Bug 447884

Summary:	Show version numbers for available files
Product:	[Frameworks and Libraries] frameworks-knewstuff	Reporter:	Natalie Clarius <natalie_clarius>
Component:	general	Assignee:	Alexander Lohnau <alexander.lohnau>
Status:	CONFIRMED ---
Severity:	wishlist	CC:	alexander.lohnau, kdelibs-bugs-null, natalie_clarius, nate, plasma-bugs-null
Priority:	NOR
Version First Reported In:	5.90.0
Target Milestone:	---
Platform:	Other
OS:	Linux
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:
Attachments:	KCM store: no version information web store: with version information

Description Natalie Clarius 2022-01-03 15:38:36 UTC

SUMMARY
***
The KWin script installation component should show the version numbers provided for installables from the KDE store.
***

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. System Settings > Window Management > KWin Scripts > Get New Scripts
2. search for an extension that has multiple versions available for download, such as 'Always Open on Primary Screen'
3. click Install button

OBSERVED RESULT
A list of available installables is shown, but with no indication which file is which version, in particular which one is the most recent version (see first attachment).

EXPECTED RESULT
The list of available installables includes the version information as visible in the KDE store (see second attachment). The most recent version is visually highlighted and selected by default.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Arch Linux
KDE Plasma Version: 5.23.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.89.0
Qt Version: 5.15.2
Kernel Version: 5.15.11-arch2-1 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: X11

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The KDE store lets developers specify a version number for the installation files made available. This information is shown in the web version of the KDE store but not in the installation component integrated in the KCM. This makes it hard for users to tell which of the files is the most recent version (see e.g. https://www.reddit.com/r/kde/comments/ruokag/comment/hr1usf4/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3), unless the developer was aware to also include the version number in the file name. Since the version information is existent in the store, I would imagine that it should be possible to present it in the KCM. Additionally I think that it would make sense for the recent version to be visually distinguished and selected by default.

Comment 1 Natalie Clarius 2022-01-03 15:38:59 UTC

Created attachment 145078 [details]
KCM store: no version information

Comment 2 Natalie Clarius 2022-01-03 15:39:27 UTC

Created attachment 145079 [details]
web store: with version information

Comment 3 Alexander Lohnau 2022-01-12 20:14:52 UTC

I can confirm, actually this is a shortcoming of the attica API. The data is available from the XML server response.

Comment 4 Alexander Lohnau 2022-01-12 20:43:37 UTC

Oh, the version contained in the XML is only for the item itself - not the individual download links.

Looking at the networks tab in the KDE Store, the download info is fetched using from "https://www.pling.com/p/1617641/loadFiles", @leinir is there any way to get that information as part of the ocs response?

Comment 5 Natalie Clarius 2022-05-08 17:25:12 UTC

Is there anything speaking against doing it like in Discover (provided https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=453521 is fixed) and just installing the most recent version directly? Showing old versions only leads to confusion and normally there is no good reason for a user to use one of them, and if they do they can still get it from the webstore.

Comment 6 Alexander Lohnau 2022-05-08 18:57:45 UTC

>Is there anything speaking against doing it like in Discover (provided https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=453521 is fixed) and just installing the most recent version directly?

Though this has the same issue of us not having the version information available. I discussed with leinir what we would need to do for that and it involves changes in the KDE Store servers. Unfortunately I am not familiar with the infrastructure and haven't touched any php in years.

Comment 7 Natalie Clarius 2022-05-08 20:48:24 UTC

But then why does Discover have the version numbers, don't they use the same backend?  
Or does Discover not actually have the version numbers associated with the files and just downloads a random one and that's the reason for the linked bug?