[Xerte-dev] Re: use of info tag in xwd forms

Wed Mar 6 10:01:35 GMT 2013

Hi Folks,

What I would like to be able to achieve is a means of providing a link to a
pdf file that the author can access to provide additional information to
support the use of the page type. My original need was to support the
connector pages and the inventory page with more information about how the
page worked and how, in the case of connector pages they could be used in
conjunction with other pages. However the help file could provide other
stuff such as examples of use or pedagogical information.

How that link is made available to the author I don't have a strong view
on. It just seemed that the <info> tag already provided the functionality
(except for this frustrating glitch). If resolving the glitch was a simple
matter then the <info> tag might be a convenient way of doing this without
involving much time input. If however the glitch is difficult to pin down
then a different approach might be appropriate.

By putting the link in the xwd file it keeps everything about the page in
one place. However it does have the disadvantage of making it difficult to
change the location of the help files.

Perhaps an approach that assumed the help file would use the same stem as
the model file but have a pdf extension (e.g. quiz.rlm and quiz.pdf), would
allow a Xerte or XOT project to define a single folder location for all the
help files. The specific help file for a page type would then be accessed
by combining the single folder address with the model name and a pdf
extension.

This would allow help files to be either located on a remote server or on a
local server, or even in a desktop Xerte installation folder e.g.
Xerte\pages\help\. It would also make it easier to change the locations of
the help files as there would be only one path to change.

Kind regards

Johnathan

On 6 March 2013 07:50, Julian Tenney <Julian.Tenney at nottingham.ac.uk> wrote:

> Maybe we should tackle this differently: rather than trying to display the
> <info> on the form, why not pop it up in a message or show it somewhere
> else?
>
>
>
> *From:* xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk [mailto:
> xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] *On Behalf Of *Kemp Johnathan
> *Sent:* 05 March 2013 17:53
> *To:* For Xerte technical developers
>
> *Subject:* [Xerte-dev] Re: use of info tag in xwd forms
>
>
>
> The most recent version of the desktop would ensure you have the latest
> version of wizard.swf, but if you can see the Show Language Options I think
> that should be enough to demonstrate the issue.
>
>
>
> The "here is the help" text is the text contained in the info tag.
>
>
>
> If you click in the Show Language Options check box you will see that some
> additional fields are displayed in the form but that there is an expanse of
> blank grey form before the "here is the help" text is displayed.
>
>
>
> If you mouse over the grey area above the "here is the help" text you will
> see the mouse pointer change as it hovers over where the text entry boxes
> for the hidden language options are positioned.
>
>
>
> If you click on the Quiz2 page to open its xwd form the effect is clear as
> none of the fields are flagged as language options so as soon as the form
> opens you see that the display of labels and fields ends abruptly and then
> there is again the grey expanse of blank form before the "here is the help"
> text is displayed. You have noticed, in your second post that the entry
> below "single answer wrong" is cut short vertically. There are also more
> fields below this which are not displaying at all.
>
>
>
> If you edit the quiz.xwd file in the page002 folder to remove the "info"
> tag then all the fields defined in the form are displayed correctly. So it
> is the "info" tag that is causing the display issue.
>
>
>
> Kind regards
>
>
>
> Johnathan
>
>
>
> On 5 March 2013 10:43, Dave Burnett <d_b_burnett at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> What version of desktop is required?
>
> The only language related object I have showing is "Show Language Options"
> in the bottom bar.
>
>
>
> (I do see  "Here is the help" in blue  near the bottom).
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2013 10:23:23 +0000
> From: johnathan.kemp at ntlworld.com
> To: xerte-dev at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
> Subject: [Xerte-dev] Re: use of info tag in xwd forms
>
>
>
> If you include the info tag in an xwd form it can result in the none
> display of the last entries in the form.
>
>
>
> The info tag displays at the bottom of the form with a blank area of form
> above it where the missing fields and field labels should be displayed.
>
>
>
> If you move the mouse pointer over the blank area of the form then the
> mouse pointer will change indicating that the fields are there - you just
> can't see them.
>
>
>
> The easiest way to explain what is happening is for you to see it for
> yourself.
>
>
>
> I have attached a simple demo. The demo is a standard Xerte project (not a
> "Pages" type project - I have manually set up the xwd links for the pages)
> in which I have set up two copies of the Quiz page.
>
>
>
> 1.      Open this project in Xerte
>
> 2.      Double click on the Quiz page to open the xwd form
>
> 3.      Click on the language tab to display the language fields
>
> 4.      Scroll down the form - you will see the blank area where the
> hidden language fields should appear and the blue info comment at the
> bottom.
>
> 5.      The language tag is not significant to this issue.
>
> 6.      Double click on the Quiz2 page, you will see the same effect
> without the use of the language tag (I deleted them from this pages xwd
> file)
>
> I don't know if the cause is to do with layers or visibility settings. I
> don't know what happens when the info tag is actioned in the code.
>
>
>
> I hope this makes the effect clear (if not the cause :-( )
>
>
>
> Kind regards
>
>
>
> Johnathan
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 5 March 2013 09:40, Julian Tenney <Julian.Tenney at nottingham.ac.uk>
> wrote:
>
> What’s the problem in a nutshell?
>
>
>
> *From:* xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk [mailto:
> xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] *On Behalf Of *Kemp Johnathan
> *Sent:* 04 March 2013 22:18
> *To:* Xerte Developers Discussion List
> *Subject:* [Xerte-dev] use of info tag in xwd forms
>
>
>
> On the 4th December I posted to the developer list an issue with the xwd
> forms relating to the use of the "info" tag.
>
>
>
> The inclusion of an info tag in the xwd form can result in space being
> allocated above the info tag for the display of the last few properties in
> the xwd form definition, but the properties are not visible in the form.
> You can however confirm their "presence" as the mouse pointer responds to
> them if moved over the input fields.
>
>
>
> You can test this out in Xerte (or XOT) by creating a page using one of
> the Connector page types. The info tag has been used in these pages to link
> to a pdf help file that is hosted on the Xerte community web site, but the
> "language" flagged form properties are no longer all editable, due to the
> presence of the info tag.
>
>
>
> This is a pity as the info tag could be used to provide a link to an
> external document that gives the Author useful additional information to
> assist them in making the best use of that page type. e.g.
>
> ·         Information about what the page is designed to do
>
> ·         Instructions on what the properties in the form are to help in
> completing the form created by the xwd file;
>
> ·         examples of actual uses of that page type in real projects.
>
> ·         examples of combining this page type with other page types to
> achieve a particular pedagogical approach
>
> ·         guidance as to how accessible the page is with respect to
> particular types of user, or what features the page has as optional
> properties to provide additional accessibility
>
> However at present if the "info" tag is used then the ability to edit the
> language flagged elements of the page is compromised.
>
>
>
> Is this something that is intended to be addressed before the next release
> of Xerte / XOT?
>
>
>
> Sorry to be a nuisance, but it seems such a potentially useful feature it
> seems a shame not to be able to use it.
>
>
>
> Kind regards
>
>
>
> Johnathan
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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