Make the comment node into a true node

Core Development
21

No. It cannot be added to the Comment node. The Comment node does not have ports. It cannot be wired into a flow.

Just wait for the grouping feature in 1.1.0

22

re colour - of course - I got lulled when testing the subflow option :slight_smile:

23

There's also the noop node. Does nothing, you can add a name to it.

24

No need to build a new node for such a simple task.
Because it is very simple here is my suggestion:

Add a dsm-node with this configuration. You can change the status for your need or just remove it if you don't need a status.

{
    "methods": {
        "onTransition": "output = true;",
        "status": {
            "fill": "green",
            "shape": "dot",
            "text": {"get": "'topic: ' + msg.topic + ' payload: ' + msg.payload;"}
        }
    }
}
25

Why would you install a contrib node when this is entirely possible in the function node?

(Nothing against that particular contrib node)

26

I agree, it's for users already using the dsm node.

1 Like
27

If I may add my 2 cents:

I am applying in most of the cases the "comment node over the actual node" method. However, it would be awesome to have a true comment functionality, and my suggestion is to use the node's existing description field. The additional feature that would be necessary is adding a little icon to the node, indicating that the description field is populated, and by hovering the mouse over the icon the description can be made visible
.
That way, by hovering over the comment icons of the nodes you can read the "whole story" of a flow.
And maybe, by adding a general setting, you can switch comments on/off to make them all temporarily visible.
image

1 Like
28

Do you mean the description that can be edited for each node in the node editor?

image

Making that feature more prominent directly at the node - as you suggest - would really be a helpful addition. :+1:

29

I can see a benefit of a nice rich tooltip popup over the node with info you added in the node Description but TBH, it's no great shakes to click the node and look at the sidebar info panel & see all the info you added.

Also I suspect duplicating documentation in tooltips would add a bit weight to node-red and may have a significant impact on large flows (in the browser that is)

30

I agree with you on that, I am not a fan of heavy tooltips either. :grin:

I just felt his idea of having an indicator that there actually is something documented at the node a nice one. Clicking that "i" or whatever could just open the Info tab for you as a shortcut, with no tooltips involved.

1 Like
31

Yes. Since it is there, why using a different one?

32

The feature could be switched off, couldn't it? :slight_smile:

33

I think that Node description editor has been there since v0.20. But I have rarely used it because I can't see where documentation has been added, so I kept using the comment nodes.

Comment nodes have no semantic relation to other nodes (except for its position). The node description has the great benefit over comment nodes that you can document each node directly.

That way you are able to generate some documentation by reading the flow file and output something like JSdoc or Javadoc. I had that idea once to use that for project documentation, but that's for another day. :grin:

34

In 1.1 - with the new outliner view - the individual node and is description is now more prominent bottom right of the info bar...

image
image862Ɨ636 29.9 KB

Of course what it also shows is that most nodes have no description... so making that editable in a more direct fashion is on the todo list.

1 Like
35

I was going to try the 1.1 beta this evening.... finally! :see_no_evil:

I am really excited about the new outliner. :+1:

36

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