we can not accept a video that “blinks” during recording for full credit. If you are using an emulator and you see that your recording “blinks” (i.e. repeatedly shows Undo then a black screen), you must to do the screen recording through Logcat or by using zoom and recording your screen.

In addition, you should follow these instructions to make sure that clicks are visible:

(Directions are also here)

Your video must demonstrate undoing and redoing actions for changing thickness, color, and your new feature. To do this you shoulkd have the sequence demonstrated.

Finish as you will (e.g. demonstrate optional usability improvement(s)).

Please DO NOT try to create a perfect version with no mistakes! You will not lose points for any usability issues - we just need to see that you can do and undo each required part of the app (unless your code isn’t working, which will not be affected by this video).

Part 8: Reflection

For this part, you will submit your reflection on this assignment to Gradescope. Create a MS Word, Google or other type of document and copy the following questions (in italics below) into that document. Add your responses below each question. You can have more than one answer per page, but if you can, please try to avoid page breaks in the middle of a question. Insert page breaks between questions as needed.

  1. Describe the extra action you added to the Undo application.
    • What was the goal of this action?
    • Describe how a user interacts with it and include a screen shots illustrating its use.
    • Justify the design of your action using the Application Design Principles we discussed in class.
    • Describe how you made your new feature accessible.
    • If you made any additional usability improvements, document what you did and why here.
  2. Ask for some informal feedback about your new feature and respond to the feedback. Show your app with your additional feature to at least 3-5 other people (you may do this in person, demonstrate your app over Zoom, or you may share your video with them.) Ask them to give you some feedback about you feature. Questions you might ask them could include:
    • Do they think they could learn (or learn and remember) how to use this feature easily?
    • What did you like about this feature?
    • What might you add to or change about this feature?
    • What other informal feedback do they have about your feedback? Based on this feedback, list 1-2 things you would like to change about your app and this feature?

  3. The Undo app as it is written is not completely accessible. Using accessibility tools such as TalkBack and the Accessibility Scanner, find and describe at least two accessibility issues that exist in the Undo App. For each of the problems you listed, detail a possible solution that will make the app more accessible.

  4. How would you add context-aware computing in your Undo drawing app?
    a. Pick one of the types of sensing-based apps (capture and access; adaptive services; novel interaction; behavioral imaging) and discuss how adding context awareness (using sensors, not the usual user input)) to the Undo app could enhance the user experience. Be specific about what types of sensor(s) you would use to build the context-awareness of this app.
    b. Describe a case where your new context-aware feature could be problematic using the issues we discussed in the Sensing/ML lecture.

  5. _Acknowledgements: Cite anything (website or other resource) or anyone that assisted you in creating your solution to this assignment. Remember to include all online resources (other than information learned in lecture or section and android documentation) such as Stack Overflow, other blogs, students in this class, or TAs and instructors who helped you during OH. As a reminder, you may not use/copy any part of your course work from AI-assistance such as GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, etc. however, if you used a generative AI for ideas, you must still cite the use of that tool here as well. _

Turn-in

Submission Instructions

Code: You will turn in the following files to Gradescope

Video: You will turn in your video to Gradescope

Reflection: You will turn in your reflection to Gradescope

Grading

This HW will be out of 50 points and will roughly (subject to small adjustments) be distributed as:

Implementation (30 pts)

Part 7: Video (2pts)

Part 8: Reflection: 18 pts