[Xerte] Editing products of templates?

[jventola at verizon.net]

Thanks, that helps a lot. The overall structure is much clearer. 

And it turns out I was trying to do the impossible! Never a good idea. :)


Date sent:      	Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:57:03 +0100
From:           	"Tenney Julian" <Julian.Tenney at nottingham.ac.uk>
Subject:        	RE: [Xerte] Editing products of templates?
To:             	"Xerte discussion list" <xerte at lists.nottingham.ac.uk>
Send reply to:  	Xerte discussion list <xerte at lists.nottingham.ac.uk>

> The best way to put a series of lessons created by templates is to use a
> web page with links to each lesson on it, a kind of table of contents.
> You can't include a lesson made with one template in a lesson made with
> another. They are standalone.
> 
> For more technical info on templates in Xerte, read the templates
> document, on the web site, which walks through an example.
> 
> Basically a template is three things:
> 
> - A xerte piece which is linked to an xml file. The piece uses this xml
> file to generate the content.
> - The rlo / rlt file. This is the main logic of the piece. It reads in
> the xml file and says 'ah - the xml file has  three pages in it. Let's
> make three pages, and so on'
> - The xwd file. This file tells the Xerte wizard how to allow the xml
> file to be edited, and what sort of controls to use for the various
> nodes and attributes in the file. It allows new editors to be created
> very quickly.
> 
> To change properties like streaming, you can edit the icon proeprties
> inside the .rlo / .rlt file.
> 
> .rlo and .rlt files are identical, just the .rlt extension signals to
> Xerte to open the wizard to edit the xml, rather than open the .rlo file
> in the main authoring environment. Double click the learning object icon
> to open the wizard if the piece is connected to an xml file through the
> templateData property on the LO icon.
> 
> Models are ways of saving out chunks of an .rlo file. Say you have a
> really cool interaction you want to re-use. Save it as a model and you
> can import it into another piece. You can also link to models, allowing
> one file to be used in many different pieces - then you can change the
> one file and your changes are freflected in every piece that uses it
> (only top level page models can work this way).
> 
> Does that help?
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
> [mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] On Behalf Of
> jventola at verizon.net
> Sent: 11 July 2008 19:50
> To: xerte at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
> Subject: [Xerte] Editing products of templates?
> 
> Executive Summary: After I make a lesson with a wizard (template?) how
> do I edit it in full Xerte and merge it with another lesson?
> 
> I finally got around to exploring the Xerte install folder and
> discovered Wizard/pageTemplates.xtp.  Wow. Wonderful.  Where has this
> been all week?  With this wizard, I can do just about everything I need
> including a quiz with individual feedback.  
> Brilliant. 
> 
> But I do not understand templates in Xerte.  I need an overview.
> Usually, you load a template and use it to make and save a new document
> (as in Word) and the resulting doc is editable in the application
> software.  So  I would have expected to end up with an rlo file that I
> could then open in Xerte.  But the template interface can only save
> another template. 
> (That's bearable since I can just publish it or package it.)  But, say I
> want to change a propety like streaming or loop or play on the sound.  I
> cannot load the file into Xerte except as a template and that template
> may not offer the option.  If I close the template, I see Xerte, but I
> do not have my lesson to edit--only the logic of the wizard.
> 
> I haven't gotten around to models yet.  Maybe that is how you do it?
> And is that how you merge stuff created with one template into a
> presentation begun with another?  Suppose I had two templates, each of
> which makes doing something I want in one lesson easy.  How do I manage
> that?  
> 
> Similarly, what are all the filetypes of Xerte?  In the Xerte folder I
> see ico files for rlo, rla, rlm, and rlt--not to mention xlm and xwd.
> And the pageTemplate is an xtp file.  Is this explained anywhere?  
> 
> Thanks again for the help.
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