User feedback #1

[Vheissu]

This is some user feedback from the Discord channel.

• looks slick
• the 'Aurelia' title picks up vertical space but does not display anything useful
• the padding in the bindables and properties section is quite large so it fits less items than the old one
• the plugin being removed from the 'Elements' section means you have to go back and forth between the Elements section to see the html/css and Aurelia section and the item is not being picked up automatically so you have to use the 'picker' there a second time. I use the chrome element picker quite a lot (see image) and it works nicely to quickly shift through items and see the Aurelia properties automatically

[mroeling]

Update from Discord channel:

• Are there any plans to improve the js Map and Set support?
• Old extension used to show binding context. How do I see it in the new one?

[Vheissu]

@mroeling

Are there any plans to improve the js Map and Set support?
Absolutely. Current version was more a case of getting it out there and modernised for everyone.

Old extension used to show binding context. How do I see it in the new one?

Short answer: there’s no separate “Binding Context” panel anymore.

How to see it now:

• Open DevTools → Aurelia tab.

• Select a component (from the tree, use the target/picker, or enable the “Auto‑
  sync with Elements ($0)” toggle).

• In the right pane:

  • Bindables = the component’s bindable inputs.
  • Properties = the component view‑model state (this is effectively what you us
    ed to look at under “binding context”).
  • Controller = lower‑level controller internals; expand if you need to dig int
    o framework internals.

Notes and workarounds

• Aurelia v1: if you specifically need overrideContext/parent context, it isn’t
  shown in the new UI. As a workaround, select the DOM node in Elements and use th
  e Console:
  • $0.au.controller.view.bindingContext
  • $0.au.controller.view.overrideContext
• Aurelia v2: the view‑model you see under Properties is the context you normall
  y care about; overrideContext isn’t exposed in the UI.

But these are improvements that will be coming in v2. The v1 version was intentionally not overly comprehensive so we could work in stages and get it out there faster. The next version will plug gaps and take on feedback from users to make it useful.

[MaximBalaganskiy]

tbh, the retired extension had perfect UX. Could it be not just updated?
I really don't like the fact that there's now a separate tab, which does not display the whole html structure as Elements does.
Just a flat list of all elements is useless and does not work.

[mroeling]

nitpicking: the clickable region to "open" an element to show it's subproperties is a bit small.

[mroeling]

Nested elements won't open when on deeper level.
See screenshot. On 3rd level arrays are expanded, but on 4th level it does not work. Note that the arrow is pointing down. The click action did rotate the element, but it did not show the deeper elements.

[mroeling]

Disabling extension with DevTools open does not remove the Aurelia tab until DevTools window is reopened.

[mroeling]

• when a component is re-used, only the last one is selectable in the left list
• when a component does not have a container that can be selected in the document, it is impossible to get the necessary information in the right side. Please consider adding a "view in Aurelia Inspector" option in the context menu of an HTML element to solve this.

[Vheissu]

tbh, the retired extension had perfect UX. Could it be not just updated?
I really don't like the fact that there's now a separate tab, which does not display the whole html structure as Elements does.
Just a flat list of all elements is useless and does not work.

@MaximBalaganskiy This is coming back btw. The intention was never to remove that old way, we just wanted to establish the new dedicated tab first and then work on incorporating this into the Elements panel too. I've been working on this and next version should have this. So you can click on elements in the Elements panel and it'll show you the bindables, etc.

[MaximBalaganskiy]

For me, this most important part of the extension was an ability to select ANY html element and be able to immediately see the binding context. Is this going to be supported?

Another issue is that the extension is unreliable - sometimes the list of components is empty and nothing populates it except a reload.

Hate to spoil the party, but, in my opinion, the old extension did everything we needed while the new one introduced this new components list for no apparent reason. We already have HTML elements on the left, why duplicate it and have all sorts of issues with sync and a separate element selector?

[magnusdanielson]

I have a made a branch that allows the tool to be used when aurelia is loaded in an iframe, which basically always is the case for any Office 365 development. It is a small but horrible change so if anyone interested I would like to just push a new feature branch, it is not PR worthy. Then maybe some smart person can adapt the changes to a real PR.

[mroeling]

I have a made a branch that allows the tool to be used when aurelia is loaded in an iframe, which basically always is the case for any Office 365 development. It is a small but horrible change so if anyone interested I would like to just push a new feature branch, it is not PR worthy. Then maybe some smart person can adapt the changes to a real PR.

interested!

[magnusdanielson]

I have a made a branch that allows the tool to be used when aurelia is loaded in an iframe, which basically always is the case for any Office 365 development. It is a small but horrible change so if anyone interested I would like to just push a new feature branch, it is not PR worthy. Then maybe some smart person can adapt the changes to a real PR.

interested!

I don't have permissions to push/create a new feat branch. Do you have the power to give that to me?

I have now added a dropdown so the user can select which iframe to inspect. So nothing happens before the user selects a frame to work with.