Mapillary filter: documentation

[richlv]

It would be wonderful to have some documentation on the Mapillary image filtering capabilities, both standard filter and the expert one.
While some options are obvious, others are very cryptic.
Documentation at ​https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/JOSM/Plugins/Mapillary#Filter is rather sparse :)

[taylor.smock]

Fair enough. I haven't updated the OSM Wiki page for the Mapillary plugin.

When I do get around to making better documentation, it will likely be here on the JOSM Wiki (similar to what I did for the MapWithAI plugin, see https://josm.openstreetmap.de/wiki/Help/Plugin/MapWithAI ).

For now, which options do you think are cryptic? (Just so I know what I have to document better, or add better tooltips for).

[richlv]

First/last seen ones are not really clear.
The input field after "Point Objects" has a tooltip "Filter Mapillary Detections", but that does not make it more clear what it does.
"Show Relevant" and "Select Visible" both seem cryptic. The control to the right of "Select Visbile" is totally cryptic - it's not clear whether it's related to any other object, there's some number and the left/right buttons do not seem to do anything at all.

The expert filter confuses me a lot as well - no idea how to use it properly :)

[taylor.smock]

OK. I'll try to explain what they do, and if it makes sense, I'll save my answers for improved documentation/tooltips:

First Seen/Last Seen are for object detections (actually, everything after that divider right before them is for object detections -- would it help if there was a header saying something like "Object Detection Filters"?)

The input field filters the detection list below (so you can do a search for maxspeed and only see maxspeed detections in the list, where you can filter them out/in). I don't know how to make this more clear in the UI, especially since I thought they were clear.

"Show Relevant" takes the current point object layers, and only shows detections to filter from the detections that are actually visible. There is a bug right now where it doesn't update on point object layer download, so it does need to be toggled off/on to actually work.

"Select Visible" selects the checkboxes for the current detections that are visible in the filter dialog.

The detections list is paginated (for performance reasons -- when I initially implemented it, there was a significant slow down). This is what the controls to the right of "Select Visible" are for. I thought the tooltips were good enough for that, but I guess not.

The expert filter currently only applies to the point object layers (I do want to make it usable for the Mapillary image layer as well at some point), but the syntax is largely the same as for the JOSM expert filter (I use much the same methods, the only major difference is that I had to make it apply to non-current layers). If you select a point object detection, and then switch to the appropriate layer, you can see all the keys for that particular object detection, and write your own filters based off of that.

Just in case the text I just wrote comes across poorly, I do want to thank you for the feedback -- I don't actually have anyone testing besides myself, so its good to have someone not me giving me feedback. It helps expose issues where users may be confused or will be confused.

[richlv]

Thank you, a header like "Object Detection Filters" would indeed be helpful.
Does this mean "first/last seen" work together with that input field?
There does not seem to be autocomplete in that field, and I'm not sure how one could figure out the keywords - is there any way to offer a filter-as-you-type dropdown?

"Show Relevant" takes the current point object layers, and only shows detections to filter from the detections that are actually visible.

Hmm, not quite sure how this works - maybe an example would help.

"Select Visible" selects the checkboxes for the current detections that are visible in the filter dialog.

Also not quite sure how it works - perhaps some screenshots would help here :)

The detections list is paginated

Not quite sure how to obtain one, perhaps that is worth describing in the eventual documentation.

The expert filter currently only applies to the point object layers

Ah, neat. Does it apply to all such layers, if there are several?

If you select a point object detection, and then switch to the appropriate layer, you can see all the keys for that particular object detection

Even neater. Had not found that - definitely worth explaining in the docs how to get there.

Perhaps the expert filter can have a button that opens a simple description of the functionality with a link to the eventual wikipage?

Thank you so much for the explanation, I see that there's a ton of features I had no idea how to use.

[taylor.smock]

Does this mean "first/last seen" work together with that input field?

The first/last seen do work together. Actually, all of the fields work together. Hiding something takes precedence over showing something.

There does not seem to be autocomplete in that field, and I'm not sure how one could figure out the keywords - is there any way to offer a filter-as-you-type dropdown?

I'm going to presume you are talking about the filter for the detection buttons. It is freeform, but if you know what you are looking for, you can just type it in (for example, "fire hydrant"). It does filter based off of each word, so "fire light" will pull up anything with "fire" OR "light" in the name.

"Show Relevant" takes the current point object layers, and only shows detections to filter from the detections that are actually visible.

Hmm, not quite sure how this works - maybe an example would help.

OK. So lets say you download an OSM area with detections.
If you then go to Imagery -> Mapillary traffic signs layer or Mapillary point features layer -> toggle the Show Relevant checkbox, you will only see detections that are on the feature layer(s).

"Select Visible" selects the checkboxes for the current detections that are visible in the filter dialog.

Also not quite sure how it works - perhaps some screenshots would help here :)

Probably. It just selects/deselects everything on the current "page" of detections shown in the filter dialog.

The detections list is paginated

Not quite sure how to obtain one, perhaps that is worth describing in the eventual documentation.

I think I'm missing something here. But I'm only showing 100 detections by default in the filter dialog, and the left/right arrows shows the next/previous 100 detections.

The expert filter currently only applies to the point object layers

Ah, neat. Does it apply to all such layers, if there are several?

It applies to all such layers. My initial implementation just reused the JOSM filter dialog, but I had to switch to each individual layer in order to get the filter "applied".

If you select a point object detection, and then switch to the appropriate layer, you can see all the keys for that particular object detection

Even neater. Had not found that - definitely worth explaining in the docs how to get there.

I'd rather just tell people to switch layers, and select objects like they do in the OSM data layer. Its on my TODO list to improve the selection code, but I haven't gotten around to it.

Perhaps the expert filter can have a button that opens a simple description of the functionality with a link to the eventual wikipage?

The usage is essentially the same as for the JOSM Filter, except it just applies to the Mapillary object layers.

Thank you so much for the explanation, I see that there's a ton of features I had no idea how to use.

No problem. I really should spend some time documenting stuff.

[taylor.smock]

I'm adding documentation here:
https://josm.openstreetmap.de/wiki/Help/Plugin/Mapillary/Dialog/MapillaryFilter
https://josm.openstreetmap.de/wiki/Help/Plugin/Mapillary/Dialog/MapillaryExpertFilter

These will eventually (i.e., next Mapillary release) be available in JOSM help (i.e., if you press "F1" in the dialog).

[taylor.smock]

Largely fixed in ​6dc9f1e21c0560f3ff2135bae7f066700ce0c1c5.

Let me know if the documentation linked to in comment:6 is confusing.

[taylor.smock]

This is on hold pending #20284 (i.e., where should plugins put their help pages?)