comments/questions on my two techniques - MY ACTION ITEM

My first technique - "Allowing the user to extend the default timeout"

Applicability - To content controlled by timeouts via script

Description - When scripts provide functionality that has a "default" timeout.
What is "imminent" ?  Request more time "to the current period"?  How would 
this work?
Say I had a current default timeout of 30 seconds, so at 20 seconds should 
the warning
be provided, giving the user 10 seconds to respond before the 30 seconds is up?
Or should the 30 seconds be allowed to lapse, and then a request for 
extension comes up?
If the user takes 5 seconds to respond, changing the default timeout to 40 
seconds, does that
take effect after the current 30 second default timeout expires,  or does 
the user get 40 seconds
from the current 25 seconds?

Request "more time to the default"?  Instead of "new" timeout value, how 
about "larger" timeout
value?   Instead of saying "A timeout is -about to- happen" say "A timeout 
will occur in x seconds".
Would you like to --increase--the default setting?  Answer yes to open a 
window and enter the "larger"
timeout value?  Smaller than default values not allowed?    Is there a 
maximum value?  Is the larger
value set subject to external influences beyond its control (for example, 
server timeouts)?
The last sentence should be "The user can increase the setting, and when 
the form is submitted, the window
closes and the new larger default value for the user takes effect"?

Examples:

1)  Stock market statistics on the delivery unit need to be current to the 
user; therefore,
the user requests a longer timeout to absorb the current contents before 
continuing

2) A chess player requests more time to consider moves in an online timed 
"chess" game
with another player

3)  In an online auction, a bidder requests more time to make a bid for an item

Resources:

(1) http://www.jayeckles.com/tutorials/servlets.pc - setting session and 
default timeouts using
Java servlets

(2) 
http://viral.media.mit.edu/peers/doc/d756cb761d93c8aff5fb0aadf16d5c41ae1f353c.html 
-
Overriding timeouts in peers applications

(3) http://www.phpbuilder.com/tips/item.php?id=141 PHPBuilder Timeout Info

Related Techniques -
(1) Providing script on page that warns user timeout is about to expire
(2) Polling the server and triggering a warning to the user when a session 
timeout is imminent


Tests - Procedure:  Change ""page" to "delivery unit"?
How can a warning of the timeout appear after the timeout has expired
suggest - allow the current default timeout to expire, then
when timeout expires, generate a dialog box asking the user to increase 
default timeout,
when the user confirms, but before the second (old default) timeout period 
has expired, the
default timeout value is increased.  Will this happen before the old 
default timeout is passed?
The increase the user confirms will immediately make the default timeout 
value larger
Wait for the larger default timeout to take effect, and ensure that the 
larger value is in effect

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My second technique - "Polling the server and triggering a warning to the 
user when a session timeout is imminent"

What is definition of "imminent" in title?

Applicability: for content affected by timeouts on a relevant server or 
process?

Description: Again, what does it mean for a timeout to be "imminent" (more 
specifics needed here)?
   Definition of "active content"?
What happens if the server uses a method to timeout that the script can't 
recognize?
Is the capability for the server to initiate and push updates (such as 
timeout information)
  to the client of its own accord
assumed to be present?

(NOTE: Is the intent of this technique to update the client when the server 
receives
  notification of external events, or simply to update the client at 
regular time intervals?
What is the scope of this technique, or should the scope be broadened?)

NOTE: In this technique, do we want to specifically address as advisory 
additional
practical uses for server push capability (such as multi-user interactive
applications, keeping users of an application up-to-date with status
  information or news, and providing feedback during long-running operations)?

NOTE: Do we want to address the pushing of timeout information by means of 
creating
  of a task queue (with tasks added)
by an application, for this technique?

NOTE: A possible way of notifying a user that their session will timeout in 
x minutes (with the option
to click to continue the session), might be to use a client side JS 
counter.   When a user enters a
delivery unit, a JS counter could start running?  Since the session time 
out might only
happen after a period of inactivity (disconnection from the server), the 
user could watch a counter
count down for x minutes on the delivery unit?

A possible example might be: for a server default policy, click edit 
profile and go to
dial-in constraints profile, check the box for minutes client can be 
connected (session-timeout)
and set it for x minutes.  However, this time might be reset due to other 
factors?


(Possible) Resources:

(1) 
http://struts.apache.org/struts-action/userGuide/preface.html     Session 
Timeout Info

(2) http://www.macasp.com/Doc/techies.asp - MacASP Timeout Information

(3) http://www.timfanelli.com/tags/jboss - JBoss session timeout information

(4) http://www.dnzone.com/ShowDetail.asp?NewsId=565 ASP.NET session timeout 
information

(5) 
http://www.nextapp.com/platform/echo2/echo/doc/tutorial/serverpush.html 
server push

Related Techniques:

(1) Providing script on page that warns user timeout is about to expire
(2) Allowing the user to extend the default timeout

Received on Friday, 3 February 2006 14:40:42 UTC