Configuration Settings using a Generator as opposed to hard coded values

[bernarma]

I would like to propose an enhancement to the existing Configuration Settings in MPF. Currently if I am configuring ball save time as a configurable property (as follows):

  ball_save_time:
    label: "Ball Save Time"
    settingType: standard
    sort: 90
    default: 9
    key_type: int
    values:
      0: 0
      1: 1
      2: 2
      3: 3
      4: 4
      5: 5
      6: 6
      7: 7
      8: 8
      9: 9
      10: 10
      ....
      60: 60

I need to create one row per value. My proposal is to enhance this to support a min/max and increment value as follows (this would only work for numerical values):

  ball_save_time:
    label: "Ball Save Time"
    settingType: standard
    sort: 90
    default: 9
    key_type: int
    min_value: 0
    max_value: 60
    inc_value: 1

The question is, would this be a contribution to the framework you would like or should I implement this locally?

[avanwinkle]

Hmm. I see where you're coming from, although I think it's a bit too fine-grained in this case. Is an operator really going to need/want to choose between a 27s ball save and a 28s ball save?

Decision paralysis guides that fewer options to choose from make decisions easier and more confident, while giving too many options causes stress and uncertainty about what is "best". In this case, if the choices were 5s, 10s, 20s, or 30s, those choices are different enough that it's easy to pick which one is best suited to the operator's needs. Forcing them to choose a value down to 1s-precision is overwhelming.

I feel like all typical settings fall in this category (except volume level, which benefits from fine-tune control due to external factors), so it makes sense to me to use explicit values for settings. This limitation forces designers to be critical of how many options they're offering.

That said, if you are committed to this level of fine control and want to propose a PR, we can explore how that might work!

[bernarma]

Now I wouldn't say this is best practice, but I do see this quite apparent in my Stern and JJP machines whereby the settings for ball save (amongst many other settings) are customizable at this fine-grained level, hence why I was looking at adopting what was already out there. It is definitely low on the priority list but I think I will tackle this once I am semi-complete with my game.