[Xerte-dev] Re: Location of xwd and rlm files in the svn(s) plus any other shared files

Fri Apr 20 14:26:05 BST 2012

The new model (.rlm) files and form (.xwd) files that I created for the
next releases of XOT and Xerte - one set of files to be shared by both
products were created in the Xerte svn in the Page Wizards folder.

When the beta releases were being prepared I copied the model files to the
runtime / pages / models folder of the xerte svn and to the XOT svn
modules/xerte/parent_templates/Nottingham/models folder.

If I have understood Tom correctly he has a preference for working with the
files in the xerte svn / pageWizards section of the svn as since they have
not been copied they will retain a history of their development.

The xwd files have been copied to the XOT svn
modules/xerte/parent_templates/Nottingham/wizards/en folder and to the
Xerte runtime pages / wizards / en folder

Ideally we really ought to have one single location for these files.

Already the model files in the XOT are diverging from those in pageWizards
as Tom has modified the quiz.rlm file to accommodate his preferred way of
handling the "Question 1 of 8 questions" translation.

The data.xwd folder should not be edited directly. Any missing entries
should be corrected by editing the appropriate individual xwd files and
then the new data.xwd file should be built.

This will improve maintenance in the long term, but right now we need to
agree either a single location for the files or if there are to be more
than one location then a process for change has to be agreed so that one
set is universally accepted as the master set and is the only one modified
and then the changes are copied over to the other set(s).

This issue applies to all the files that are shared by both Xerte and XOT.
I don't know the full extent of the level of sharing. In addition to the
rlm and xwd files there will be the files in the "common" folder, the
thumbnails etc. What worries me most are the more core files such as
XMLengine.swf or editor.swf. If they are common to XOT and Xerte then the
reliability of the beta testing will be compromised if the XOT and Xerte
betas are not using the same versions of the files.

In creating the new .rlm files a couple of pages were enhanced i.e. the
Title page and the bullets page ( which did not display correctly). The
rest of the pages were only modified in terms of adding a test for their
location and to support parallel indexed data in Xerte projects (this is
neutral to XOT as the index defaults to 0).

The biggest issue I have faced in creating the new models has been to keep
up to date with changes that have been made to the current model files and
to template.xwd during the time that the new model and xwd set were
created. It would be really useful if no further changes to the currently
live set of model and xwd files are made. If there are changes I will do my
best to pick them up when I update my copy of the svns.

But it is vital that ASAP we establish a which set of beta files is the
master set and ensure they are applied to both Xerte and XOT, and that then
everyone only introduces change to the master set. The way to chaos lies
down the path of trying to maintain multiple sets of duplicate files with
no consensus on which set is the master set.

I hope this makes things clearer to everyone. I can understand that this
may appear a little confusing to anyone who has not been involved in the
development.

If there is anything that I have not explained clearly enough please ask
for clarification.

It is Nottingham's call as to how they want to organise the files, until
this is resolved I recommend that no files are changed, as every change
will lead to potentially greater confusion.

Kind regards

Johnathan

On 20 April 2012 13:21, Ron Mitchell <ronm at mitchellmedia.co.uk> wrote:

> Thanks for the explanation Tom sounds like a good plan to fill basic.xwd
> with the preferred top menu and have any differences simply appended.
>
> On the test server we are using I might quickly edit data.xwd to reflect
> that category order I listed below but I guess basix.xwd needs to be
> updated wherever it exists in the trunks?
>
>
>
> Ron
>
>
>
> *From:* xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk [mailto:
> xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] *On Behalf Of *Tom Reijnders
> *Sent:* 20 April 2012 13:10
>
> *To:* For Xerte technical developers
> *Subject:* [Xerte-dev] Re: Location of xwd and rlm files in the svn(s)
> plus any other shared files
>
>
>
> First an explanation:
>
> The template.xwd is generated from basic.xwd and parsing all the
> individual pages to add the rest. At the moment basic.xwd has an empty top
> menu, and contains basically the setup scripts for a pageTemplate project.
> The top menu is automatically generated when the individual pages are read
> and maintains an alphabetical order.
>
> What we could do is the following:
>
> Fill basic.xwd with the top menu that we know/expect to find in the
> individual pages and keep the order as they are in basic.xwd. If a page is
> encountered with a top menu different from the ones found in basic.xwd, it
> is simply appended (not resorted in any way). This would be easy to
> implement, it doesn't require any extra info in the xwd's and gives us
> maximum control.
>
> The (minor) drawback is, that if we move pages around and one of the
> topmenus in basic.xwd happens to be empty, strange things can happen, but
> those are easily fixed.
>
> Tom
>
>
>
>
>
> Op 20-4-2012 13:22, Ron Mitchell schreef:
>
> In the Google doc Julian commented as follows:
>
>
>
> JT - would like the top level sections to be based on some order of
> popularity, i.e. text / media ones first, as they were. Charts does not
> make sense at the top. Second level menus could be alphabetical. We could
> analyse Nottingham's LOs to see what is used most? I think it is text /
> media / navigators before anything else.
>
>
>
> My preference would be the following:
>
> Text
>
> Media
>
> Navigators
>
> Connectors
>
> Charts
>
> Interactivity
>
> Games
>
> Misc
>
> and have the page types within each category alphabetical A - Z
>
>
>
> That would maintain continuity/familiarity for existing users and although
> the individual page type order within at least some of the categories would
> have changed I think that's let important and makes more sense to be
> alphabetical.
>
>
>
> Is that possible without major code changes?
>
>
>
> Ron
>
>
>
> *From:* xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk [
> mailto:xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk<xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk>]
> *On Behalf Of *Tom Reijnders
> *Sent:* 20 April 2012 11:42
> *To:* For Xerte technical developers
> *Subject:* [Xerte-dev] Re: Location of xwd and rlm files in the svn(s)
> plus any other shared files
>
>
>
> The order has changed depending on what template.xwd you use. The one that
> is generated from the pages (individual xwd's) maintains an
> alphabetical order, that used to be a different order typed in in the
> template xwd.
>
> Of course we can change that, but I would need more information in the
> individual xwd's to indicate the order or placement.
>
> Tom
>
>
> Op 20-4-2012 12:13, Ron Mitchell schreef:
>
> That's a good point Jonathan but I guess the answer isn't straightforward
> :-(
>
>
>
> e.g. I notice Fay has just updated
> /trunk/modules/xerte/parent_templates/Nottingham/data.xwd but I'm not sure
> what changes that contains or whether that brings it in sync or out of sync
> with the Xerte version or rather versions.
>
>
>
> As we've listed and discussed the custom stylesheet option has gone
> missing in the XOT 1.8 beta to which I guess means it's gone missing from
> the xwd but I'm not sure how or why. Likewise there's the discussion about
> the order in which the categories and page types appear in the Nottingham
> template and I guess this applies to Xerte as well as XOT although I
> haven't checked if this has changed in Xerte too?
>
>
>
> I guess Julian is king and needs to guide us? ;-)
>
>
>
> Cheers
>
> Ron
>
>
>
> *From:* xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk [
> mailto:xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk<xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk>]
> *On Behalf Of *Kemp Johnathan
> *Sent:* 20 April 2012 10:47
> *To:* Xerte Developers Discussion List
> *Subject:* [Xerte-dev] Location of xwd and rlm files in the svn(s) plus
> any other shared files
>
>
>
> Currently we have separate svns for Xerte and Toolkits.
>
>
>
> Whilst developing the new model and xwd files I set up a pageWizards
> folder in the root of the Xerte svn so that they could be developed
> parallel to the existing models which were still in use.
>
>
>
> Now we have come to a point where we are testing a beta release of
> Toolkits that is based on these new models and xwds. Also a beta release of
> desktop Xerte is imminent, which will also be using the same model and xwd
> files. They will also share many other files e.g. thumbs, the "common"
> folder and I also (?) the core files such as editor.swf, XMLengine.swf etc.
>
>
>
> Would it not make sense for all the shared files to be kept in one
> location so that we avoid a situation in which the various copies of the
> files that currently exist get out of synch with each other? If the
> Toolkits release is using earlier versions of swf files that have been
> modified in the desktop Xerte then this is going to create anomalies during
> testing, since the models were developed in the desktop environment.
>
>
>
> Where then are we to keep them?
>
>
>
> The testing of the XOT beta is raising the need to make some changes to
> xwd files and possibly also some model files. I don't want to start making
> these changes whilst there is ambiguity as to which set of files to work
> from.
>
>
>
> Personally I have no preference as to where they are kept. I think Tom may
> have a view on this.
>
>
>
> Currently there are copies of the new xwd and rlm files in
>
>
>
> xerte svn / runtime/pages /
>
> xerte svn / pageWizards/models (rlms) and pageWizards/en-gb (xwds)
>
> XOT svn/ modules/xerte/parent_templates/Nottingham/models (rlms) and
> wizards (xwds)
>
>
>
> Kind regards
>
>
>
> Johnathan
>
>
>
> This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee and
> may contain confidential information. If you have received this message in
> error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it. Please do not
> use, copy or disclose the information contained in this message or in any
> attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this email do
> not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nottingham.
>
> This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an
> attachment may still contain software viruses which could damage your
> computer system: you are advised to perform your own checks. Email
> communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored as
> permitted by UK legislation.
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> Xerte-dev mailing list
>
> Xerte-dev at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
>
> http://lists.nottingham.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/xerte-dev
>
>
>
> This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee and may contain confidential information. If you have received this message in error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it.   Please do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this message or in any attachment.  Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nottingham.
>
>
>
> This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an attachment
>
> may still contain software viruses which could damage your computer system:
>
> you are advised to perform your own checks. Email communications with the
>
> University of Nottingham may be monitored as permitted by UK legislation.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> --
>
>
>
> Tom Reijnders
>
> TOR Informatica
>
> Chopinlaan 27
>
> 5242HM Rosmalen
>
> Tel: 073 5226191
>
> Fax: 073 5226196
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> Xerte-dev mailing list
>
> Xerte-dev at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
>
> http://lists.nottingham.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/xerte-dev
>
>
>
> This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee and may contain confidential information. If you have received this message in error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it.   Please do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this message or in any attachment.  Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nottingham.
>
>
>
> This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an attachment
>
> may still contain software viruses which could damage your computer system:
>
> you are advised to perform your own checks. Email communications with the
>
> University of Nottingham may be monitored as permitted by UK legislation.
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> --
>
>
>
> Tom Reijnders
>
> TOR Informatica
>
> Chopinlaan 27
>
> 5242HM Rosmalen
>
> Tel: 073 5226191
>
> Fax: 073 5226196
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Xerte-dev mailing list
> Xerte-dev at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
> http://lists.nottingham.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/xerte-dev
>
> This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee and
> may contain confidential information. If you have received this message in
> error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it.   Please do
> not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this message or in
> any attachment.  Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this
> email do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nottingham.
>
> This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an attachment
> may still contain software viruses which could damage your computer system:
> you are advised to perform your own checks. Email communications with the
> University of Nottingham may be monitored as permitted by UK legislation.
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.nottingham.ac.uk/pipermail/xerte-dev/attachments/20120420/49df7b01/attachment-0001.html>