luci-app-package-manager: create solution when description text is cut off due to apk byte limit

[owlsy]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched among all existing issues (including closed issues)

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Screenshots

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Actual behaviour

Descriptions for software packages are being cut off if they are over 512 characters (probably intentional).

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Expected behaviour

If descriptions for software packages are over 512 characters, show a '…' horizontal ellipsis, along with a graphical UI button or a 'Show More' text link to further expand the entry list height and view the full description.

Example

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Curabitur quis tellus nec arcu aliquam elementum. Aliquam erat volutpat. Etiam efficitur rutrum leo, vel porta tortor mollis quis. Duis vehicula interdum ex, sed vulputate libero maximus vel. Cras condimentum odio a sapien tincidunt, quis condimentum nunc pellentesque. Morbi aliquet dictum nisi, eu congue enim eleifend ac. Curabitur tincidunt ac justo in vestibulum. Phasellus id tristique nulla, pharetra gravida mi. Ut accumsan dolor lacus, non veli… Show More

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Steps to reproduce

1. Go to System -> Software
2. Update lists…
3. View available package list and look for long descriptions.

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Additional Information

Reasoning

I started to do PRs for any long descriptions (openwrt/packages#29062, openwrt/openwrt#22967, openwrt/openwrt#22968, openwrt/packages#29178), but realised with 10,835 distinct packages available at the moment… a different approach needs to be done.

Output of ubus call system board

{
	"kernel": "6.12.74",
	"hostname": "Dragon",
	"system": "MediaTek MT7621 ver:1 eco:3",
	"model": "TP-Link ER605 v2",
	"board_name": "tplink,er605-v2",
	"rootfs_type": "squashfs",
	"release": {
		"distribution": "OpenWrt",
		"version": "25.12.2",
		"firmware_url": "https://downloads.openwrt.org/",
		"revision": "r32802-f505120278",
		"target": "ramips/mt7621",
		"description": "OpenWrt 25.12.2 r32802-f505120278",
		"builddate": "1774469393"
	}
}

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What browsers do you see the problem on?

Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge

[efahl]

Is this related to apk's 512 limit on descriptions in the v3 database?

https://gitlab.alpinelinux.org/alpine/apk-tools/-/commit/417a93ceae540444fdbd3f76d1dadf0e15621fdc

(Note that the commit title is incorrect, as can be seen by scrolling down into the actual code.)

[owlsy]

Ah, good catch @efahl. Yes, it looks like it is.
In that case, what do we suggest we do in this situation?

I know that you can view the full description if you go to the package in OpenWrt Wiki… so we could technically create a script that would take them to that page in a new tab when clicked on 'Show More'.

e.g. package: libmnl0

If package-name is libmnl, replace package-name in <a href="https://openwrt.org/packages/pkgdata/package-name" target="_blank"> to <a href="https://openwrt.org/packages/pkgdata/libmnl0" target="_blank">

Otherwise is there another way to obtain the full description text from somewhere?

[efahl]

I see three possibilities.

1. Ask the apk team to remove the limit. This seems unlikely, as it's probably super low priority and really who needs more than 512 in the package anyhow, just put in a link to the real docs...
2. Change https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/blob/main/include/package-pack.mk#L597 to error out on descriptions over 512.
3. Add another item to the package formalities checks that warns a user and tells them to rewrite the description to fit into 512.

@GeorgeSapkin, got any opinions on this?