25ff975568a24a89dc2dcd4836875a448beaec9f
braney
Thu Aug 6 15:23:11 2026 -0700
Docent: hide a composite as a unit under hideKids, and warn on an over-long nav, refs #37892
`{cCREs: hideKids}` on hg38 sent 1701 cart variables in a 42,020-character
GET. The walk behind hideKids went to true leaves, straight through the
ENCODE4 Core Collection composite, and enumerated all 850 of its ENCFF
subtracks. Apache's LimitRequestLine is 8190, so the server answered 414 and
the next shot: photographed "Request-URI Too Long" -- and nothing failed: the
page loaded, the still got written, the build exited 0. Only looking at the
figure caught it.
Hiding a composite already reaches its subtracks, so the expansion now stops
at the first container that propagates its own visibility and keeps descending
only through superTracks, which do not. hubApi never lists a superTrack
container, so the flag tdbParse already sets when it synthesizes one answers
the question without new data. That step is two variables now.
This is a separate walk rather than a change to tdbLeaves, whose other caller
resolves a container to a row on the page and does need true leaves -- a
composite has no img_data_ of its own.
nav() also warns when a URL passes 7800 characters. A 414 is not an
exception, it is a page, so the run continues and the damage is a wrong
figure; the one thing that helps is saying so at the time.
diff --git src/hg/utils/docent/README.md src/hg/utils/docent/README.md
index df4a2c4bfc9..2b1f3df22b2 100644
--- src/hg/utils/docent/README.md
+++ src/hg/utils/docent/README.md
@@ -125,31 +125,31 @@
## Steps
`steps:` is an ordered list. Each item is a bare verb or a one-key map.
| Step | What it does |
|------|--------------|
| `gateway` | Open hgGateway for `db`. |
| `go` | Click **GO** with the default position (no typing). |
| `go: chr7:155799529-155812871` | Go straight to a position in hgTracks. |
| `goShow: BRCA1` | **Demonstrates the position change through the UI** (vs. `go:` which navs there directly): the cursor glides to the **position box** and the term is **typed on screen**, then the page finishes the job — **Search** on hgTracks, the arrow on hgGateway — so one verb covers either page. Takes a **gene name** or a **position** (or anything else the box accepts: HGVS, an accession). Bare string, or map form `goShow: {gene: SHH, shot: source}` / `goShow: {position: "chr7:155,799,529-155,812,871", shot: source}` — quote coords in the map form (unquoted commas split a `{..}` flow map). |
| `goShow: {gene: TP53, pick: "NR_176326"}` | A **gene name** goes through the browser's own **suggestion menu**, the way a user does it: Docent waits out the hgSuggest ajax, then clicks the matching row, so you land on the gene (not the search-results page) and the video shows the dropdown. Default match is the exact gene symbol; `pick:` selects a specific row by a substring of its text when the term is ambiguous (a `pick:` that matches nothing warns and falls back to the plain gene match). If nothing ever matches, the typed term is submitted as-is — that may land on the **search-results page**, which is legal, and a `click:` can take it from there. |
| `hide: all` | Click **Hide all**. |
| `track: {mane: pack}` | Set a track's visibility (`hide/dense/squish/pack/full`). The mouse visibly glides to that track's control dropdown, opens it, and picks the mode (then the state is applied). |
| `track: {dbSnp155Common: pack}` | A subtrack by name: trackDb's view and composite above it come along, so this is the whole "common dbSNP" config. (`dbSnp155` is a *different*, off-by-default subtrack — all variants — not an alias for the composite.) |
| `track: {clinvar: pack, clinvarCnv: hide}` | Composite: the container's mode reaches its subtracks, so name only the deviations. Docent adds the containers above and the `_sel` checkbox from trackDb — see **Track names come from trackDb**. |
-| `track: {varsInPubs: hideKids, pubtator: pack}` | **superTrack: show one member only.** `hideKids` is not a visibility — it means *hide everything under this container*, so the child named alongside it is left the only one drawn. A superTrack needs this because, unlike a composite, its own mode does **not** reach its children: each comes up at its own trackDb visibility, so `{varsInPubs: show}` draws all eight of its members and an earlier `hide: all` does not stick. The expansion skips any child the step names itself and is sent in a round of its own **after** the rest — a subtrack hide travelling in the same request as its container can be dropped by the cart (#37953), so the container goes on first and the hides follow. Works on a composite or view too, where it deselects (`_sel=0`) rather than just hiding. `hideKids` alone (no child named) simply empties the container. |
+| `track: {varsInPubs: hideKids, pubtator: pack}` | **superTrack: show one member only.** `hideKids` is not a visibility — it means *hide everything under this container*, so the child named alongside it is left the only one drawn. A superTrack needs this because, unlike a composite, its own mode does **not** reach its children: each comes up at its own trackDb visibility, so `{varsInPubs: show}` draws all eight of its members and an earlier `hide: all` does not stick. The expansion skips any child the step names itself and is sent in a round of its own **after** the rest — a subtrack hide travelling in the same request as its container can be dropped by the cart (#37953), so the container goes on first and the hides follow. Works on a composite or view too, where it deselects (`_sel=0`) rather than just hiding. `hideKids` alone (no child named) simply empties the container. The expansion stops at the first container that propagates its own visibility, so a composite under the superTrack is hidden as a unit rather than enumerated: `{cCREs: hideKids}` on hg38 sends two variables, not the 1701 that naming all 850 subtracks of the ENCODE4 Core Collection would take (which overran Apache's request-line limit and returned a 414 page in place of the view). |
| `track: {anyTrackName: dense}` | Any track by its **trackDb** name. A name trackDb doesn't have (hub, custom track, quickLift target) is sent literally as `name=mode`. |
| `mouseover: {track: dbSnp155Common, item: rs28406051}` | Hover a **named** item to raise its tooltip. `item:` matches the item's map box (its `&i=<name>` HREF or its TITLE) and hovers that rectangle's center — so it lands on the **correct row** even when items are stacked, which a bare coordinate can't do. It then waits for **that item's own tooltip**, not merely for a tooltip: the browser shows one 500 ms after `mouseenter` and hides it 500 ms after `mouseleave` (`hg/js/utils.js`), so the cursor gliding in crosses other items and one of THEIR tooltips can still be on screen on arrival — which is how an Alignment Differences mismatch got pinned as its neighbour's "identical". The expected text comes from the item's own map box, rendered the way the tooltip renders it (the attribute holds markup and undecoded entities), and `DOCENT_ROWS=1` warns if it never appears. `title: "SHH"` matches the TITLE text only; `value: "..."` matches a JSON `mouseOver` span (wig/dense tracks). |
| `mouseover: {track: mane, at: chr7:155805900}` | Hover by **position** when you don't need a specific item: genomic coord (`at:`), a fraction across the view (`frac: 0.5`), or a raw pixel (`x: 400`); the y is forced to the middle of that track's row (cannot disambiguate stacked items). Optional on any `mouseover`: `hold: 2.5` (seconds to dwell) and `shot: tip_mane` (capture the image **plus** the tooltip in one still). |
| `mouseover: {track: dbSnp155Common, item: rs28406051, pin: true}` | `pin: true` **records** that tooltip (its text + position) so a later `pinShot:` can show several mouseovers open together in one figure. Nothing is added to the recorded page, so the **mp4 is unaffected** (it still shows only the transient native tooltip). Set `pinMouseovers: true` at the top of the file to record every mouseover by default (`pin: false` opts one out). Records accumulate within a view and are cleared on the next nav. |
| `pinShot: all_tips` | Write `<name>.png` with **all recorded (pinned) tooltips open at once**, each with a **cursor drawn at the point it was raised from** — so the figure says which feature every tooltip belongs to instead of leaving the reader to infer it from the anchor. Rendered on a throwaway page that shares the session (same cart/view) — never on the recorded page — so it never appears in the mp4. Consumes the recorded set (clears it). Place it after the `mouseover` steps whose tooltips you want shown together, before any nav/zoom. Map form `pinShot: {name: all_tips, cursors: false}` drops the pointers. |
| `convert: {to: GCA_018466845.2, quicklift: true, hideDefaults: true}` | View→Convert, then **type the target into the page's own "Search for target genome" bar** and click the suggestion (`search:` overrides what is typed, `pick:` disambiguates the menu); the Assembly dropdown is checked afterwards and only opened by hand if the search didn't land there. QuickLift on, **re-checks Hide-defaults** (it reverts when the Assembly menu reloads), Submit. `to:` accepts an accession or a label fragment (`2257.pat`, matched against the dropdown text). |
| `convert: {to: ..., shot: convert_filled}` | `shot:` inside `convert:` captures the Convert page, which no other verb can reach. A bare name is the **filled-in page just before Submit**. The map form names up to three moments: `shot: {opened: a, filled: b, result: c}` — `opened` as the page comes up, `filled` ready to Submit, `result` the conversion-result page (whose coordinate link `open: lift` clicks). These are viewport stills, so they show the page from the top. |
| `hub: https://example.org/hub.txt` | **Quick, silent** attach of a track hub by URL (`hgTracks?hubUrl=...`): connects the hub so its tracks are available at their hub-declared visibility. Follow with `track:` to turn specific ones on. Map form `hub: {url: ..., db: hg38, position: chr7:...}` overrides the db/position (default: current `db` + last position). |
| `addHub: https://example.org/hub.txt` | **Demonstrates the attach through the UI** (for the figure/video): opens My Data → Track Hubs, clicks the **Connected Hubs** tab, types the URL into the box, and clicks **Add Hub** — cursor glides and the URL is typed on screen. Then, on the "Hub Connect Successful" page, it **clicks the `Open:` link for `db`** so the demo ends on the browser with the hub loaded. Map form `addHub: {url: ..., db: hg38, shot: loaded}` sets which assembly to open and captures the still on that tracks view. Use `hub:` instead when you just need the hub attached without showing the steps. |
| `addCustomTrack: <text-or-url>` | **Demonstrates loading a custom track via the UI**: opens My Data → Custom Tracks, types the track data (or a data URL) into the paste box, clicks **Submit**, then clicks through to the browser (**Go to first annotation**). Bare string is the data or URL; map form `addCustomTrack: {data: "track ...\nchr7 ...", db: hg38, goto: first, shot: loaded}` (use `url:` for a data URL, `goto: current` to land on **Return to current position** instead). Data is inserted literally (tabs/newlines preserved). In YAML, a multi-line track uses a block scalar: `addCustomTrack: |` then the indented lines. |
| `addPublicHub: GTEx` | **Demonstrates connecting a PUBLIC hub via the UI**: opens My Data → Track Hubs, the **Public Hubs** tab, types the search terms, clicks **Search Public Hubs**, then clicks **Connect** on the matching hub row, and finally **clicks the `Open:` link for `db`** to land on the browser. Bare string is the search term (also used to match the row). A search usually returns several hubs, so use the map form `addPublicHub: {search: "GTEx", match: "GTEx Analysis Hub", db: hg38, shot: loaded}` to pick the exact hub by a substring of its row text (`match:` defaults to `search:`) and the assembly to open. If no row matches it **won't connect** (warns and stops) rather than pick the wrong hub. |
| `drag: chr7:155,805,900-155,806,950` | Emulates the **Shift+drag-select** gesture: the cursor sweeps across the selection (a visible selection box is drawn) and the browser's own drag-select dialog is raised, then a button is clicked. The argument is one genomic region, `chrom:start-end`; a bare range **zooms**. For any other action, or to pass other keys, put the region under `range:` and quote it — unquoted commas split a `{..}` flow map: `drag: {range: "chr7:155,805,900-155,806,950", shot: dragselect, then: highlight}`. Endpoints that are not genomic coordinates are given as a fraction (`fromFrac:`/`toFrac:`) or raw px (`fromX:`/`toX:`) instead. Optional `track:` picks the row the box is drawn over; default is the top of the image. `shot: dragselect` captures the open dialog. `then:` = `zoom` (default → **Zoom In**) \| `highlight` (→ Single Highlight) \| `cancel` (Escape, view unchanged). (A real button-held drag would just pan, so the dialog is driven directly.) |
| `open: lift` | Click the returned coordinate link → the lifted view. |
| `zoom: out` / `zoom: in` | One zoom step (2×). |
| `montage: {name: figure1, shots: [source, lifted]}` | Compose stills already written this run into **one multi-panel PNG**, which is what a journal wants for a figure with parts (A), (B), and so on. Panels are stacked in order and lettered automatically; `labels: [Before, After]` overrides the letters, `labels: false` drops them, `direction: horizontal` puts them side by side, and `gap:` / `labelSize:` tune the spacing and lettering. Composed at deviceScaleFactor 1 with every panel at its **natural pixel size**, so the composite is pixel-for-pixel its inputs: a `make hires` montage is print resolution because the panels were, not because anything was upscaled. Panels narrower than the widest are left-aligned and padded, never stretched. A named shot that was never taken is warned about and skipped. Put it last, after the `shot:`/`pinShot:` steps it names. |