[cgi-devel] Helping out (Was: force download of a file (jpg...))

[Darren G. <dar...@gm...>]

Hey JC,

Apologies for the late response!

On 4 May 2011 14:45, <jc...@ol...> wrote:

> Hi Darren,
>
> > 2) Exposing much more of the basic utility functions used internally; eg.
> > url encoding / decoding, parsing request environment / get / post /
> > cookies into maps, etc.
>

This task really is quite important and high-impact for users of the
library. Don't underestimate the brownie points available for working on
this stuff! Doing this involves moving existing code into the cgi::common
namespace, documenting and adding tests for the code. Most likely also
involves adding new code that does specific things generically and entirely
independently from the rest of the library, for instance taking a
QUERY_STRING and putting that into a map< string, string >.

If you've got specific questions, feel free to ask off-list.

One thing to note is that cpp-netlib has some similar functionality for url
encoding / decoding, etc. As it develops, it'll need more functionality that
this library uses / needs. We're not here to reinvent wheels, but provide
things you can take in isolation, call them wheels and stick them on any
vehicle and they'll work (as I'm sure you know). Providing standalone
components that could potentially work also for cpp-netlib (or any other
library for that matter) is a good goal to aim for. Hopefully this goal
gives some personal incentive too, since you'll be providing generally
useful components and claim credit for them!


> > 4) Complete rewrite of the docs
>
> > If you want to contribute, points 2 and 4 encompass plenty of low-lying
> > fruits that might take your fancy!
>
>
> Sounds good! I am definitely interested in helping for the docs and
> writing small examples and tutorials.  I am not sure how to proceed from
> those good intentions!
>

Good to hear!

The docs are incidentally written in quickbook, a simple enough format.
Almost simple enough to deal with without compiling into HTML docs.
Quickbook docs available here:

http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_46_1/doc/html/quickbook.html

You may have a bit of trouble installing the toolchain required to build the
docs, since the install script provided by Boost doesn't really work. That
said, it does say what it's trying to do so I actually use that as a guide
for what to download (see BOOST_ROOT/tools/boostbook/setup_boostbook.py).
The docs for the toolchain are here:

http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_46_1/doc/html/boostbook/getting/started.html

(short note: after the toolchain is installed then using quickbook, updating
and building docs is actually very straight-forward and a pleasure to use!)

Don't let that put you off though - I'm not precious about that toolchain
whatsoever so if you have a better suggestion put it forward.

As for examples and tutorials, they're very welcome. Clearer or more
comprehensive versions of the existing tutorials would be very nice as are
additional ones demonstrating use. In a library like this one, I think there
is a significant benefit in providing lots of examples and then
consolidating them later. I personally like skimming library examples to get
a feel for it.

In particular, interesting examples might be server classes that do some
custom dispatching to a bunch of registered handlers based on the
path_info() in the request. Another would be a file server. :)

As I said, design discussions are best raised on this list so we have a
public history, but if you have other questions you can contact me off-list.

Good luck!

Cheers,
Darren