kristovatlas/osx-config-check

enhancement: provide better "undo" support

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#95 opened on Jul 18, 2016

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enhancementhelp wanted

Description

Some users have used the "experimental" config changes and discovered that they don't like them, and want to revert them.

Currently, I've put some "undo" bash commands in the Hjson definition that users could run independently, but not for all of the commands. It would be nice if users could actually use a tool included in this repo to accomplish the "undo" functionality.

One way to facilitate this would be to store the state of configurations before overwriting them so they could later be restored. This is not very meaningful for boolean states, but for non-binary states this might be useful in restoring the system to where it was before.

Some open questions include:

  • If you run one version of a "fix" command and this changes in future versions of the tool, how do you make sure that the "undo" operation will correspond to the correct version of the "fix" command?
  • Are there any config fixes that interact with each other? For example, will performing an "undo" operation on configuration break another configuration? If so, how should that be handled?

Contributor guide

Tech stack
pythonshell
Domain
clitooling
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-2 days
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
needs investigation
Prerequisites
Pythonbasic shell scriptingunderstanding of OS X config
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
60
Research direction
Examine the existing Hjson definitions in the repo to understand how fix commands are defined and how undo bash commands are currently provided. Investigate the possibility of storing a snapshot of config state before changes, and consider versioning for future changes to fix commands. Review any existing design discussions in related issues or commits. Propose a state storage mechanism (e.g., JSON file) and provide a design for undo functionality that handles version mismatches.