Web client serials: Multiple active patterns not working

[Dan Wells]

(This is a direct descendant bug #1718286, but to avoid confusion, I am opening it as a new bug and will mark the previous discussion as a duplicate.)

Though uncommon, it is possible for serials to legitimately need two active patterns. Most common cases are titles with indexes or supplements, but in a few cases, multiple basic patterns do happen (e.g. a journal with alternating "A" and "B" issues).

In the XUL client, predicting a serial with multiple active patterns would simply predict an equal number of new issues for all active patterns. This was workable but far from ideal, since in the most common cases, there are many more "basic" issues needed than the other types, so you would end up with too few basic issuances or too many of the others.

In the current web client, support is broken. It predicts issuances for both patterns, but uses the values from the first pattern only, so you end up with wrong values on the additional patterns. That is, the next predicted issue for each pattern is identical, and so on for each additional prediction, such that all runs are now numbered according to the basic pattern (or whatevever "random" pattern the system selected).

I think the easiest and most flexible solution should be an interstitial modal window, after clicking "Predict New Issues", where the user can select which active pattern to predict (if necessary). While something smarter is likely possible, the case seems rare enough to not really warrant such an effort.

[Erica Rohlfs (erohlfs)]

Confirming in version 3.7