gui: Implement GUI version of consolidateunspent (coin control part)

[jamescowens]

This PR extends coin control to

1. Change the (un)select all button to a true select all/select none filp-flop.
2. Implement an input filter function to allow the selection of inputs either less than or equal to or greater than or equal to a provided input value, with an automatically imposed limit of 200 inputs (to prevent transaction failures).
3. Implementation of a "Consolidate" button which (re)filters the inputs and then presents a pick list to select the destination address for the consolidation, and then automatically fills in the send transaction for convenience.

What is left is the implementation of a wizard for the consolidate unspent which overlays on top of this machinery. I would like to do that in a separate PR.

Closes #1984.

[jamescowens]

Here are some screenshots of a testnet node using this PR's features...

Start with the send tab (coin control turned on).

Push the "Inputs..." button.

Select the desired inputs to be subject to consolidation. Note that you can just select one of the first level nodes of the tree, which corresponds to the inputs on a particular address. (Cf. the single address mode of the rpc command.) You can also use the "(un)select all" button to select all of the inputs - this is similar to the sweep from all addresses boolean in the rpc command.

Notice that there are 1497 inputs selected. Next fill in the less than x GRC field to direct the dialog to select a subset of the UTXO's already selected that are equal to or less than the provided value (in this case 1100 GRC).

Push the "Consolidate Outputs" button.

The modal consolidate outputs dialog comes up and it provides a table for you to select the destination address for the consolidation. If over 200 inputs met the selection criteria, they will be ordered in increasing value and only the first 200 selected, and then a warning will appear letting you know that the selection scope has been limited to 200 to prevent transaction failure due to too many inputs.

After you select the address and press "ok". You return to the coin control dialog.

You notice that the number of outputs has been limited to 200, and expanding one of the branches of the tree, you can see that the actual selection value stopped at about 900 instead of 1100 because the number of inputs limit was reached.

Another branch... same thing...

Finally, after pressing "ok" on the coin control dialog box, you are returned to the send tab. Notice that the destination address, label, and amount are already pre-filled in along with the same address in the custom change address (in case there is a slight amount of change due to the uncertainty in the fee calculation).

The consolidation transaction is ready to send by pressing the "send" button.

[jamescowens]

Note that this integrated with coin control approach takes longer to do than the rpc command, but it offers more flexibility, which is appropriate for the GUI. It also (not shown above) allows things that are not supported by the current rpc consolidateunspent function, such as fine tuning the inputs selected on the coin control after the consolidate selection filter is applied but before sending, or selecting the inputs for consolidation from one address, but using a destination address that is different. (That is not currently supported by the rpc command.)

I know this needs some polishing, but it is good enough to review I think.

[presciencia]

It looks like better for the wizard. I will need to see this instruction each time I use this 😄

[jamescowens]

It is not as hard as you think once you try it. And for you to use consolidateunspent, you have to know what a UTXO is, which means you should also be familiar with coin control and the inputs button. We can turn the Consolidate Outputs into a bonafide wizard if we want. Maybe we should also just say Consolidate, because people get confused by the outputs and inputs thing too.

[cyrossignol]

I think it could be really effective in a wizard-like flow. It feels a bit unnatural to start this process from within the coin picker because the UI controls will have a dual meaning. Though it doesn't seem hard to figure out from my perspective, it's not immediately obvious from the dialog how to use the feature and that the outputs need to be selected first.

The folks who may benefit most from this tool are probably not experts with UTXOs and coin control. These are concepts that some struggle to grasp, so a targeted UI version of the consolidator could have a much greater impact on the people without the experience—those who know how to do coin control can already create these transactions using the existing GUI and RPC tools without trouble (I usually just check-off an address in the selector and address book, copy/paste amount, and press send). The widgets are already done here—it doesn't seem hard to reorganize them into a wizard.

Maybe we should also just say Consolidate, because people get confused by the outputs and inputs thing too.

I like that better. Maybe "Filter" instead?

I wonder... could we reuse the amount filter for regular coin selection as well? It seems like a nice feature that we'd get for free along with this.

[jamescowens]

The wizard could simply use this machinery (underlying), much like I am actually driving the underlying senddialog. And filter is a better word. The only things specific about the consolidation filter are the limits on inputs and the selection of a destination address. Seems like a good idea to have it as a generalized feature for regular coin selection.

[jamescowens]

I still think we have no business presenting the wizard for UTXO consolidation unless advanced coin control is enabled. For you to ask the question as to whether you need to consolidate means that you have to understand what an input/output is. If you don't then the concept of consolidate UTXO's doesn't mean anything - unless we want the wizard to truly be a tutorial.

BTW this is, as I feared when starting it, turning into a larger project than I hoped, because we will descend into arguments on how it should look and function.

I do NOT like the idea of simply "wizardizing" the parameters in the RPC function, because people that don't know those parameters are going to be clueless, even in a wizard, on what to put in there.

[RoboticMind]

Partly due to the existing clutter in the coin control interface, I think some of the layout may be a bit hard to follow. I had a harder time seeing how things worked and I was aware of what UTXOs are and all.

Maybe something like one of those below would be better? Ignore the weird spacing/weird text since I made this quickly

or like

or something else.

Have a couple other suggestions like greying out the consolidate button if nothing is selected and making the (un)select all just switch between select all and unselect all since it took me a minute to realize that it meant that it would either select or unselect depending on whether you had selecting things or not

No idea on the amount of work required for this, so let me know if this is too much

[jamescowens]

I have separated out the filter into a separate function from the GUI button to facilitate more generic use.

[vincehusky]

BTW this is, as I feared when starting it, turning into a larger project than I hoped, because we will descend into arguments on how it should look and function.

Look and function...if this is not the whole essence of UI design, what else is there?

Apologies. I could not resist being a smart---; no disrespect intended. In fact I am thankful for your efforts. As I am a UI designer, I have started watching the Gridcoin UI updates. Liking the progress!

At risk of being a nuisance for you all, just want to add to the discusion since I am confused by the presented functionality. I do not frequently use the coin control so perhaps I just don't "get it." I am at a point in my knowledge where I get utxos and consolidating them for staking, but it's not carrying over to what it means above. Some others said "not obvious" so the question could be what can make it obvious. A good UI can make complex ideas simple and clear. I think I fall into the group of users who would benefit from some coddling.

I am no good for code but I wish I could help contribute to this great project. I hope this is some food for thought. If there are UI related tasks that I can assist with please give a shout.

[jamescowens]

Ok. @cyrossignol and folks. Take a look at this in a partially completed state. I have not done the consolidate button over as a wizard yet, so ignore that one, but I changed the behavior and wording on the select all/select none button to be a true toggle. I have also rearranged the filter to be more logical. It is now generalized, so you can select the outputs either less than or equal to or greater than or equal to the filled in GRC value.

[cyrossignol]

@jamescowens Hehe, that's one big button 🙂

I think the filter looks great. How does the "greater than or equal to" button work? Does it cycle through the options with each click? We may want to use the >=, etc., symbols instead of text to avoid the work for translators.

[jamescowens]

Haha. Ignore the appearance of the buttons. I will try and put spacers in there to make it more reasonable. It is a flip flop. It flips from less than (the default) to greater than and back as you repeatedly press it.

[jamescowens]

I was thinking about using those symbols too, but will everyone know what <= or >= mean. (Using the same thought that this area has been too wonky....)

[cyrossignol]

Yep. I like it.

[cyrossignol]

I was thinking about using those symbols too, but will everyone know what <= or >= mean.

Perhaps some won't. I think the symbols are common enough for most people to grasp, though. At least for the time being, these should cover more ground until translations catch up.

[jamescowens]

Ok. I think this is now pretty straightforward and logical. This wraps up the coin control part. I will do a wizard next.

Here is the basic flow. You should actually compile this and use it to try it out for yourself. There are good explanatory tooltips for the buttons now.

Start with coin control...

Select desired coins... (in this case I pressed "Select all").

Filter (if desired). In this case I put in <= 1000 GRC. You don't HAVE to filter separately, because the consolidate will RE filter, but you can use the filter without consolidate if desired for other purposes.

Here is the consolidate destination address pick list. Note it does NOT show a 200 input limit warning, because the filter already limited the number of inputs to 200.

If you had gone directly from the select all to the consolidate, or modified the selections after the filter to add more inputs manually than 200. you would get this...

After you press ok to acknowledge coin control, the send tab shows the ready to send transaction with everything already filled in. All you have to do is press the send button.

[jamescowens]

So I think this is really good for the coin control version. Next up is a wizard, which I intend to reuse all of this machinery under the covers...

[jamescowens]

@RoboticMind ... something like

This now shows a green "ready to send" indicator with a tooltip.

[RoboticMind]

Might make the text a little brighter on the dark theme and maybe use the "ready to consolidate" wording instead, but I think something like that would work. Overall I think it's looking good

[jamescowens]

I have used a different green on the light vs dark stylesheet...

This should be ready to go now.

[RoboticMind]

Think it looks good now

[cyrossignol]

Could you please remind me about why we chose 200 outputs for the consolidation limit? Can't remember the discussion... been too long...

[cyrossignol]

Looks good.

[vincehusky]

👏