X-Git-Url: http://lists.indexdata.dk/cgi-bin?a=blobdiff_plain;f=tools%2Fhtdocs%2Fwhitepaper.markdown;h=3ff637cc4eaf135616b51a7d15600e7db5bcc780;hb=5efe3e0da33faa330449e00546fb5e62aad2b4ae;hp=833961124f7f0d4785e931280e9e679021522539;hpb=6eb26e91400f5ab26fceb9a3878c105f6bca8fd4;p=mkws-moved-to-github.git
diff --git a/tools/htdocs/whitepaper.markdown b/tools/htdocs/whitepaper.markdown
index 8339611..3ff637c 100644
--- a/tools/htdocs/whitepaper.markdown
+++ b/tools/htdocs/whitepaper.markdown
@@ -19,13 +19,13 @@ Index Data provides several different toolkits for communicating with
its metasearching middleware, trading off varying degrees of
flexibility against convenience:
-* libpz2.js -- a low-level JavaScript library for interrogating the
+* 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 libpz2.js to provide the pieces needed for building a
+ 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
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ The following is a complete MKWS-based searching application:
MKWS demo client
-
+
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ header, which are loaded from the tool site mkws.indexdata.com:
* `mkws-complete.js`
contains all the JavaScript needed by the widget-set.
-* `mkwsStyle.css`
+* `mkws.css`
provides the default CSS styling
Second, within the HTML body, `
` elements with special IDs that
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ Configuration
-------------
Many aspects of the behaviour of MKWS can be modified by setting
-parameters into the `mkws_config` hash. **This must be done *before*
+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:
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ this:
var mkws_config = {
lang: "da",
sort_default: "title",
- query_width: 60,
+ query_width: 60
};
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ following lower-level components provided instead:
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 `mkwsStyle.css` and overridden in any
+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.
@@ -205,6 +205,40 @@ day, a welcome message or a help page. This can be done by placing an
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 IDs that begin with the
+string `mkwsTemplate`. At present, the supported templates are:
+
+* `mkwsTemplateSummary` -- used for each summary record in a list of
+ results.
+
+* `mkwsTemplateRecord` -- 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 `mkwsTemplateSummary`
+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
@@ -213,13 +247,11 @@ 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` configuration
-element to `true`, and `responsive_design_width` to the desired
+To turn on this behaviour, set the `responsive_design_width` to the desired
threshhold width in pixels. For example:
@@ -271,15 +303,16 @@ Reference Guide
The configuration object `mkws_config` may be created before including
the MKWS JavaScript code to modify default behaviour. This structure
-is a hash, whose entries are described in the table below. All entries
-are options, 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.
+is a key-value lookup table, whose entries are described in the table
+below. All entries are options, 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 int 1 Level of debugging output to emit. 0 = none, 1 = messages, 2 = messages with
+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
@@ -289,62 +322,57 @@ lang string en Code of the default language to displ
English, `de` = German, `da` = Danish, and whatever additional languages are configured
using `language_*` entries (see below).
-lang_display array [] A list of the languages to offer as options. If empty (the default), then all
+lang_options array [] A list of the languages to offer as options. If empty (the default), then all
configured languages are listed.
-lang_menu bool true Indicates whether or not to display the language menu. ### We should get rid of this
- setting, and simply display the menu if there's an `mkwsLang` element.
-
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 if `use_service_proxy` is false. ###
- It's silly that you have to provide a different setting depending on whether
- `use_service_proxy` is set. Should just use pazpar2_url in all cases.
-
-perpage 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.
+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. ### The `perpage` and
- `perpage_default` entries should be renamed `perpage_display` and `perpage`
- respectively for consistency with the language-related settings.
+perpage_default string 20 The initial value for the number of records to show on each page.
-perpage_menu bool true Indicates whether or not to display the perpage menu. ### We should get rid of this
- setting, and simply display the menu if an appropriate container is provided.
+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 bool false If true, then the facets display moves between two locations as the screen-width
- varies, as described above. ### This entry should not exist: the design should be
- responsive whenever `responsive_design_width` has a defined value.
-
-responsive_design_width int 980 If `responsive_design` is true, this is the threshhold width, in pixels, at which the
- facets move between their two locations.
+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_url string *Note 5* The URL on which the service proxy is accessed if `use_service_proxy` is true. This
- service must be configured to provide search results, facets, etc.
+show_lang bool true Indicates whether or not to display the language menu.
-sort 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`.
+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_menu bool true Indicates whether or not to display the sort menu. ### We should get rid of this
- setting, and simply display the menu if an appropriate container is provided.
+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. ### Do we even need this? Can't we just assume that the Service Proxy is in
- use when and only when `service_proxy_auth` is defined? Alternatively, retain this, but
- use the same entry to specify the URL in either case.
+ 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"]
@@ -362,15 +390,165 @@ use_service_proxy bool true If true, then a Service Proxy is used
### Language specification
-TODO
+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
-TODO
+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
-TODO
+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
- - -