Notifications: fully show source details even when buttons are large

[xmnboy]

Issue Type: Bug

A call to showInformationMessage(message: string, ...items: string[]) that includes a list of "items" to be presented as "action" buttons covers the "Source: name-of-extension" message. Compare the resulting toast message to a call to showInformationMessage() that does not include any action buttons.

There are actually two issues:

• the action buttons are placed such that you cannot read the "Source: name-of-extension" string added to the bottom of the notification message (particularly if there are a lot of buttons or they include a lot of text)

• there are no ^ and v controls to collapse or expand the notification message

The first bullet is the bigger issue, thus the name of this issue.

VS Code version: Code 1.62.1 (f4af3cb, 2021-11-05T10:56:50.217Z)
OS version: Linux x64 5.4.0-90-generic snap
Restricted Mode: No

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700K CPU @ 3.70GHz (4 x 3696)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: unavailable_software gpu_compositing: disabled_software multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on oop_rasterization: disabled_off opengl: disabled_off rasterization: disabled_software skia_renderer: enabled_on video_decode: disabled_software vulkan: disabled_off webgl: unavailable_software webgl2: unavailable_software
Load (avg)	0, 0, 0
Memory (System)	3.84GB (0.15GB free)
Process Argv	--no-sandbox --crash-reporter-id b1f9ded4-f94e-4ecd-be87-f57354ae91ce
Screen Reader	no
VM	100%
DESKTOP_SESSION	ubuntu
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP	Unity
XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP	ubuntu
XDG_SESSION_TYPE	x11

Extensions (13)

Extension	Author (truncated)	Version
fortran	Gim	0.2.0
devcloud	int	0.0.5
oneapi-analysis-configurator	int	0.1.2
oneapi-environment-configurator	int	0.2.2
oneapi-gdb-debug	int	0.1.0
oneapi-samples	int	0.0.37
vscode-oneapi-devcloud-connector	int	0.1.2
python	ms-	2021.11.1422169775
vscode-pylance	ms-	2021.11.1
jupyter	ms-	2021.10.1001414422
jupyter-keymap	ms-	1.0.0
jupyter-renderers	ms-	1.0.3
cpptools	ms-	1.7.1

A/B Experiments

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vsaa593:30376534
vssld246:30386377

[bpasero]

/gifPlease

[vscode-triage-bot]

Thanks for reporting this issue! Unfortunately, it's hard for us to understand what issue you're seeing. Please help us out by providing a screen recording showing exactly what isn't working as expected. While we can work with most standard formats, .gif files are preferred as they are displayed inline on GitHub. You may find https://gifcap.dev helpful as a browser-based gif recording tool.

If the issue depends on keyboard input, you can help us by enabling screencast mode for the recording (Developer: Toggle Screencast Mode in the command palette).

Happy coding!

[xmnboy]

Here are two images with examples of what I mean. The first image shows two notification toasts, one that calls with the ...items: string[] parameter and one that does not. Notice the toast without the ...items: string[] includes the collapse (v) control and the other does not. Without the v control in the notifications that include buttons it's hard to manage situations with a large number of notifications (due usually to ignoring and/or procrastinating 😃)

This second image does a better job of showing how the buttons obscure the "Source:" of the notification. That "Source:" line at the bottom of the notification is very helpful, especially if you have a number of notifications stacked up, so you can get some useful context for the message.

I logged this issue as a "bug" but I would consider it to be a usability issue, not so much a "bug" since the functionality is not broke, it's just the presentation that is impeding on the usability.

[bpasero]

So what is the suggestion to improve this? Btw I think you can still hover over the source label to see it in full.

[xmnboy]

Modify the layout of the "Source: name-of-extension" message and the "action buttons" so you can read the "Source: name-of-extension" string without interference from the "action buttons."

It would also be nice if the ^ and v controls were also included in a notification message that includes "action buttons," but that is a lesser issue.

[bpasero]

//cc @misolori