MKWS demo client

`s can be added (with no content), and +will be filled in by MKWS: + +* `

` -- switch between record and target views +* `

` -- switch between English, Danish and German +* `

` -- search box and button +* `

` -- result list, including pager/sorting +* `

` -- target list, including status +* `

` -- summary statistics + +You can configure and control the client by creating an `mkws_config` +object _before_ loading the widget-set. Here is an example of all +possible options: + +~~~ + +~~~ + +For much more detail, see +[the MKWS whitepaper](whitepaper.html). + + +- - - + +Copyright 2013 IndexData ApS. diff --git a/doc/debugging-notes.txt b/doc/debugging-notes.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c28d520 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/debugging-notes.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7 @@ +config_default.debug_level is initialised to 1 +mkws_config.debug_level may be set by the application +mkws.debug_level is set from one of the above +mkws.debug_time is self-contained, and used well +mkws.debug_function is a function +var debug is a local alias of mkws.debug_function +debug2 is a function that calls debug after 500 ms -- what?! diff --git a/doc/mkws-doc.css b/doc/mkws-doc.css new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a58c10f --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/mkws-doc.css @@ -0,0 +1,76 @@ +body { + font-family: Times, "Times Roman", "Times New Roman"; +} + +h1, h2, h3, h4 { + color: #68a; + font-weight: bold; + font-family: Gill Sans, "Gillius ADF", Gillius, GilliusADF, Verdana, Sans-Serif; +} + +h2 a, h3 a, h4 a, div#TOC a { + color: #68a; + text-decoration: none; +} + +h2, h3 { + /* Default spacing is way off in both Chrome and Firefox */ + margin-bottom: -0.5em; +} + +h1 { + background: #e0e8f8; + padding: 0.2em; + font-weight: normal; +} + +h2.author { + font-size: 120%; + color: black +} + +h3.date { + font-size: 100%; + color: black +} + +body > p, ul, ol, pre, table, h4 { + margin-left: 10%; +} + +p, ul { + max-width: 40em; +} + +pre { + background: #eee; +} + +table tr th { + color: white; + background: #68a; + font-family: Gill Sans, "Gillius ADF", Gillius, GilliusADF, Verdana, Sans-Serif; +} + +th, td { + padding: 0.2em 0.5em; + vertical-align: top; +} + +table tr:nth-child(odd) { + background: #a9c6e3; +} + +table tr:nth-child(even) { + background: #bfdcf8; +} + +/* + * Works with the HTML emitted by pandoc. It would better if pandoc + * were to emit class names that we can use. But it doesn't. + */ +body > p:last-of-type { + font-size: small; + max-width: none; + text-align: right; +} diff --git a/doc/whitepaper.markdown b/doc/whitepaper.markdown new file mode 100644 index 0000000..376da7a --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/whitepaper.markdown @@ -0,0 +1,595 @@ +% Embedded metasearching with the MasterKey Widget Set +% Mike Taylor +% July-September 2013 + + +Introduction +------------ + +There are lots of practical problems in building resource discovery +solutions. One of the biggest, and most ubiquitous is incorporating +metasearching functionality into existing web-sites -- for example, +content-management systems, library catalogues or intranets. In +general, even when access to core metasearching functionality is +provided by simple web-services such as +[Pazpar2](http://www.indexdata.com/pazpar2), integration work is seen +as a major part of most projects. + +Index Data provides several different toolkits for communicating with +its metasearching middleware, trading off varying degrees of +flexibility against convenience: + +* pz2.js -- a low-level JavaScript library for interrogating the + Service Proxy and Pazpar2. It allows the HTML/JavaScript programmer + to create JavaScript applications display facets, records, etc. that + are fetched from the metasearching middleware. + +* masterkey-ui-core -- a higher-level, complex JavaScript library that + uses pz2.js to provide the pieces needed for building a + full-featured JavaScript application. + +* MasterKey Demo UI -- an example of a searching application built on + top of masterkey-ui-core. Available as a public demo at + http://mk2.indexdata.com/ + +* MKDru -- a toolkit for embedding MasterKey-like searching into + Drupal sites. + +All of these approaches require programming to a greater or lesser +extent. Against this backdrop, we introduced MKWS (the MasterKey +Widget Set) -- a set of simple, very high-level HTML+CSS+JavaScript +components that can be incorporated into any web-site to provide +MasterKey searching facilities. By placing `

`s with well-known +identifiers in any HTML page, the various components of an application +can be embedded: search-boxes, results areas, target information, etc. + + +Simple Example +-------------- + +The following is a complete MKWS-based searching application: + + + + + MKWS demo client + + + + +

+ + + +Go ahead, try it! You don't even need a web-server. Just copy and +paste this HTML into a file on your computer -- `/tmp/magic.html`, +say -- and point your web-browser at it: +`file:///tmp/magic.html`. Just like that, you have working +metasearching. + + +How the example works +--------------------- + +If you know any HTML, the structure of the file will be familar to +you: the `` element at the top level contains a `` and a +``. In addition to whatever else you might want to put on your +page, you can add MKWS elements. + +These fall into two categories. First, the prerequisites in the HTML +header, which are loaded from the tool site mkws.indexdata.com: + +* `mkws-complete.js` + contains all the JavaScript needed by the widget-set. + +* `mkws.css` + provides the default CSS styling + +Second, within the HTML body, `

` elements with special IDs that +begin `mkws` can be provided. These are filled in by the MKWS code, +and provide the components of the searching UI. The very simple +application above has only two such components: a search box and a +results area. But more are supported. The main `

`s are: + +* `mkwsSearch` -- provides the search box and button. + +* `mkwsResults` -- provides the results area, including a list of + brief records (which open out into full versions when clicked), + paging for large results sets, facets for refining a search, + sorting facilities, etc. + +* `mkwsLang` -- provides links to switch between one of several + different UI languages. By default, English, Danish and German are + provided. + +* `mkwsSwitch` -- provides links to switch between a view of the + result records and of the targets that provide them. Only + meaningful when `mkwsTargets` is also provided. + +* `mkwsTargets` -- the area where per-target information will appear + when selected by the link in the `mkwsSwitch` area. Of interest + mostly for fault diagnosis rather than for end-users. + +* `mkwsStat` --provides a status line summarising the statistics of + the various targets. + +To see all of these working together, just put them all into the HTML +`` like so: + +

+ +Configuration +------------- + +Many aspects of the behaviour of MKWS can be modified by setting +parameters into the `mkws_config` object. **This must be done *before* +including the MKWS JavaScript** so that when that code is executed it +can refer to the configuration values. So the HTML header looks like +this: + + + + +This configuration sets the UI language to Danish (rather than the +default of English), initially sorts search results by title rather +than relevance (though as always this can be changed in the UI) and +makes the search box a bit wider than the default. + +The full set of supported configuration items is described in the +reference guide below. + + +Control over HTML and CSS +------------------------- + +More sophisticated applications will not simply place the `

`s +together, but position them carefully within an existing page +framework -- such as a Drupal template, an OPAC or a SharePoint page. + +While it's convenient for simple applications to use a monolithic +`mkwsResults` area which contains record, facets, sorting options, +etc., customised layouts may wish to treat each of these components +separately. In this case, `mkwsResults` can be omitted, and the +following lower-level components provided instead: + +* `mkwsTermlists` -- provides the facets + +* `mkwsRanking` -- provides the options for how records are sorted and + how many are included on each page of results. + +* `mkwsPager` -- provides the links for navigating back and forth + through the pages of records. + +* `mkwsNavi` -- when a search result has been narrowed by one or more + facets, this area shows the names of those facets, and allows the + selected values to be clicked in order to remove them. + +* `mkwsRecords` -- lists the actual result records. + +Customisation of MKWS searching widgets can also be achieved by +overriding the styles set in the toolkit's CSS stylesheet. The default +styles can be inspected in `mkws.css` and overridden in any +styles that appears later in the HTML than that file. At the simplest +level, this might just mean changing fonts, sizes and colours, but +more fundamental changes are also possible. + +To properly apply styles, it's necessary to understand how the HTML is +structured, e.g. which elements are nested within which +containers. The structures used by the widget-set are described in the +reference guide below. + + +Refinements +----------- + + +### Message of the day + +Some applications might like to open with content in the area that +will subsequently be filled with result-records -- a message of the +day, a welcome message or a help page. This can be done by placing an +`mkwsMOTD` division anywhere on the page. It will be moved into the +`mkwsResults` area and initially displayed, but will be hidden when a +search is made. + + +### Customised display using Handlebars templates + +Certain aspects of the widget-set's display can be customised by +providing Handlebars templates with well-known classes that begin with +the string `mkwsTemplate_`. At present, the supported templates are: + +* `mkwsTemplate_Summary` -- used for each summary record in a list of + results. + +* `mkwsTemplate_Record` -- used when displaying a full record. + +For both of these the metadata record is passed in, and its fields can +be referenced in the template. As well as the metadata fields +(`md-*`), two special fields are provided to the `mkwsTemplate_Summary` +template, for creating popup links for full records. These are `_id`, +which must be provided as the `id` attribute of a link tag, and +`_onclick`, which must be provided as the `onclick` attribute. + +For example, an application can install a simple author+title summary +record in place of the usual one providing the following template: + + + +For details of Handlebars template syntax, see +[the online documentation](http://handlebarsjs.com/). + + +### Responsive design + +Metasearching applications may need to appear differently on +small-screened mobile devices, or change their appearance when +screen-width changes (as when a small device is rotated). To achieve +this, MKWS supports responsive design which will move the termlists to +the bottom on narrow screens and to the sidebar on wide screens. + +To turn on this behaviour, set the `responsive_design_width` to the desired +threshhold width in pixels. For example: + + + +If individual result-related components are in use in place of the +all-in-one mkwsResults, then the redesigned application needs to +specify the locations where the termlists should appear in both +cases. In this case, wrap the wide-screen `mkwsTermlists` element in a +`mkwsTermlistContainer1` element; and provide an +`mkwsTermlistContainer2` element in the place where the narrow-screen +termlists should appear. + + +### Popup results with jQuery UI + +The [jQuery UI library](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JQuery_UI) +can be used to construct MKWS applications in which the only component +generally visible on the page is a search box, and the results appear +in a popup. The key part of such an application is this invocation of +the MKWS jQuery plugin: + + + +The necessary scaffolding can be seen in an example application, +http://example.indexdata.com/index-popup.html + + +### Authentication and target configuration + +By default, MKWS configures itself to use a demonstration account on a +service hosted by mkws.indexdata.com. This account (username `demo`, +password `demo`) provides access to about a dozen free data +sources. Authentication onto this service is via an authentication URL +on the same MKWS server, so no explicit configuration is needed. + +In order to search in a customised set of targets, including +subscription resources, it's necessary to create an account with +Index Data's hosted service proxy, and protect that account with +authentication tokens (to prevent unauthorised use of subscription +resources). But in order to gain access to those resources, the +authentication tokens have to be available to the widgets in some way, +and simple embedding them in the JavaScript configuration is not +acceptable because they are easy to read from there. + +The solution to this problem is in three steps. + +First +the application's web-server creates a rewriting rule that takes an +innocuous URL like +http://example.indexdata.com/service-proxy-auth/ +and rewrites it as an access to Index Data's authentication service +with authentication credentials embedded. This can be done using +Apache2 directives such as + + RewriteEngine on + RewriteRule /service-proxy-auth/ + http://mkws.indexdata.com/service-proxy/?command=auth&action=login&username=U&password=PW [P] + +Because the credentials appear only in the application's web-server +configuration, they are not visible to malicious users. + +Second, the broader application that includes MKWS widgets must +protect access to the authentication URL on its own web-server. This +can be done using IP authentication, a local username/password scheme, +Kerberos or any other means. + +Third, the MKWS application must be configured to use the +application-hosted authentication URL instead of the default one. This +is done by means of the `service_proxy_auth` configuration element, +which should be set to the authentication URL. + +Once these three steps are taken, the MKWS application will +authenticate by means of a special URL on the application's web +server, which the application prevents unauthorised access to, and the +underlying credentials are hidden. + + +Reference Guide +--------------- + +### Configuration object + +The configuration object `mkws_config` may be created before including +the MKWS JavaScript code to modify default behaviour. This structure +is a key-value lookup table, whose entries are described in the table +below. All entries are optional, but if specified must be given values +of the specified type. If ommitted, each setting takes the indicated +default value; long default values are in footnotes to keep the table +reasonably narrow. + +--- +Element Type Default Description +-------- ----- --------- ------------ +debug_level int 1 Level of debugging output to emit. 0 = none, 1 = messages, 2 = messages with + datestamps, 3 = messages with datestamps and stack-traces. + +facets array *Note 1* Ordered list of names of facets to display. Supported facet names are + `xtargets`, `subject` and `author`. + +lang string en Code of the default language to display the UI in. Supported language codes are `en` = + English, `de` = German, `da` = Danish, and whatever additional languages are configured + using `language_*` entries (see below). + +lang_options array [] A list of the languages to offer as options. If empty (the default), then all + configured languages are listed. + +language_* hash Support for any number of languages can be added by providing entries whose name is + `language_` followed by the code of the language. See the separate section below for + details. + +pazpar2_url string *Note 2* The URL used to access the metasearch middleware. This service must be configured to + provide search results, facets, etc. It may be either unmediated or Pazpar2 the + MasterKey Service Proxy, which mediates access to an underlying Pazpar2 instance. In + the latter case, `service_proxy_auth` must be provided. + +perpage_default string 20 The initial value for the number of records to show on each page. + +perpage_options array *Note 3* A list of candidate page sizes. Users can choose between these to determine how many + records are displayed on each page of results. + +query_width int 50 The width of the query box, in characters. + +responsive_design_width int If defined, then the facets display moves between two locations as the screen-width + varies, as described above. The specified number is the threshhold width, in pixels, + at which the facets move between their two locations. + +service_proxy_auth url *Note 4* A URL which, when `use_service_proxy` is true, is fetched once at the beginning of each + session to authenticate the user and establish a session that encompasses a defined set + of targets to search in. + +service_proxy_auth_domain domain Can be set to the domain for which `service_proxy_auth` proxies authentication, so + that cookies are rewritten to appear to be from this domain. In general, this is not + necessary, as this setting defaults to the domain of `pazpar2_url`. + +show_lang bool true Indicates whether or not to display the language menu. + +show_perpage bool true Indicates whether or not to display the perpage menu. + +show_sort bool true Indicates whether or not to display the sort menu. + +sort_default string relevance The label of the default sort criterion to use. Must be one of those in the `sort` + array. + +sort_options array *Note 6* List of supported sort criteria. Each element of the list is itself a two-element list: + the first element of each sublist is a pazpar2 sort-expression such as `data:0` and + the second is a human-readable label such as `newest`. + +use_service_proxy bool true If true, then a Service Proxy is used to deliver searching services rather than raw + Pazpar2. +--- + +Perhaps we should get rid of the `show_lang`, `show_perpage` and +`show_sort` configuration items, and simply display the relevant menus +only when their containers are provided -- e.g. an `mkwsLang` element +for the language menu. But for now we retain these, as an easier route +to lightly customise the display than my changing providing a full HTML +structure. + +#### Notes + +1. ["sources", "subjects", "authors"] + +2. /pazpar2/search.pz2 + +3. [10, 20, 30, 50] + +4. http://mkws.indexdata.com/service-proxy-auth + +5. http://mkws.indexdata.com/service-proxy/ + +6. [["relevance"], ["title:1", "title"], ["date:0", "newest"], ["date:1", "oldest"]] + + +### Language specification + +Support for another UI language can be added by providing an entry in +the `mkws_config` object whose name is `language_` followed by the +name of the language: for example, `language_French` to support +French. Then value of this entry must be a key-value lookup table, +mapping the English-language strings of the UI into their equivalents +in the specified language. For example: + + var mkws_config = { + language_French: { + "Authors": "Auteurs", + "Subjects": "Sujets", + // ... and others ... + } + } + +The following strings occurring in the UI can be translated: +`Displaying`, +`Next`, +`Prev`, +`Records`, +`Search`, +`Sort by`, +`Targets`, +`Termlists`, +`and show`, +`found`, +`of`, +`per page` +and +`to`. + +In addition, facet names can be translated: +`Authors`, +`Sources` +and +`Subjects`. + +Finally, the names of fields in the full-record display can be +translated. These include, but may not be limited to: +`Author`, +`Date`, +`Location`, +`Subject` +and +`Title`. + + + +### jQuery plugin invocation + +The MasterKey Widget Set can be invoked as a jQuery plugin rather than +by providing an HTML skeleton explicitly. When this approach is used, +the invocation is a single line of JavaScript: + + + +This code should be inserted in the page at the position where the +metasearch should occur. + +When invoking this plugin, a key-value lookup table of named options +may be passed in to modify the default behaviour, as in the exaple +above. The available options are as follows: + +--- +Element Type Default Description +-------- ----- --------- ------------ +layout string popup Specifies how the user interface should + appear. Options are `table` (the default, + with facets at the bottom), `div` (with + facets at the side) and `popup` (to + obtain a popup window). + +width int 880 Width of the popup window (if used), in + pixels. + +height int 760 Height of the popup window (if used), in + pixels. + +id_button string input#mkwsButton (Never change this.) + +id_popup string #mkwsPopup (Never change this.) +--- + +Note that when using the `popup` layout, facilities from the jQuery UI +toolkit are used, so it's necessary to include both CSS and JavaScript +from that toolkit. The relevant lines are: + + + + + +### The structure of the HTML generated by the MKWS widgets + +In order to override the default CSS styles provided by the MasterKey Widget +Set, it's necessary to understand that structure of the HTML elements that are +generated within the components. This knowledge make it possible, for example, +to style each `

` with class `term` but only when it occurs inside an +element with ID `#mkwsTermlists`, so as to avoid inadvertently styling other +elements using the same class in the non-MKWS parts of the page. + +The HTML structure is as follows. As in CSS, #ID indicates a unique identifier +and .CLASS indicates an instance of a class. + + #mkwsSwitch + a* + + #mkwsLang + ( a | span )* + + #mkwsSearch + form + input#mkwsQuery type=text + input#mkwsButton type=submit + + #mkwsBlanket + (no contents -- used only for masking) + + #mkwsResults + table + tbody + tr + td + #mkwsTermlists + div.title + div.facet* + div.termtitle + ( a span br )* + td + div#mkwsRanking + form#mkwsSelect + select#mkwsSort + select#mkwsPerpage + #mkwsPager + #mkwsNavi + #mkwsRecords + div.record* + span (for sequence number) + a (for title) + span (for other information such as author) + div.details (sometimes) + table + tbody + tr* + th + td + #mkwsTargets + #mkwsBytarget + table + thead + tr* + td* + tbody + tr* + td* + + #mkwsStat + span.head + span.clients + span.records + +- - - + +Copyright (C) 2013 by IndexData ApS, diff --git a/tools/htdocs/README.markdown b/tools/htdocs/README.markdown deleted file mode 100644 index 49d415d..0000000 --- a/tools/htdocs/README.markdown +++ /dev/null @@ -1,102 +0,0 @@ -% The MasterKey Widget Set -% Mike Taylor; Wolfram Schneider -% 10 July 2013 - - -Introduction ------------- - -This is the MasterKey Widget Set. The initial version was based on the -"jsdemo" application distributed with pazpar2, but it is now far -removed from those beginnnings. - -As much of the searching functionality as possible is hosted on - -so that very simple websites such as - -can have MasterKey searching with minimal effort. - -The following files are hosted on `mkws.indexdata.com`: - -* `mkws.js` -* `/pazpar2/js/pz2.js` -* `mkws-complete.js` -- a single file consisting of `mkws.js`, - jQuery (which it uses), Handlebars (ditto) and `pz2.js` -* `mkws.css` - - -Supported Browsers ------------------- - -Any modern browser will work fine. JavaScript must be enabled. - -* IE8 or later -* Firefox 17 or later -* Google Chrome 27 or later -* Safari 6 or later -* Opera 12 or later -* iOS 6.x (iPhone, iPad) -* Android 4.x - -Not supported: IE6, IE7 - - -Configuring a client (short version) ------------------------------------- - -The application's HTML must contains the following elements as well as -whatever makes up the application itself: - -Prerequisites: - -~~~ - - -~~~ - -Then the following special `

`s can be added (with no content), and -will be filled in by MKWS: - -* `

` -- switch between record and target views -* `

` -- switch between English, Danish and German -* `

` -- search box and button -* `

` -- result list, including pager/sorting -* `

` -- target list, including status -* `

` -- summary statistics - -You can configure and control the client by creating an `mkws_config` -object _before_ loading the widget-set. Here is an example of all -possible options: - -~~~ - -~~~ - -For much more detail, see -[the MKWS whitepaper](whitepaper.html). - - -- - - - -Copyright 2013 IndexData ApS. diff --git a/tools/htdocs/debugging-notes.txt b/tools/htdocs/debugging-notes.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c28d520..0000000 --- a/tools/htdocs/debugging-notes.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7 +0,0 @@ -config_default.debug_level is initialised to 1 -mkws_config.debug_level may be set by the application -mkws.debug_level is set from one of the above -mkws.debug_time is self-contained, and used well -mkws.debug_function is a function -var debug is a local alias of mkws.debug_function -debug2 is a function that calls debug after 500 ms -- what?! diff --git a/tools/htdocs/mkws-doc.css b/tools/htdocs/mkws-doc.css deleted file mode 100644 index a58c10f..0000000 --- a/tools/htdocs/mkws-doc.css +++ /dev/null @@ -1,76 +0,0 @@ -body { - font-family: Times, "Times Roman", "Times New Roman"; -} - -h1, h2, h3, h4 { - color: #68a; - font-weight: bold; - font-family: Gill Sans, "Gillius ADF", Gillius, GilliusADF, Verdana, Sans-Serif; -} - -h2 a, h3 a, h4 a, div#TOC a { - color: #68a; - text-decoration: none; -} - -h2, h3 { - /* Default spacing is way off in both Chrome and Firefox */ - margin-bottom: -0.5em; -} - -h1 { - background: #e0e8f8; - padding: 0.2em; - font-weight: normal; -} - -h2.author { - font-size: 120%; - color: black -} - -h3.date { - font-size: 100%; - color: black -} - -body > p, ul, ol, pre, table, h4 { - margin-left: 10%; -} - -p, ul { - max-width: 40em; -} - -pre { - background: #eee; -} - -table tr th { - color: white; - background: #68a; - font-family: Gill Sans, "Gillius ADF", Gillius, GilliusADF, Verdana, Sans-Serif; -} - -th, td { - padding: 0.2em 0.5em; - vertical-align: top; -} - -table tr:nth-child(odd) { - background: #a9c6e3; -} - -table tr:nth-child(even) { - background: #bfdcf8; -} - -/* - * Works with the HTML emitted by pandoc. It would better if pandoc - * were to emit class names that we can use. But it doesn't. - */ -body > p:last-of-type { - font-size: small; - max-width: none; - text-align: right; -} diff --git a/tools/htdocs/whitepaper.markdown b/tools/htdocs/whitepaper.markdown deleted file mode 100644 index 376da7a..0000000 --- a/tools/htdocs/whitepaper.markdown +++ /dev/null @@ -1,595 +0,0 @@ -% Embedded metasearching with the MasterKey Widget Set -% Mike Taylor -% July-September 2013 - - -Introduction ------------- - -There are lots of practical problems in building resource discovery -solutions. One of the biggest, and most ubiquitous is incorporating -metasearching functionality into existing web-sites -- for example, -content-management systems, library catalogues or intranets. In -general, even when access to core metasearching functionality is -provided by simple web-services such as -[Pazpar2](http://www.indexdata.com/pazpar2), integration work is seen -as a major part of most projects. - -Index Data provides several different toolkits for communicating with -its metasearching middleware, trading off varying degrees of -flexibility against convenience: - -* pz2.js -- a low-level JavaScript library for interrogating the - Service Proxy and Pazpar2. It allows the HTML/JavaScript programmer - to create JavaScript applications display facets, records, etc. that - are fetched from the metasearching middleware. - -* masterkey-ui-core -- a higher-level, complex JavaScript library that - uses pz2.js to provide the pieces needed for building a - full-featured JavaScript application. - -* MasterKey Demo UI -- an example of a searching application built on - top of masterkey-ui-core. Available as a public demo at - http://mk2.indexdata.com/ - -* MKDru -- a toolkit for embedding MasterKey-like searching into - Drupal sites. - -All of these approaches require programming to a greater or lesser -extent. Against this backdrop, we introduced MKWS (the MasterKey -Widget Set) -- a set of simple, very high-level HTML+CSS+JavaScript -components that can be incorporated into any web-site to provide -MasterKey searching facilities. By placing `

`s with well-known -identifiers in any HTML page, the various components of an application -can be embedded: search-boxes, results areas, target information, etc. - - -Simple Example --------------- - -The following is a complete MKWS-based searching application: - - - - - MKWS demo client - - - - -

- - - -Go ahead, try it! You don't even need a web-server. Just copy and -paste this HTML into a file on your computer -- `/tmp/magic.html`, -say -- and point your web-browser at it: -`file:///tmp/magic.html`. Just like that, you have working -metasearching. - - -How the example works ---------------------- - -If you know any HTML, the structure of the file will be familar to -you: the `` element at the top level contains a `` and a -``. In addition to whatever else you might want to put on your -page, you can add MKWS elements. - -These fall into two categories. First, the prerequisites in the HTML -header, which are loaded from the tool site mkws.indexdata.com: - -* `mkws-complete.js` - contains all the JavaScript needed by the widget-set. - -* `mkws.css` - provides the default CSS styling - -Second, within the HTML body, `

` elements with special IDs that -begin `mkws` can be provided. These are filled in by the MKWS code, -and provide the components of the searching UI. The very simple -application above has only two such components: a search box and a -results area. But more are supported. The main `

`s are: - -* `mkwsSearch` -- provides the search box and button. - -* `mkwsResults` -- provides the results area, including a list of - brief records (which open out into full versions when clicked), - paging for large results sets, facets for refining a search, - sorting facilities, etc. - -* `mkwsLang` -- provides links to switch between one of several - different UI languages. By default, English, Danish and German are - provided. - -* `mkwsSwitch` -- provides links to switch between a view of the - result records and of the targets that provide them. Only - meaningful when `mkwsTargets` is also provided. - -* `mkwsTargets` -- the area where per-target information will appear - when selected by the link in the `mkwsSwitch` area. Of interest - mostly for fault diagnosis rather than for end-users. - -* `mkwsStat` --provides a status line summarising the statistics of - the various targets. - -To see all of these working together, just put them all into the HTML -`` like so: - -

- -Configuration -------------- - -Many aspects of the behaviour of MKWS can be modified by setting -parameters into the `mkws_config` object. **This must be done *before* -including the MKWS JavaScript** so that when that code is executed it -can refer to the configuration values. So the HTML header looks like -this: - - - - -This configuration sets the UI language to Danish (rather than the -default of English), initially sorts search results by title rather -than relevance (though as always this can be changed in the UI) and -makes the search box a bit wider than the default. - -The full set of supported configuration items is described in the -reference guide below. - - -Control over HTML and CSS -------------------------- - -More sophisticated applications will not simply place the `

`s -together, but position them carefully within an existing page -framework -- such as a Drupal template, an OPAC or a SharePoint page. - -While it's convenient for simple applications to use a monolithic -`mkwsResults` area which contains record, facets, sorting options, -etc., customised layouts may wish to treat each of these components -separately. In this case, `mkwsResults` can be omitted, and the -following lower-level components provided instead: - -* `mkwsTermlists` -- provides the facets - -* `mkwsRanking` -- provides the options for how records are sorted and - how many are included on each page of results. - -* `mkwsPager` -- provides the links for navigating back and forth - through the pages of records. - -* `mkwsNavi` -- when a search result has been narrowed by one or more - facets, this area shows the names of those facets, and allows the - selected values to be clicked in order to remove them. - -* `mkwsRecords` -- lists the actual result records. - -Customisation of MKWS searching widgets can also be achieved by -overriding the styles set in the toolkit's CSS stylesheet. The default -styles can be inspected in `mkws.css` and overridden in any -styles that appears later in the HTML than that file. At the simplest -level, this might just mean changing fonts, sizes and colours, but -more fundamental changes are also possible. - -To properly apply styles, it's necessary to understand how the HTML is -structured, e.g. which elements are nested within which -containers. The structures used by the widget-set are described in the -reference guide below. - - -Refinements ------------ - - -### Message of the day - -Some applications might like to open with content in the area that -will subsequently be filled with result-records -- a message of the -day, a welcome message or a help page. This can be done by placing an -`mkwsMOTD` division anywhere on the page. It will be moved into the -`mkwsResults` area and initially displayed, but will be hidden when a -search is made. - - -### Customised display using Handlebars templates - -Certain aspects of the widget-set's display can be customised by -providing Handlebars templates with well-known classes that begin with -the string `mkwsTemplate_`. At present, the supported templates are: - -* `mkwsTemplate_Summary` -- used for each summary record in a list of - results. - -* `mkwsTemplate_Record` -- used when displaying a full record. - -For both of these the metadata record is passed in, and its fields can -be referenced in the template. As well as the metadata fields -(`md-*`), two special fields are provided to the `mkwsTemplate_Summary` -template, for creating popup links for full records. These are `_id`, -which must be provided as the `id` attribute of a link tag, and -`_onclick`, which must be provided as the `onclick` attribute. - -For example, an application can install a simple author+title summary -record in place of the usual one providing the following template: - - - -For details of Handlebars template syntax, see -[the online documentation](http://handlebarsjs.com/). - - -### Responsive design - -Metasearching applications may need to appear differently on -small-screened mobile devices, or change their appearance when -screen-width changes (as when a small device is rotated). To achieve -this, MKWS supports responsive design which will move the termlists to -the bottom on narrow screens and to the sidebar on wide screens. - -To turn on this behaviour, set the `responsive_design_width` to the desired -threshhold width in pixels. For example: - - - -If individual result-related components are in use in place of the -all-in-one mkwsResults, then the redesigned application needs to -specify the locations where the termlists should appear in both -cases. In this case, wrap the wide-screen `mkwsTermlists` element in a -`mkwsTermlistContainer1` element; and provide an -`mkwsTermlistContainer2` element in the place where the narrow-screen -termlists should appear. - - -### Popup results with jQuery UI - -The [jQuery UI library](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JQuery_UI) -can be used to construct MKWS applications in which the only component -generally visible on the page is a search box, and the results appear -in a popup. The key part of such an application is this invocation of -the MKWS jQuery plugin: - - - -The necessary scaffolding can be seen in an example application, -http://example.indexdata.com/index-popup.html - - -### Authentication and target configuration - -By default, MKWS configures itself to use a demonstration account on a -service hosted by mkws.indexdata.com. This account (username `demo`, -password `demo`) provides access to about a dozen free data -sources. Authentication onto this service is via an authentication URL -on the same MKWS server, so no explicit configuration is needed. - -In order to search in a customised set of targets, including -subscription resources, it's necessary to create an account with -Index Data's hosted service proxy, and protect that account with -authentication tokens (to prevent unauthorised use of subscription -resources). But in order to gain access to those resources, the -authentication tokens have to be available to the widgets in some way, -and simple embedding them in the JavaScript configuration is not -acceptable because they are easy to read from there. - -The solution to this problem is in three steps. - -First -the application's web-server creates a rewriting rule that takes an -innocuous URL like -http://example.indexdata.com/service-proxy-auth/ -and rewrites it as an access to Index Data's authentication service -with authentication credentials embedded. This can be done using -Apache2 directives such as - - RewriteEngine on - RewriteRule /service-proxy-auth/ - http://mkws.indexdata.com/service-proxy/?command=auth&action=login&username=U&password=PW [P] - -Because the credentials appear only in the application's web-server -configuration, they are not visible to malicious users. - -Second, the broader application that includes MKWS widgets must -protect access to the authentication URL on its own web-server. This -can be done using IP authentication, a local username/password scheme, -Kerberos or any other means. - -Third, the MKWS application must be configured to use the -application-hosted authentication URL instead of the default one. This -is done by means of the `service_proxy_auth` configuration element, -which should be set to the authentication URL. - -Once these three steps are taken, the MKWS application will -authenticate by means of a special URL on the application's web -server, which the application prevents unauthorised access to, and the -underlying credentials are hidden. - - -Reference Guide ---------------- - -### Configuration object - -The configuration object `mkws_config` may be created before including -the MKWS JavaScript code to modify default behaviour. This structure -is a key-value lookup table, whose entries are described in the table -below. All entries are optional, but if specified must be given values -of the specified type. If ommitted, each setting takes the indicated -default value; long default values are in footnotes to keep the table -reasonably narrow. - ---- -Element Type Default Description --------- ----- --------- ------------ -debug_level int 1 Level of debugging output to emit. 0 = none, 1 = messages, 2 = messages with - datestamps, 3 = messages with datestamps and stack-traces. - -facets array *Note 1* Ordered list of names of facets to display. Supported facet names are - `xtargets`, `subject` and `author`. - -lang string en Code of the default language to display the UI in. Supported language codes are `en` = - English, `de` = German, `da` = Danish, and whatever additional languages are configured - using `language_*` entries (see below). - -lang_options array [] A list of the languages to offer as options. If empty (the default), then all - configured languages are listed. - -language_* hash Support for any number of languages can be added by providing entries whose name is - `language_` followed by the code of the language. See the separate section below for - details. - -pazpar2_url string *Note 2* The URL used to access the metasearch middleware. This service must be configured to - provide search results, facets, etc. It may be either unmediated or Pazpar2 the - MasterKey Service Proxy, which mediates access to an underlying Pazpar2 instance. In - the latter case, `service_proxy_auth` must be provided. - -perpage_default string 20 The initial value for the number of records to show on each page. - -perpage_options array *Note 3* A list of candidate page sizes. Users can choose between these to determine how many - records are displayed on each page of results. - -query_width int 50 The width of the query box, in characters. - -responsive_design_width int If defined, then the facets display moves between two locations as the screen-width - varies, as described above. The specified number is the threshhold width, in pixels, - at which the facets move between their two locations. - -service_proxy_auth url *Note 4* A URL which, when `use_service_proxy` is true, is fetched once at the beginning of each - session to authenticate the user and establish a session that encompasses a defined set - of targets to search in. - -service_proxy_auth_domain domain Can be set to the domain for which `service_proxy_auth` proxies authentication, so - that cookies are rewritten to appear to be from this domain. In general, this is not - necessary, as this setting defaults to the domain of `pazpar2_url`. - -show_lang bool true Indicates whether or not to display the language menu. - -show_perpage bool true Indicates whether or not to display the perpage menu. - -show_sort bool true Indicates whether or not to display the sort menu. - -sort_default string relevance The label of the default sort criterion to use. Must be one of those in the `sort` - array. - -sort_options array *Note 6* List of supported sort criteria. Each element of the list is itself a two-element list: - the first element of each sublist is a pazpar2 sort-expression such as `data:0` and - the second is a human-readable label such as `newest`. - -use_service_proxy bool true If true, then a Service Proxy is used to deliver searching services rather than raw - Pazpar2. ---- - -Perhaps we should get rid of the `show_lang`, `show_perpage` and -`show_sort` configuration items, and simply display the relevant menus -only when their containers are provided -- e.g. an `mkwsLang` element -for the language menu. But for now we retain these, as an easier route -to lightly customise the display than my changing providing a full HTML -structure. - -#### Notes - -1. ["sources", "subjects", "authors"] - -2. /pazpar2/search.pz2 - -3. [10, 20, 30, 50] - -4. http://mkws.indexdata.com/service-proxy-auth - -5. http://mkws.indexdata.com/service-proxy/ - -6. [["relevance"], ["title:1", "title"], ["date:0", "newest"], ["date:1", "oldest"]] - - -### Language specification - -Support for another UI language can be added by providing an entry in -the `mkws_config` object whose name is `language_` followed by the -name of the language: for example, `language_French` to support -French. Then value of this entry must be a key-value lookup table, -mapping the English-language strings of the UI into their equivalents -in the specified language. For example: - - var mkws_config = { - language_French: { - "Authors": "Auteurs", - "Subjects": "Sujets", - // ... and others ... - } - } - -The following strings occurring in the UI can be translated: -`Displaying`, -`Next`, -`Prev`, -`Records`, -`Search`, -`Sort by`, -`Targets`, -`Termlists`, -`and show`, -`found`, -`of`, -`per page` -and -`to`. - -In addition, facet names can be translated: -`Authors`, -`Sources` -and -`Subjects`. - -Finally, the names of fields in the full-record display can be -translated. These include, but may not be limited to: -`Author`, -`Date`, -`Location`, -`Subject` -and -`Title`. - - - -### jQuery plugin invocation - -The MasterKey Widget Set can be invoked as a jQuery plugin rather than -by providing an HTML skeleton explicitly. When this approach is used, -the invocation is a single line of JavaScript: - - - -This code should be inserted in the page at the position where the -metasearch should occur. - -When invoking this plugin, a key-value lookup table of named options -may be passed in to modify the default behaviour, as in the exaple -above. The available options are as follows: - ---- -Element Type Default Description --------- ----- --------- ------------ -layout string popup Specifies how the user interface should - appear. Options are `table` (the default, - with facets at the bottom), `div` (with - facets at the side) and `popup` (to - obtain a popup window). - -width int 880 Width of the popup window (if used), in - pixels. - -height int 760 Height of the popup window (if used), in - pixels. - -id_button string input#mkwsButton (Never change this.) - -id_popup string #mkwsPopup (Never change this.) ---- - -Note that when using the `popup` layout, facilities from the jQuery UI -toolkit are used, so it's necessary to include both CSS and JavaScript -from that toolkit. The relevant lines are: - - - - - -### The structure of the HTML generated by the MKWS widgets - -In order to override the default CSS styles provided by the MasterKey Widget -Set, it's necessary to understand that structure of the HTML elements that are -generated within the components. This knowledge make it possible, for example, -to style each `

` with class `term` but only when it occurs inside an -element with ID `#mkwsTermlists`, so as to avoid inadvertently styling other -elements using the same class in the non-MKWS parts of the page. - -The HTML structure is as follows. As in CSS, #ID indicates a unique identifier -and .CLASS indicates an instance of a class. - - #mkwsSwitch - a* - - #mkwsLang - ( a | span )* - - #mkwsSearch - form - input#mkwsQuery type=text - input#mkwsButton type=submit - - #mkwsBlanket - (no contents -- used only for masking) - - #mkwsResults - table - tbody - tr - td - #mkwsTermlists - div.title - div.facet* - div.termtitle - ( a span br )* - td - div#mkwsRanking - form#mkwsSelect - select#mkwsSort - select#mkwsPerpage - #mkwsPager - #mkwsNavi - #mkwsRecords - div.record* - span (for sequence number) - a (for title) - span (for other information such as author) - div.details (sometimes) - table - tbody - tr* - th - td - #mkwsTargets - #mkwsBytarget - table - thead - tr* - td* - tbody - tr* - td* - - #mkwsStat - span.head - span.clients - span.records - -- - - - -Copyright (C) 2013 by IndexData ApS,