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Bug 97478 - Not clear indication what kind of proxy is needed
Summary: Not clear indication what kind of proxy is needed
Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 98263
Alias: None
Product: versioncontrol
Classification: Unclassified
Component: CVS (show other bugs)
Version: 6.x
Hardware: All All
: P3 blocker (vote)
Assignee: issues@versioncontrol
URL:
Keywords: USABILITY
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2007-03-08 14:49 UTC by Petr Jiricka
Modified: 2007-03-21 11:06 UTC (History)
3 users (show)

See Also:
Issue Type: DEFECT
Exception Reporter:


Attachments
Exception stack trace (869 bytes, text/plain)
2007-03-08 14:50 UTC, Petr Jiricka
Details

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Description Petr Jiricka 2007-03-08 14:49:38 UTC
I am trying to connect to a CVS server through proxy, however this does not work.

1. Launch the CVS checkout dialog
2. Enter :pserver:guest@cvs.dev.java.net:/cvs as the CVS root
3. Click Proxy configuration and select a valid proxy server. I used an internal
server at Sun on port 8080.
4. Click Next
=> The dialog will display an error message "Cannot connect to: cvs.dev.java.net"

There is an exception in the IDE log, see the attachment.
Comment 1 Petr Jiricka 2007-03-08 14:50:46 UTC
Created attachment 39304 [details]
Exception stack trace
Comment 2 Maros Sandor 2007-03-08 15:52:42 UTC
CVS no longer manages proxy connections.
Comment 3 Jiri Rechtacek 2007-03-08 16:27:10 UTC
Petr, do you have setup socks host in Options dialog. Which mode of Proxy
Settings do you use (No Proxy, Autodetect, Manual)? Thanks
Comment 4 Jiri Rechtacek 2007-03-08 16:36:27 UTC
It works for me if nbexec launcher detect socks server from my OS. It should
work for you if you setup socks settings in Options|General page|More dialog.
Comment 5 Petr Jiricka 2007-03-08 16:46:12 UTC
You are right, setting the *socks* proxy helped. Thanks for the hint. Still, I
think this is a usability problem in CVS - the UI does not indicate that it
needs a *socks* proxy, and that http/https proxy is not enough. The UI should
make it clear that I need to set s *socks* proxy. Lowering to P3 and changing
the subject - please feel free to reassign back to CVS.


Comment 6 Maros Sandor 2007-03-08 17:21:01 UTC
How do I know that you need a socks proxy? The user should either know or ask
his network administrator. Really, in CVS I do not care about proxying at all, I
do not even know that I am connecting to the server through some proxy. All I
have there is a button called "Proxy configuration" that redirects to IDE Options.
Comment 7 Petr Jiricka 2007-03-08 17:34:38 UTC
> in CVS I do not care about proxying at all

You don't, but the user needs to care.

Every major open source project documents how to get to sources from behind the
firewall:
http://www.netbeans.org/community/sources/cvs.html
See section "How to CVS from behind a Firewall". 
BTW, this section is not very good - is there a way to do this in an easier way
in NetBeans, than what is described?

Anyway, if this can be documented on the website, why couldn't it be documented
directly in the IDE ??? What's wrong with giving the user a good UI?
Comment 8 Petr Jiricka 2007-03-09 15:48:09 UTC
To summarize, I strongly believe the current UI is unintuitive and error-prone,
and should be improved. Thus reopening. Try to imagine yourself in the skin of
the user who comes to the IDE for the first time. 

1. User tries to check out sources from CVS
2. She sees the Proxy Configuration button, thinks: Ah, I am behind a firewall,
I need to set proxy! I will do that!
3. She clicks the Proxy Configuration button
4. Sees there are two options:
4a. If she chooses Use System Proxy Settings, she things: yes, I have the
correct HTTP proxy set in my Internet Explorer settings, so this will work.
WRONG!!! - most people do not have the Socks proxy set in the IE settings,
because they never need it. They only have HTTP proxy set.
4b. If she chooses Manual Proxy Settings, she fills in the HTTP Proxy/Port
fields, clicks ok and thinks: I have set my proxy correctly, so this will work.
WRONG!!! - they need to click the More... button and set the SOCKS Proxy correctly.

So either way, the subsequent checkout step will fail and the user thinks: 
THIS F%#&^*$ING IDE DOES NOT WORK!!! WHAT A PIECE OF JUNK!!!

Then they go tell all their colleagues and friends that "NetBeans is buggy".

All we need to do to avoid this is to better explain in the CVS checkout dialog
what the user should do. Can we do this, please?
Comment 9 Maros Sandor 2007-03-09 15:52:38 UTC
HIE, please evaluate what we need to do.
Comment 10 Maros Sandor 2007-03-21 11:06:31 UTC
I think the core problem is that we now do not support HTTPS proxies.

*** This issue has been marked as a duplicate of 98263 ***