eclass-users — This list provides a discussion and support forum for users of EClass tools.

[Eclass-users] html file import.

[BJ C. <ca...@tu...>]

Hi Kevino
  3. Importing HTML files does not work, often losing the "page name" in =
the process.
  4. Sometimes, the file (gif, txt, jpg, avi, doc, pdf) will appear in =
the "preview" window, but once you preview/publish, nothing appears in =
IE. The name is gone and if you click on it, the "file" directory =
contents are shown.
  5. I've noticed a lot of problems come when you select a file outside =
of the "file directory". The file is getting copied in ok, but for some =
reason it has problems displaying it. If up go back and select the file =
from the "file" directory, it works. (case for #4).
Regarding the problem with "Import File" and htm:

  a.. When you double click on the "page name" of the imported file in =
the TOC eft frame of the Eclass builder, the html editor comes up. If =
you type something in, it adds it to the page in the preview window. In =
essence, import html file works like "adding a new webpage". However, in =
the page properties it is still listed as the "File import" strange. And =
now it has written over my file that I imported.
  b.. <<Later>> HTML files act like most files with #4 and #5 problems, =
but HTM files have the abovementioned characteristics
BJ

[Eclass-users] Re: Filenames and EClass and <<more>>

[Kevin O. <ke...@tu...>]

Hi BJ,

Thanks for the reminders! I'll respond to the rest later, but for the=20
moment, could you send me your errlog.txt so that I can see if Import=20
File is generating error messages?

Kevin

On Apr 27, 2004, at 4:33 AM, BJ Cameron wrote:

[snip]

> I am still no sure my "import file" is working correctly. I used this=20=

> feature to import an html page and all it will show is the "file"=20
> directory contents. I have tried deleting this "page" from my TOC and=20=

> in the editor it is gone, but I preview it, the page is still there.=20=

> If close and re-open the course, there is now a line to this "page",=20=

> but nothing there for me to edit/remove.
> =A0
> <<later>>
> There=A0are bugs with Import file:
> 1. In the "page properties" of the "import file", it is possible to=20
> click "ok" without specifying a name.
> 2=A0=A0It is possible to click "ok" without selecting a file.
> 3. Importing HTML files=A0does not work, often losing the "page name" =
in=20
> the process.
> 4. Sometimes, the file (gif, txt, jpg, avi, doc, pdf) will appear in=20=

> the "preview" window, but once you preview/publish, nothing appears in=20=

> IE. The name is gone and if you click on it, the "file" directory=20
> contents are shown.
> 5. I've noticed a lot of problems come when you select a file outside=20=

> of the "file directory". The file is getting copied in ok, but for=20
> some reason it has problems displaying it. If up go back and select=20
> the file from the "file" directory, it=A0works. (case for #4).
> =A0
> I'll keep working with the import file and see if I can find any other=20=

> patterns. After your last Email, you have convinced me it is a=20
> worthwhile=A0feature of=A0EClass.
> =A0
> Hope this helps,
> =A0
> BJ

[Eclass-users] Re: Filenames and EClass and <<more>>

[BJ C. <ca...@tu...>]

Hi Kevino


<<snip>>
> How things are done is that the "Project Name" in the Open Project=20
> dialog is actually the folder name in the EClass Projects folder. They =

> get out of sync when one changes the "Course Name" in EClass, because =
I=20
> do not automatically rename the folder as well. There are a few=20
> approaches to fixing this issue, and I was wondering what people=20
> thought about them:
>=20
> 1) Rename the folder.=20
> 2) Create a "course" database.=20
> 3) Load the Course name into the open project dialog.
> 4) Leave things as they are. ;-)
> Please let me know what you all think about these changes!


I vote for #4. The project name is superfluous to the course name, and =
other options are a bit drastic and/or processor intensive. The latter =
being detrimental to low-end users.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------


Recap of recent issues:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------

1. The new version of the EClass is working like a charm, although there =
are still Dr. Watson problems with Win2k machines. This only occurs when =
running the server from the harddrive. As this is an "Instructor" only =
problem and has no other side effects other than an annoying message, I =
vote adding a few lines to the help file and calling it good. Thoughts?


-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------


2. From an earlier email:
Sometimes, there is nothing selected in the left frame of the EClass
Builder, most notably after you re-open a course. However, you are still
able to "add a new page"  or "Import a file" using the "Page" menu at =
the
top. The new page is then added as a "child" to the course level. =
However,
if you preview/publish it, the new page becomes a "child" of the lowest
level in your course.

My suggestion would be to not allow the user to add a page/import a file
until something is selected in the Left Frame.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------


=20
3. Presentations are still opening in the main window


-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------


4. Suggestion:
Would it be possible to open "search results" in a new window? Granted, =
I have been trying things most people would not do, but if you run into =
a page that has a loop or redirect it is next to impossible to get back =
to the main Eclass window. Also, some pages take forever to load in the =
main window, but are lightening fast if opened in a new window.
For example: I included "IndexDir ./present" to my swishe.conf file to =
index my html presentations. If it finds one of the "notes pages" or =
frames it creates a loop that you can't get out of. Also the "notes =
pages" take forever to load in the main window.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------


5. Suggestion:
In the "page properties"  of the"import file" window, the text area for =
"page content" is grayed out. It would be more obvious if the space was =
white.  Still a problem in 2.5.4.9

I am still no sure my "import file" is working correctly. I used this =
feature to import an html page and all it will show is the "file" =
directory contents. I have tried deleting this "page" from my TOC and in =
the editor it is gone, but I preview it, the page is still there. If =
close and re-open the course, there is now a line to this "page", but =
nothing there for me to edit/remove.

<<later>>
There are bugs with Import file:
1. In the "page properties" of the "import file", it is possible to =
click "ok" without specifying a name.
2  It is possible to click "ok" without selecting a file.
3. Importing HTML files does not work, often losing the "page name" in =
the process.
4. Sometimes, the file (gif, txt, jpg, avi, doc, pdf) will appear in the =
"preview" window, but once you preview/publish, nothing appears in IE. =
The name is gone and if you click on it, the "file" directory contents =
are shown.
5. I've noticed a lot of problems come when you select a file outside of =
the "file directory". The file is getting copied in ok, but for some =
reason it has problems displaying it. If up go back and select the file =
from the "file" directory, it works. (case for #4).

I'll keep working with the import file and see if I can find any other =
patterns. After your last Email, you have convinced me it is a =
worthwhile feature of EClass.

Hope this helps,

BJ

Re: [Eclass-users] Filenames and EClass

[Kevin O. <ke...@tu...>]

Dear Elke,

On Apr 23, 2004, at 12:09 PM, ed...@tu... wrote:

> Dear Kevin,
>
> Thanks a lot for your help. However, even if I shorten the names as you
> suggested I still experience the same problem. Do I have to do 
> anything else
> beside this like completely recreating the sections?

You can fix it without recreating the sections, but as you noted the 
problem is currently only occurring in one section (two sections, 
actually), so you probably want to just recreate those sections.

> In addition, it seems to me that there is just one section of the 
> Eclass that
> does not work ("Poverty Analysis") but many other section that have 
> even
> longer names do work without any problem.

The other sections that work were either created in a very new version 
of EClass where the user can choose the filename themselves, or more 
likely someone realized the long page name problem and worked around it 
by creating the pages with a short name first, and then later went back 
and re-named the pages with the longer names. Since the filename is not 
changed when you change the page name, this works.

You'll notice if you check the Page Properties dialogs for pages with 
long filenames that work correctly, most of them have filenames which 
differ from their page name or do not start with "Quantitative and 
Qualitative Analysis". Typically the file names are 20-30 characters in 
length.

> The section "Poverty Analysis"
> interacts in a strange way with the section "Evaluation of Public 
> Policy
> Programs". If I delete one, the other works alright.

If you check the HTML filename that is created (which by necessity is 
restricted to 31 characters in length), you'll find that because the 
EClass Page (.ecp) filenames are long the resulting HTML filename for 
both of those sections is "Quantitative_and_Qualitative.htm". Since 
both pages use the same filename, when you publish the page, they 
overwrite one another. Since EClass automatically generates those 
files, it cannot know if it is overwriting an old version of the right 
file, or overwriting another page. Therefore, you need to have some 
difference in filename within the first 28 characters of the page name 
to ensure that EClass does not overwrite the file.

Again, reducing the filename size to 31 characters would prevent this 
problem from occurring again, because it wouldn't let you create the 
page if another page with the same name existed.

Thanks,

Kevin

> Quoting Kevin Ollivier <ke...@tu...>:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Recently, Elke shipped me a CD-ROM with an EClass that had 
>> mysteriously
>> disappearing pages. Upon seeing the EClass, I realized the problem -
>> the filenames it was generating for the page, in conjuction with the
>> project name, were too long for Python to accept. Therefore, it would
>> not create the page on disk, although it probably would let you edit 
>> it
>> in EClass. (it  just wouldn't save your changes, unfortunately.)
>> Chances are, this bug is responsible for most of the "disappearing"
>> page problems people have been seeing.
>>
>> In Python, it appears there is a character limit that applies to 
>> *path*
>> names. Path names are entire paths, like:
>>
>> C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents\EClass
>> Projects\<Project Name>\Text\<Page Name>.html
>>
>> The problem occurs when both the project name and the page name are
>> very long, making the path name exceed 200 characters. In Elke's
>> project, both the course name and the page name were 60+ characters in
>> length, meaning that the entire title went over 200 characters.
>>
>> One solution to this problem is to document that one should avoid long
>> page names, which I think we should do regardless. Not just for
>> technical reasons, but because it makes the table of contents very 
>> hard
>> to use, particularly because (in this case) the page names all started
>> with the same phrase "Combining Quantitative and Qualitative 
>> Analysis".
>> This resulted in a number of pages showing up in the contents page as
>> "Combining Quan..." and the user had to expand the contents to fill a
>> majority of the screen just to see what the page names were. If that
>> phrase must appear in the page titles, an acronym such as "Combining
>> Q&QA" should be chosen to improve readability and make the contents
>> page easier to browse and use.
>>
>> However, we should also consider technical solutions, and I wanted to
>> let people know how I see things working in the future. First, I will
>> use short path names (DOS names) on Windows internally, such as
>> "C:\Docume~1\<username>\MyDocu~1\EClass~1\MyEClas~1\Text\" when
>> creating and editing files, which will reduce the characters quite a
>> bit and should not affect usage in any way. In addition, I will
>> restrict project filenames to 31 characters, just as EClass already
>> does with published files. Now that EClass lets you specify your own
>> filenames, I can do this without putting any restriction on actual 
>> page
>> names. Hopefully these changes, plus the added documentation, will
>> resolve these issues in the future.
>>
>> Also, BJ recently brought up a related issue:
>>
>>> I am not sure this is a bug or was done intentionally. The project
>>> name does not necessarily have to be the same as the Course name. For
>>> example, you can change the project name and the course name is
>>> unaffected. Intentional? Not that big a deal, I just thought it was
>>> odd.
>>
>> How things are done is that the "Project Name" in the Open Project
>> dialog is actually the folder name in the EClass Projects folder. They
>> get out of sync when one changes the "Course Name" in EClass, because 
>> I
>> do not automatically rename the folder as well. There are a few
>> approaches to fixing this issue, and I was wondering what people
>> thought about them:
>>
>> 1) Rename the folder. This has the disadvantage that EClass will need
>> to reload the course to ensure proper operation, and this is the main
>> reason I avoided doing this in the past.
>>
>> 2) Create a "course" database. This would have the benefit that when
>> you click on "Browse" and load a course it can be added to the
>> "database" and thus you only need to click browse once, and from then
>> on you can load it through the open dialog. The downside is that
>> copying and pasting a course into your EClass Projects folder will no
>> longer add the course to the "Open Project" dialog any longer. You 
>> will
>> need to manually Browse for it and load it.
>>
>> 3) Load the Course name into the open project dialog. I've avoided
>> doing this because it's a lot of work for the computer. Every time you
>> load your project, it needs to go through all the courses in the 
>> EClass
>> Projects folder, load the course, and then find the Course Name. We
>> could do this, still, but it would probably increase load times.
>>
>> 4) Leave things as they are. ;-)
>>
>> Please let me know what you all think about these changes!
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Kevin
>>
>>
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------
>> This SF.net email is sponsored by: The Robotic Monkeys at ThinkGeek
>> For a limited time only, get FREE Ground shipping on all orders of $35
>> or more. Hurry up and shop folks, this offer expires April 30th!
>> http://www.thinkgeek.com/freeshipping/?cpg=12297
>> _______________________________________________
>> Eclass-users mailing list
>> Ecl...@li...
>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/eclass-users
>>
>
>

Re: [Eclass-users] Filenames and EClass

[<ed...@tu...>]

Dear Kevin,

Thanks a lot for your help. However, even if I shorten the names as you 
suggested I still experience the same problem. Do I have to do anything else 
beside this like completely recreating the sections?

In addition, it seems to me that there is just one section of the Eclass that 
does not work ("Poverty Analysis") but many other section that have even 
longer names do work without any problem. The section "Poverty Analysis" 
interacts in a strange way with the section "Evaluation of Public Policy 
Programs". If I delete one, the other works alright. 

Any ideas or suggestions?

Many thanks,

Elke 


Quoting Kevin Ollivier <ke...@tu...>:

> Hi all,
> 
> Recently, Elke shipped me a CD-ROM with an EClass that had mysteriously 
> disappearing pages. Upon seeing the EClass, I realized the problem - 
> the filenames it was generating for the page, in conjuction with the 
> project name, were too long for Python to accept. Therefore, it would 
> not create the page on disk, although it probably would let you edit it 
> in EClass. (it  just wouldn't save your changes, unfortunately.) 
> Chances are, this bug is responsible for most of the "disappearing" 
> page problems people have been seeing.
> 
> In Python, it appears there is a character limit that applies to *path* 
> names. Path names are entire paths, like:
> 
> C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents\EClass 
> Projects\<Project Name>\Text\<Page Name>.html
> 
> The problem occurs when both the project name and the page name are 
> very long, making the path name exceed 200 characters. In Elke's 
> project, both the course name and the page name were 60+ characters in 
> length, meaning that the entire title went over 200 characters.
> 
> One solution to this problem is to document that one should avoid long 
> page names, which I think we should do regardless. Not just for 
> technical reasons, but because it makes the table of contents very hard 
> to use, particularly because (in this case) the page names all started 
> with the same phrase "Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis". 
> This resulted in a number of pages showing up in the contents page as 
> "Combining Quan..." and the user had to expand the contents to fill a 
> majority of the screen just to see what the page names were. If that 
> phrase must appear in the page titles, an acronym such as "Combining 
> Q&QA" should be chosen to improve readability and make the contents 
> page easier to browse and use.
> 
> However, we should also consider technical solutions, and I wanted to 
> let people know how I see things working in the future. First, I will 
> use short path names (DOS names) on Windows internally, such as 
> "C:\Docume~1\<username>\MyDocu~1\EClass~1\MyEClas~1\Text\" when 
> creating and editing files, which will reduce the characters quite a 
> bit and should not affect usage in any way. In addition, I will 
> restrict project filenames to 31 characters, just as EClass already 
> does with published files. Now that EClass lets you specify your own 
> filenames, I can do this without putting any restriction on actual page 
> names. Hopefully these changes, plus the added documentation, will 
> resolve these issues in the future.
> 
> Also, BJ recently brought up a related issue:
> 
> > I am not sure this is a bug or was done intentionally. The project 
> > name does not necessarily have to be the same as the Course name. For 
> > example, you can change the project name and the course name is 
> > unaffected. Intentional? Not that big a deal, I just thought it was 
> > odd.
> 
> How things are done is that the "Project Name" in the Open Project 
> dialog is actually the folder name in the EClass Projects folder. They 
> get out of sync when one changes the "Course Name" in EClass, because I 
> do not automatically rename the folder as well. There are a few 
> approaches to fixing this issue, and I was wondering what people 
> thought about them:
> 
> 1) Rename the folder. This has the disadvantage that EClass will need 
> to reload the course to ensure proper operation, and this is the main 
> reason I avoided doing this in the past.
> 
> 2) Create a "course" database. This would have the benefit that when 
> you click on "Browse" and load a course it can be added to the 
> "database" and thus you only need to click browse once, and from then 
> on you can load it through the open dialog. The downside is that 
> copying and pasting a course into your EClass Projects folder will no 
> longer add the course to the "Open Project" dialog any longer. You will 
> need to manually Browse for it and load it.
> 
> 3) Load the Course name into the open project dialog. I've avoided 
> doing this because it's a lot of work for the computer. Every time you 
> load your project, it needs to go through all the courses in the EClass 
> Projects folder, load the course, and then find the Course Name. We 
> could do this, still, but it would probably increase load times.
> 
> 4) Leave things as they are. ;-)
> 
> Please let me know what you all think about these changes!
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Kevin
> 
> 
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------
> This SF.net email is sponsored by: The Robotic Monkeys at ThinkGeek
> For a limited time only, get FREE Ground shipping on all orders of $35
> or more. Hurry up and shop folks, this offer expires April 30th!
> http://www.thinkgeek.com/freeshipping/?cpg=12297
> _______________________________________________
> Eclass-users mailing list
> Ecl...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/eclass-users
> 

[Eclass-users] New Version - Upgrade Recommended

[Kevin O. <ke...@tu...>]

Hi all,

I've just released EClass.Builder 2.5.4.9, which doesn't have any 
changes to EClass itself, but it resolves a major problem with 
EClass.Server that was causing it not to run off of CD-ROM. Everyone 
using the 2.5 builds is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to upgrade. The download can 
be found here:

http://www.eclass.net/Downloads/eclass-builder-2.5.4.9.exe

Thanks,

Kevin

[Eclass-users] Filenames and EClass

[Kevin O. <ke...@tu...>]

Hi all,

Recently, Elke shipped me a CD-ROM with an EClass that had mysteriously 
disappearing pages. Upon seeing the EClass, I realized the problem - 
the filenames it was generating for the page, in conjuction with the 
project name, were too long for Python to accept. Therefore, it would 
not create the page on disk, although it probably would let you edit it 
in EClass. (it  just wouldn't save your changes, unfortunately.) 
Chances are, this bug is responsible for most of the "disappearing" 
page problems people have been seeing.

In Python, it appears there is a character limit that applies to *path* 
names. Path names are entire paths, like:

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents\EClass 
Projects\<Project Name>\Text\<Page Name>.html

The problem occurs when both the project name and the page name are 
very long, making the path name exceed 200 characters. In Elke's 
project, both the course name and the page name were 60+ characters in 
length, meaning that the entire title went over 200 characters.

One solution to this problem is to document that one should avoid long 
page names, which I think we should do regardless. Not just for 
technical reasons, but because it makes the table of contents very hard 
to use, particularly because (in this case) the page names all started 
with the same phrase "Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis". 
This resulted in a number of pages showing up in the contents page as 
"Combining Quan..." and the user had to expand the contents to fill a 
majority of the screen just to see what the page names were. If that 
phrase must appear in the page titles, an acronym such as "Combining 
Q&QA" should be chosen to improve readability and make the contents 
page easier to browse and use.

However, we should also consider technical solutions, and I wanted to 
let people know how I see things working in the future. First, I will 
use short path names (DOS names) on Windows internally, such as 
"C:\Docume~1\<username>\MyDocu~1\EClass~1\MyEClas~1\Text\" when 
creating and editing files, which will reduce the characters quite a 
bit and should not affect usage in any way. In addition, I will 
restrict project filenames to 31 characters, just as EClass already 
does with published files. Now that EClass lets you specify your own 
filenames, I can do this without putting any restriction on actual page 
names. Hopefully these changes, plus the added documentation, will 
resolve these issues in the future.

Also, BJ recently brought up a related issue:

> I am not sure this is a bug or was done intentionally. The project 
> name does not necessarily have to be the same as the Course name. For 
> example, you can change the project name and the course name is 
> unaffected. Intentional? Not that big a deal, I just thought it was 
> odd.

How things are done is that the "Project Name" in the Open Project 
dialog is actually the folder name in the EClass Projects folder. They 
get out of sync when one changes the "Course Name" in EClass, because I 
do not automatically rename the folder as well. There are a few 
approaches to fixing this issue, and I was wondering what people 
thought about them:

1) Rename the folder. This has the disadvantage that EClass will need 
to reload the course to ensure proper operation, and this is the main 
reason I avoided doing this in the past.

2) Create a "course" database. This would have the benefit that when 
you click on "Browse" and load a course it can be added to the 
"database" and thus you only need to click browse once, and from then 
on you can load it through the open dialog. The downside is that 
copying and pasting a course into your EClass Projects folder will no 
longer add the course to the "Open Project" dialog any longer. You will 
need to manually Browse for it and load it.

3) Load the Course name into the open project dialog. I've avoided 
doing this because it's a lot of work for the computer. Every time you 
load your project, it needs to go through all the courses in the EClass 
Projects folder, load the course, and then find the Course Name. We 
could do this, still, but it would probably increase load times.

4) Leave things as they are. ;-)

Please let me know what you all think about these changes!

Thanks,

Kevin

[Eclass-users] question and solution.

[BJ C. <ca...@tu...>]

Hi Kevino,



-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------

I am not sure this is a bug or was done intentionally. The project name =
does not necessarily have to be the same as the Course name. For =
example, you can change the project name and the course name is =
unaffected. Intentional? Not that big a deal, I just thought it was odd.



-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------

Solution to earlier problem:
>I've tried updating an older eclass (created with v2.0?) with the =
newest version (2.5.4.8) and for the most part it has gone fine. The one =
snag that I have encountered is the Search.

The problem was my own making. I altered the swish-e.conf file (the =
config file for what gets indexed by swish-e) to include the directory =
"File" and "Files" so that publications and pages in those directories =
would be indexed. However, there are also executables and non-document =
files in those directories and that was causing swish-e to malfunction.

I hope this helps someone else. Be careful with what you mess with.

BJ=20





William 'BJ' Cameron
Payson Center
Tulane University

[Eclass-users] updating an older eclass

[BJ C. <ca...@tu...>]

Hi Kevino,

I've tried updating an older eclass (created with v2.0?) with the newest =
version (2.5.4.8) and for the most part it has gone fine. The one snag =
that I have encountered is the Search.=20

I get this message when I run my search:
"Index file =
C:\DOCUME~1\BJCAME~1\MYDOCU~1\ECLASS~1\Solar\cgi-bin\..\index.swish-e =
does not exist."

What I have tried:
  1.. It is true this file is not in my root course directory, but =
"index.swish-e.temp" is there, I have tried to rename this to =
"index.swish-e"  but this does not work either.=20
  2.. I have tried copying the cgi-bin directory from a new EClass =
course, but again no luck creating "index.swish-e".=20
  3.. I have tried coping some of the dlls from the new EClass course in =
to the old course, again no luck
Will this work?

Publishing/searching using Greenstone worked fine (except no indexing my =
"File" directory), however all of the results come up as 404.

Suggestions for either?

Thanks,

BJ


William 'BJ' Cameron
Payson Center
Tulane University

[Eclass-users] sort of a bug

[BJ C. <ca...@tu...>]

Hi Kevino,

This is sort of a bug, but not really; let me try to explain when/how it
happens:

Sometimes, there is nothing selected in the left frame of the EClass
Builder, most notably after you re-open a course. However, you are still
able to "add a new page"  or "Import a file" using the "Page" menu at the
top. The new page is then added as a "child" to the course level. However,
if you preview/publish it, the new page becomes a "child" of the lowest
level in your course.

My suggestion would be to not allow the user to add a page/import a file
until something is selected in the Left Frame.

Does this make sense?

BJ




William 'BJ' Cameron
Payson Center
Tulane University

[Eclass-users] Suggestion

[BJ C. <ca...@tu...>]

Hi Kevino,

Suggestion:
Would it be possible to open "search results" in a new window? Granted, =
I have been trying things most people would not do, but if you run into =
a page that has a loop or redirect it is next to impossible to get back =
to the main Eclass window. Also, some pages take forever to load in the =
main window, but are lightening fast if opened in a new window.
For example: I included "IndexDir ./present" to my swishe.conf file to =
index my html presentations. If it finds one of the "notes pages" or =
frames it creates a loop that you can't get out of. Also the "notes =
pages" take forever to load in the main window.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------


Question:
How do I modify my swishe.conf file so that it does not return certain =
pages (html)? Possible?


-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------

Your suggestion for including menu in themes.

<snip>
>Are you suggesting changing these on a theme-by-theme basis, or=20
>actually having this file customized programmatically in some way for=20
>each individual EClass you create? If the "theme" approach works, just=20
>create a theme, modify "menu.htm" inside the Files folder, and click on =

>"Export Theme". Then you can share your changes with anyone.

This works great! Exactly what I wanted to do!

Question:
Why can't I stick the script inside a table? I put everything between =
the <body> tags inside, but when I do, the JavaScript tree doesn't work =
properly.=20

I think the problem lies in the "setBottom();" JavaScript, true? I have =
set this outside, but then the tree isn't inside the table. Ideas?


-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------



The new version (2.5.4.8) is running smooth. However, I am still getting =
the Dr. Watson errors on Win 2k  machines when closing.


Thanks,

BJ





William 'BJ' Cameron
Payson Center
Tulane University

[Eclass-users] Re: Questions

[Kevin O. <ke...@tu...>]

Hi BJ,

On Apr 20, 2004, at 12:56 PM, BJ Cameron wrote:

> Hi Kevino,
> =A0
> 1. Question regarding OpenOffice(OO):
>  When will their be support for OO presentations (*.sxj)? I=20
> imagine=A0this has to do with there not being an=A0available plugin =
for=20
> IE, then EClass, right? There is currently no=A0=A0capability in OO =
1.1.0=20
> to convert directly to html, so I am converting to ppt and using that=20=

> as the presentation.=A0The problem is that there is no real way to=20
> search this unless I then convert to html. UGH, other ideas?

This is all dependent on getting OpenOffice support back into EClass,=20
but once its in there, I've been thinking of implementing both indexing=20=

and convert to Flash features.

> 2. Question regarding convert to pdf.=A0
> =A0I noticed that BMPs, JPGs, and GIFs=A0have problems when converting =
the=20
> EClass to PDF. The BMPs come out blurred beyond recognition and the=20
> JPGs/GIFs don't appear at all.=A0What file format do you suggest if =
the=20
> end result is to be published to PDF?
> =A0
> <<<later>>>
> GIFs/JPGs do work,=A0but they=A0do not work=A0when they are the "Page=20=

> graphic" and there is an existing "Page Video".=A0EClass users should=20=

> take note of this.=A0

I'll see if I can figure this one out.

> 3. Is there anyway to set the presentation to open in a new window? Is=20=

> it possible to set this as an option? I know I can do all of this=20
> using a hotword instead, but curious if it can be done as a=20
> presentation.

Actually, I'll go ahead and make this the default behavior, as that=20
makes it consistent with hotwords.

Thanks,

Kevin=

Re: [Eclass-users] bugs

[Kevin O. <ke...@tu...>]

Hi BJ and all,

OK, I've put together a fix for the search engine issues on both Win 2K=20=

and Win 98 and in my tests things are up and running now, so I *think*=20=

I've got all the issues resolved. The MP3 issue is also resolved,=20
although in Mozilla you have to click on the file. (It opens in a new=20
window and plays.) In addition, the Windows installer now properly sets=20=

up shortcuts for computers with multiple users so that all users have=20
access to EClass. The new build is here:

http://www.eclass.net/Downloads/eclass-builder-2.5.4.8.exe

On Apr 20, 2004, at 3:37 AM, BJ Cameron wrote:

[snip]

> I understand where you are coming in regards to the template, I was=20
> just hoping for a little more control for design.

I plan on improving the Web Page editor so that it will have all the=20
flexibility you need. =3D)

> > >How about a template to mange the menu.htm frame? I know it is easy
> >> enough to edit it, but it be great to set it up once.
>
> >How would the menu.htm template be different from menu.htm itself?
> =A0
> Possibly allow for different background=A0colors, a graphic or two.=A0I=20=

> understand the limitations using the java scripting tree, I was just=20=

> hoping for an easy way to coordinate all of my design changes so=20
> others could use them.

Are you suggesting changing these on a theme-by-theme basis, or=20
actually having this file customized programmatically in some way for=20
each individual EClass you create? If the "theme" approach works, just=20=

create a theme, modify "menu.htm" inside the Files folder, and click on=20=

"Export Theme". Then you can share your changes with anyone. =3D)

Thanks,

Kevin=

[Eclass-users] Questions

[BJ C. <ca...@tu...>]

Hi Kevino,

1. Question regarding OpenOffice(OO):=20
When will their be support for OO presentations (*.sxj)? I imagine this =
has to do with there not being an available plugin for IE, then EClass, =
right? There is currently no  capability in OO 1.1.0 to convert directly =
to html, so I am converting to ppt and using that as the presentation. =
The problem is that there is no real way to search this unless I then =
convert to html. UGH, other ideas?

2. Question regarding convert to pdf.=20
 I noticed that BMPs, JPGs, and GIFs have problems when converting the =
EClass to PDF. The BMPs come out blurred beyond recognition and the =
JPGs/GIFs don't appear at all. What file format do you suggest if the =
end result is to be published to PDF?

<<<later>>>
GIFs/JPGs do work, but they do not work when they are the "Page graphic" =
and there is an existing "Page Video". EClass users should take note of =
this.=20

3. Is there anyway to set the presentation to open in a new window? Is =
it possible to set this as an option? I know I can do all of this using =
a hotword instead, but curious if it can be done as a presentation.


Still no new bugz...


BJ

William 'BJ' Cameron
Payson Center
Tulane University

Re: [Eclass-users] bugs

[BJ C. <ca...@tu...>]

Hi Kevino,

Keeping the various conversations running and I apologize to others for =
filling up their in-boxes:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------

>> Unfortunately, this does not work. After I converted to Unix, I tried =

>> to
>> convert to Windows, but it is still "greyed" out. However, I updated =
to
>> editpadpro 5.3.0 demo and the file reads fine.

>Weird... If you save the file in editpadpro, and then open it in=20
>editpad lite, do you still have the problem?

Unfortunately, I uninstalled editpad lite to install pro.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------


I have re-sent you a note about the xmltok.dll. The problem is now =
occurring on all machines with a single installation. I am guessing the =
problem is a missing file not in the cgi-bin, but in the Windows or =
Windows/System directory.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------


I understand where you are coming in regards to the template, I was just =
hoping for a little more control for design.

> >How about a template to mange the menu.htm frame? I know it is easy=20
>> enough to edit it, but it be great to set it up once.

>How would the menu.htm template be different from menu.htm itself?

Possibly allow for different background colors, a graphic or two. I =
understand the limitations using the java scripting tree, I was just =
hoping for an easy way to coordinate all of my design changes so others =
could use them.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------


Let  me know about the MP3 (I have an immediate need) and xmltok.dll =
bugs and I'll keep experimenting.

BJ

William 'BJ' Cameron
Payson Center
Tulane University

[Eclass-users] Re: suggestions

[Kevin O. <ke...@tu...>]

Hi BJ,

On Apr 19, 2004, at 1:39 PM, BJ Cameron wrote:

> Hi Kevino,
> =A0
> No new bugs to report!!!
> =A0
> A suggestion for the next version if possible. I have been working=20
> with the themes and templates and I have noticed that all the course=20=

> media gets lumped into
>  "--[Content}--"
>  Would it be possible to break that down into the individual parts?=20
> For instance, if I wanted to put course text before the audio, I could=20=

> set up my template to reflect this. Or it I just wanted to put a=20
> horizontal line between my page image and text, I could do it very=20
> simply. I know I can do all this easily in my html page but it would=20=

> be nice if EClass could do it for me. I know pedagogically, it makes=20=

> sense to have the media at the top (true?), but as a designer, I would=20=

> like to have a little more control of the layout.
> =A0
> Your thoughts?

Actually, it used to be this way but I changed it. The reason is that=20
'breaking it down' means different things for different plugins. For=20
Web Pages, for example, it should just be "-[content]-" as the author=20
works directly with the HTML page. It's important to remember that=20
layout options that would be useful for EClass Pages, such as=20
"-[video]-", would make no sense if you were publishing either a HTML=20
page or a Quiz. So we'd have to have some separate template system just=20=

for EClass Pages to make things work.

BTW, there are no pedagogical reasons (to my knowledge) for placing the=20=

video or image anywhere particularly in the page, or that a page needs=20=

to be limited to one image, video, audio file, etc. In fact, I would=20
think that the opposite is true - that in many cases having more than=20
one image, or audio/video files per page, placed close to the content=20
they reenforce, would be more conductive to learning.

But as long as we use the EClass Page format, EClass needs to know=20
where to put those file(s) programmatically, so it is going to have to=20=

make some sort of decision about where the file goes. We can never give=20=

the author total flexibility in terms of layout. The EClass Page format=20=

is in my mind a very limited format, and it's simplicity comes=20
primarily from the fact that it gives users so few options on how to=20
design their content. I think 7 years ago, with many people still=20
getting comfortable with computers in general, that was a decent=20
approach, but today there's no reason not to make things visual and=20
give the author more control over the layout of their content. The=20
EClass Page editor, by design, will never allow authors much=20
flexibility, which is why I'm pushing towards the HTML editor.

Which reminds me, I need to write some macros for audio/video support=20
in the HTML editor. =3D)

> How about a template to mange the menu.htm frame? I know it is easy=20
> enough to edit it, but it be great to set it up once.

How would the menu.htm template be different from menu.htm itself?

> =A0
> Another style issue...
> If you change the background color of the EClass pages (try a dark=20
> color), on the quiz pages you get a white box, where your check (good)=20=

> an X (bad) response to the submission appear. Would it be possible to=20=

> have this transparent so you do not see the white box prior to the=20
> submission? Try it out and see what you think.

Oops, I thought they were transparent. I'll fix this for the next=20
version.

Thanks,

Kevin

Re: [Eclass-users] more petty stuff

[Kevin O. <ke...@tu...>]

Hi BJ,

On Apr 16, 2004, at 11:32 AM, BJ Cameron wrote:

> Hi Kevino,
>
> This is really stupid, but...In the "page properties"=A0 of the"import =
=20
> file"
> window, the text area for "page content" is grayed out. It took me a =20=

> couple
> of minutes to figure out I am suppose to browse for a file. It would =20=

> be more
> obvious if the space was white. Can you also add something to the help =
=20
> file?

Sure, I'll add it. The field, however, needs to be read-only, which =20
unfortunately grays it out on Windows. The reason is that it's not =20
really allowed for you to delete the filename in that box - otherwise, =20=

your page will have no EClass Page (or Quiz, or HTML page) associated =20=

with it.

> This isn't a bug, but a remark/question, take it for what you will. =
The
> import file opens html and most graphic files in the eclass window, =20=

> audio
> and video get opened in each computer's associated player. This is =20
> fine,
> except once you run the server, some graphics (BMPs), get the download =
=20
> message from IE
> and then you can open it in the associated graphic editor. I guess I =20=

> don't
> see the point of using import file. In what case would you use it =20
> instead of
> going through an Eclass page or creating a simple html page?

The reason for adding this was so that content doesn't need to be =20
created in EClass in order to get a table of contents entry. Say you =20
wanted a PDF file to be a "page", for example. With Import File, it =20
gets its own link in the table of contents. It also makes it easier to =20=

import already created HTML content, for those who don't want to use =20
the EClass Page Editor. (i.e. people who layout their own HTML content) =20=

The BMP issue is one that I will resolve, probably after the move to =20
Documancer as our "reader" program.

> The change occurs when you have the IE window maximized and you click =20=

> on the +/- symbol of a folder.
> for example on this page:
> http://payson.tulane.edu/staff/bjcameron/no%20frames%20trial/Pub/=20
> New_Page.htm
> When you click on the + or - sign of "Mod1" the tree menu moves =20
> left/right. I think it is disconcerting to the end user to see it =20
> moving. (IMHO) Can we place it along the left margin?

Fixed. It was a combination of the table being centered, and the table =20=

not taking up 100% of the screen.

> =46rom a previous discussion:
> >>2. I get this error when I search using Swish-e:
> >>http://payson.tulane.edu/staff/bjcameron/error8.jpg
> >>I have copied xmltok.dll from an old version into the cgi-bin and =20=

> republished, but I get the same result. It is very strange as there is =
=20
> a copy of xmltok.dll in the
> >>C:\Program Files\EClass.Builder 2.5.4.7\SWISH-E.
>
> >>I replicated the problem on the Win 2k machine and got a more =20
> descriptive error message:
> >>http://payson.tulane.edu/staff/bjcameron/error9.jpg
> =A0
> I just tried=A0this=A0on my work computer at my home/office and the =
search =20
> worked fine. The only difference I know between the computers at the =20=

> office (that were having problems) and mine at home is that I have =20
> several=A0different version of Eclass installed on my home/office =20
> computer and the office computers are using the latest version only. =20=

> In fact, the Win 2K machine at the office is bare bones and had been =20=

> formatted recently. I will play around with other computers at my home =
=20
> office on Monday and send you more info.

When you say you copied an old version into the cgi-bin, do you mean =20
you copied a version of xmltok.dll into the cgi-bin directory? It looks =20=

as if SWISH-E does indeed need the xmltok.dll file when searching.

> =A0
> This is not a bug, but a suggestion for next time.=A0The author is =20
> unable to change the order of=A0=A0"Objectives" and "Quiz" questions. =
It =20
> would be great if they could move them up and down. Inspiration is not =
=20
> always linear.
> =A0
> Cool thing:
> =A0
> If=A0you copy an eclass page/quiz/web page from one area of the eclass =
=20
> and paste it,=A0when you make changes to one, it is reflected in the =20=

> other.
> =A0
> The bugs are getting harder and harder to find, must mean we are =20
> getting closer to the end.

Great! =3D)

Thanks,

Kevin=

Re: [Eclass-users] bugs

[Kevin O. <ke...@tu...>]

Hi BJ,

On Apr 14, 2004, at 9:25 AM, BJ Cameron wrote:

[snip]

> I have been unable to reproduce the error on Win XP, however it did 
> occur on
> a different Win 2k Machine. The Dr. Watson Error log:
> http://payson.tulane.edu/staff/bjcameron/drwtsn32.txt

OK, I'll take a closer look at this over the next couple days.

> Unfortunately, this does not work. After I converted to Unix, I tried 
> to
> convert to Windows, but it is still "greyed" out. However, I updated to
> editpadpro 5.3.0 demo and the file reads fine.

Weird... If you save the file in editpadpro, and then open it in 
editpad lite, do you still have the problem?

[snip]

> ***New Bug**
> However, Tod is creating an Eclass for Sam's upcoming Sri Lanka course 
> and
> wants to use a MS Word doc in the "web page" spot  in the "page 
> editor". The
> page does not display at all. I tried the same thing in an older 
> version of
> Eclass (2.5b1) and got this error message:
> http://payson.tulane.edu/staff/bjcameron/error7.jpg . I tried another 
> Word
> doc that I created, and still the same message.
> I tried again in Eclass 2.0 and got nothing.
>
> Does Eclass support Word documents (doc and rtf) in the web page spot? 
> If
> not, you need to remove them from the "document files" in the "select a
> file" for the web page spot.
> Not sure this matters, but I have OpenOffice1.1.0 marked in the system
> preferences.

It did for a while, but the OpenOffice folks have insisted on using an 
old version of Python which EClass is now not compatible with. I plan 
on adding this support back in very soon, so I haven't totally removed 
the options, but unfortunately it is true that they don't work right 
now. I'll see if I can get something working before the final version 
of 2.5.4 is released.

Thanks,

Kevin

[Eclass-users] suggestions

[BJ C. <ca...@tu...>]

Hi Kevino,

No new bugs to report!!!

A suggestion for the next version if possible. I have been working with =
the themes and templates and I have noticed that all the course media =
gets lumped into=20
"--[Content}--"=20
Would it be possible to break that down into the individual parts? For =
instance, if I wanted to put course text before the audio, I could set =
up my template to reflect this. Or it I just wanted to put a horizontal =
line between my page image and text, I could do it very simply. I know I =
can do all this easily in my html page but it would be nice if EClass =
could do it for me. I know pedagogically, it makes sense to have the =
media at the top (true?), but as a designer, I would like to have a =
little more control of the layout.

Your thoughts?

How about a template to mange the menu.htm frame? I know it is easy =
enough to edit it, but it be great to set it up once.=20
Another style issue...
If you change the background color of the EClass pages (try a dark =
color), on the quiz pages you get a white box, where your check (good) =
an X (bad) response to the submission appear. Would it be possible to =
have this transparent so you do not see the white box prior to the =
submission? Try it out and see what you think.



Thanks,

BJ



William 'BJ' Cameron
Payson Center
Tulane University

[Eclass-users] Search engine bug

[BJ C. <ca...@tu...>]

Hi Kevino,

From a previous discussion:
>>2. I get this error when I search using Swish-e:
>>http://payson.tulane.edu/staff/bjcameron/error8.jpg
>>I have copied xmltok.dll from an old version into the cgi-bin and =
republished, but I get the same result. It is very strange as there is a =
copy of xmltok.dll in the=20
>>C:\Program Files\EClass.Builder 2.5.4.7\SWISH-E.=20

>>I replicated the problem on the Win 2k machine and got a more =
descriptive error message:
>>http://payson.tulane.edu/staff/bjcameron/error9.jpg

  I just tried this on my work computer at my home/office and the search =
worked fine. The only difference I know between the computers at the =
office (that were having problems) and mine at home is that I have =
several different version of Eclass installed on my home/office computer =
and the office computers are using the latest version only. In fact, the =
Win 2K machine at the office is bare bones and had been formatted =
recently. I will play around with other computers at my home office on =
Monday and send you more info.
I just tried this on my Win2k laptop and got a similar error message to =
Win 2k error above. I also tried it on a Win98 machine (personal) and =
got a bit of a different message.
http://payson.tulane.edu/staff/bjcameron/search_htm.htm

I am sure it is all the same problem, but trying to give you more info =
to work with.

I have re-learned a valuable lesson, when testing software, remove all =
previous versions and start from scratch. This still does not guarantee =
"every computers" configuration or OS, but it is a starting point.

Let me know if you need more specifics about the problem above and I =
will keep bug picking.

BJ

[Eclass-users] more petty stuff

[BJ C. <ca...@tu...>]

Hi Kevino,

This is really stupid, but...In the "page properties"  of the"import =
file"
window, the text area for "page content" is grayed out. It took me a =
couple
of minutes to figure out I am suppose to browse for a file. It would be =
more
obvious if the space was white. Can you also add something to the help =
file?

This isn't a bug, but a remark/question, take it for what you will. The
import file opens html and most graphic files in the eclass window, =
audio
and video get opened in each computer's associated player. This is fine,
except once you run the server, some graphics (BMPs), get the download =
message from IE
and then you can open it in the associated graphic editor. I guess I =
don't
see the point of using import file. In what case would you use it =
instead of
going through an Eclass page or creating a simple html page?

From a previous discussion:

>> 5. When using the no frames theme:
>> The alignment on some of the pages are off. Sometimes the treemenu is =

>>on the left margin and sometimes it is right next to the page content. =

>>Could we standardize it? I think the left margin looks best.

>Could you provide examples? From your description, I think what is=20
>happening is that the contents table is being enlarged and 'squeezing'=20
>the table of contents.

The change occurs when you have the IE window maximized and you click on =
the +/- symbol of a folder.
for example on this page:
http://payson.tulane.edu/staff/bjcameron/no%20frames%20trial/Pub/New_Page=
.htm
When you click on the + or - sign of "Mod1" the tree menu moves =
left/right. I think it is disconcerting to the end user to see it =
moving. (IMHO) Can we place it along the left margin?

From a previous discussion:
>>2. I get this error when I search using Swish-e:
>>http://payson.tulane.edu/staff/bjcameron/error8.jpg
>>I have copied xmltok.dll from an old version into the cgi-bin and =
republished, but I get the same result. It is very strange as there is a =
copy of xmltok.dll in the=20
>>C:\Program Files\EClass.Builder 2.5.4.7\SWISH-E.=20

>>I replicated the problem on the Win 2k machine and got a more =
descriptive error message:
>>http://payson.tulane.edu/staff/bjcameron/error9.jpg

I just tried this on my work computer at my home/office and the search =
worked fine. The only difference I know between the computers at the =
office (that were having problems) and mine at home is that I have =
several different version of Eclass installed on my home/office computer =
and the office computers are using the latest version only. In fact, the =
Win 2K machine at the office is bare bones and had been formatted =
recently. I will play around with other computers at my home office on =
Monday and send you more info.


This is not a bug, but a suggestion for next time. The author is unable =
to change the order of  "Objectives" and "Quiz" questions. It would be =
great if they could move them up and down. Inspiration is not always =
linear.

Cool thing:

If you copy an eclass page/quiz/web page from one area of the eclass and =
paste it, when you make changes to one, it is reflected in the other.

The bugs are getting harder and harder to find, must mean we are getting =
closer to the end.

Have a good weekend,

BJ






William 'BJ' Cameron
Payson Center
Tulane University

[Eclass-users] bugz

[<cam...@ne...>]

Hi Kevino,

1. Tod's bug about not being able to use doc/rtf prompted me to check other types of media. The only other problem I found were that MP3s were not playing. (Also, Aiff weren't being read. An obvious problem, I don't have the Mac audio plugin).

I tried this on both XP and 2k, and on the XP I got an error message when trying to preview/publish, not too descriptive, but from the Errlog.txt:

Available in toto:

http://payson.tulane.edu/staff/bjcameron/errlog3.txt

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<string>", line 883, in PublishIt
  File "F:\oss\eclass\eclass_builder\installer\buildeditor\out1.pyz/webbrowser", line 46, in open_new
  File "F:\oss\eclass\eclass_builder\installer\buildeditor\out1.pyz/webbrowser", line 35, in get
TypeError: 'NoneType' object is not callable
New Page 

Even though, I have removed the reference to the MP3, I still get the error when I preview/publish, the EClass course works fine in the end. If you close EClass, and re-open the course, all is normal.

2. I get this error when I search using Swish-e:
http://payson.tulane.edu/staff/bjcameron/error8.jpg

I have copied xmltok.dll from an old version into the cgi-bin and republished, but I get the same result. It is very strange as there is a copy of xmltok.dll in the 
C:\Program Files\EClass.Builder 2.5.4.7\SWISH-E. 

I replicated the problem on the Win 2k machine and got a more descriptive error message:
http://payson.tulane.edu/staff/bjcameron/error9.jpg

From this error message: the path to cgi-bin seems odd. What do you think? There is no "My documents" on the C drive like there is with win98.

Not sure this is going to make it to the list as I am sending it from my netzero acct (tulane is down). Please forward to the list when it becomes available.

Thanks,

BJ



________________________________________________________________
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Re: [Eclass-users] bugs

[BJ C. <ca...@tu...>]

Kevino,

> > 2. This one is a bit bigger as it has larger ramifications...If you
> > "cancel" when using the Find Feature in the html document editor, it
> > crashes
> > the editor and EClass.
> > http://payson.tulane.edu/staff/bjcameron/error6.jpg
> > Unfortunately, you lose all your unsaved work and despite the error
> > message there is nothing in the errlog.txt. I seemed to have lost all
> > my "system
> > preferences" after the crash too.
>
> Unfortunately, I've been unable to reproduce this in either XP or Win
> 98. Could you send me the Dr. Watson log? Also, could you try this on
> some computers in the office tomorrow if you're going in?

I have been unable to reproduce the error on Win XP, however it did occur on
a different Win 2k Machine. The Dr. Watson Error log:
http://payson.tulane.edu/staff/bjcameron/drwtsn32.txt


> > 6. I have been having minor trouble editing the new template files
> > (*.TPL) with Editpad lite. In particular, I can't move the cursor with
> > the mouse. Can you recommend another editor?
>
> No, but I can offer a suggestion that may fix your problem. =) Try
> opening the file in Editpad Lite, selecting Convert->To UNIX and then
> after that, Convert->To Windows. I think what happened is that at some
> point UNIX line endings got into the template files, and the mixture of
> Windows and UNIX endings is confusing the editor. Let me know if that
> helps.

Unfortunately, this does not work. After I converted to Unix, I tried to
convert to Windows, but it is still "greyed" out. However, I updated to
editpadpro 5.3.0 demo and the file reads fine.


> > 10. Using Swish-e search, doc files do not get indexed even though
> > they are in the "File" directory. I checked out swishe.conf, no
> > problems there. Other ideas?
>
> I'm seeing this too, it's a problem with wvWare failing to convert the
> docs... I have no idea why its failing, but it is far from a perfect
> conversion tool. I'll have to look for another conversion method.
> Another reason I should get back on a solution for OpenOffice support.

For all of my Eclasses, I try to create an HTML file representation for PDF
and Docs and then link back to the orginal. I find this works best for
Greenstone and Swish-e.

***New Bug**
However, Tod is creating an Eclass for Sam's upcoming Sri Lanka course and
wants to use a MS Word doc in the "web page" spot  in the "page editor". The
page does not display at all. I tried the same thing in an older version of
Eclass (2.5b1) and got this error message:
http://payson.tulane.edu/staff/bjcameron/error7.jpg . I tried another Word
doc that I created, and still the same message.
I tried again in Eclass 2.0 and got nothing.

Does Eclass support Word documents (doc and rtf) in the web page spot? If
not, you need to remove them from the "document files" in the "select a
file" for the web page spot.
Not sure this matters, but I have OpenOffice1.1.0 marked in the system
preferences.


Thanks,

BJ

Re: [Eclass-users] bugs

[Kevin O. <ke...@tu...>]

Hi BJ and all,

The latest version, with fixes (for what I've been able to fix) can be=20=

found at:

http://www.eclass.net/Downloads/eclass-builder-2.5.4.7.exe

Yes, I'm now using the new numbering system. =3D) BTW, you can uninstall=20=

old versions of beta 4 before installing the latest build. Now that the=20=

number will change with each release, this is necessary to keep your=20
disk from being filled with EClass builds. I've moved the System=20
Preferences file into C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local=20
Settings\Application Data\EClass so that every build of EClass (from=20
this build onwards) will use those preferences, and you do not need to=20=

"re-configure" EClass with each new version you download anymore.

Now, onto the bugs...

On Apr 12, 2004, at 1:52 PM, BJ Cameron wrote:

> Hi Kevino,
>
> 1.=A0 Here is a petty bug, but...When using the html document editor,=20=

> Ctrl S does not save the document. The rest of the keyboard shortcuts=20=

> work fine,
> and if you try to close the file, you get the dialog box asking if you=20=

> want to save it. Not a big deal if you can't fix it, just remove the=20=

> Ctrl S from the file menu.

Thanks for catching this. CTRL+S does actually work, but if you use the=20=

keyboard combination it was registering a keypress, and when a keypress=20=

happens EClass marks the document as having unsaved changes. Fixed.=20
(Now only if you actually type a character in Mozilla will it mark the=20=

document as needing saved.)

> 2.=A0 This one is a bit bigger as it has larger ramifications...If you=20=

> "cancel" when using the Find Feature in the html document editor, it=20=

> crashes
> the editor and EClass.
> http://payson.tulane.edu/staff/bjcameron/error6.jpg
> Unfortunately, you lose all your unsaved work and despite the error=20
> message there is nothing in the errlog.txt. I seemed to have lost all=20=

> my "system
> preferences" after the crash too.

Unfortunately, I've been unable to reproduce this in either XP or Win=20
98. Could you send me the Dr. Watson log? Also, could you try this on=20
some computers in the office tomorrow if you're going in?

> 3.=A0 Document Editor:
> The Insert Bookmark seems to be acting a bit off. Maybe I am=20
> misunderstanding what you mean by "insert bookmark". Do you mean=20
> create the
> bookmark or are you linking to the bookmark.=A0 =46rom the HTML code =
it=20
> looks like you are creating the bookmark. How are you suppose to link=20=

> to the bookmark except through the html code? A quick explanation of=20=

> what "#" does might help novice users.

You can just create a hyperlink and type in #mybookmark to link to=20
mybookmark. In the next version, I hope to add a bookmark list to the=20
bottom, but you're right that we should also document this better=20
because then people can link to bookmarks in other pages as well. I=20
also hope to have some visual "marker" for the bookmark like what=20
Dreamweaver does.

> Once you "create" the bookmark, the "insert hyperlink"=A0sometimes =
does=20
> not work.

This isn't related to bookmarks... It seems there's something going=20
wrong with selections or possibly a focus issue. It will probably be a=20=

few days before I have a fix for this...

> Also I noticed if you cancel the link window without putting a link,=20=

> the link is still created...probably should do nothing.

Once I have the previous problem taken care of, I'll make it so. =3D)

> =A0
> 4. Greenstone search...
> Greenstone=A0only indexes files in the pub directory. I looked in the=20=

> collect.cfg file for some indication of what gets indexed, nothing.=20
> Are you using the import function? Anyways, I would also like to have=20=

> the "file" directory and any sub-directories of the File directory=20
> indexed. Possible?

Possible but not easy, unfortunately, thanks to how Greenstone works.=20
;-( The problem is that there's no way to tell Greenstone which folder=20=

to look in for content. The exception is with HTML files, where I use a=20=

little trick with META tags to make it work. The only way to resolve=20
this problem would be to manually convert all the files to HTML=20
ourselves, add metadata to the HTML file pointing to the original file,=20=

and then send the HTML file to be indexed in Greenstone. I used to have=20=

a VB macro that did this, but the person needed to have Office=20
installed, unfortunately. When I can work up a solution to get the=20
OpenOffice conversion support working again, this may be possible, but=20=

until then, this is going to be a lot of work and so it will need to=20
wait for a future version.

> 5. When using the no frames theme:
> The alignment on some of the pages are off. Sometimes the treemenu is=20=

> on the left margin and sometimes it is right next to the page content.=20=

> Could we standardize it? I think the left margin looks best.

Could you provide examples? =46rom your description, I think what is=20
happening is that the contents table is being enlarged and 'squeezing'=20=

the table of contents.

> 6. I have been having minor trouble editing the=A0new template files=20=

> (*.TPL) with Editpad lite.=A0In particular, I can't move the cursor =
with=20
> the mouse. Can you=A0recommend another editor?

No, but I can offer a suggestion that may fix your problem. =3D) Try=20
opening the file in Editpad Lite, selecting Convert->To UNIX and then=20
after that, Convert->To Windows. I think what happened is that at some=20=

point UNIX line endings got into the template files, and the mixture of=20=

Windows and UNIX endings is confusing the editor. Let me know if that=20
helps.

> 7. The convert to PDF works great except most links do not work. It is=20=

> looking for material in the same directory as the pdf file. I would=20
> recommend removing the links, or moving the pdf file into the file=20
> directory, where most of the material resides. Other ideas?

For the moment, I'll just remove the links feature. The converter is=20
open source though, so I can eventually track down (and hopefully fix)=20=

this problem.

> 8. Not really a bug, but a feature I would like to see. In=A0many text=20=

> boxes (the Credit box, Quiz question box, author box), you can use=20
> simple scripts to change font size and include links. I wish you could=20=

> do this in the objectives text box.

Actually, the fact that you can do this in the other dialogs is a bug.=20=

It works great if you know what you're doing, but if you're trying to=20
use a < or > symbol in those boxes (not adding an HTML tag), it will=20
actually cause the author or credit, or quiz question, not to be=20
displayed. In the future, the real solution would be either to detect=20
and allow certain HTML tags, or make those textboxes actually Mozilla=20
editors, so you can apply rich text styles without causing problems.

I'll leave it in there for now, but I'll try and come up with a=20
solution that allows HTML but doesn't disallow people to type in=20
special HTML characters for the next release. And it will be=20
consistent. =3D)

> 9. Not really a bug, but an idiosyncrasy. If you change a page name in=20=

> the page properties, it changes the name on the page, but doesn't keep=20=

> the change when you open the page editor. I would think that the two=20=

> would work in conjunction.

Fixed. (This was how it was supposed to work in the beginning, but a=20
bug kept it from working right.)

> 10. Using Swish-e search, doc files do not get indexed even though=20
> they are in the "File" directory. I checked out swishe.conf, no=20
> problems there. Other ideas?

I'm seeing this too, it's a problem with wvWare failing to convert the=20=

docs... I have no idea why its failing, but it is far from a perfect=20
conversion tool. I'll have to look for another conversion method.=20
Another reason I should get back on a solution for OpenOffice support.

> =A0
> I will=A0start again tomorrow.

Thanks!!

[Eclass-users] bugs

[BJ C. <ca...@tu...>]

Hi Kevino,

1.  Here is a petty bug, but...When using the html document editor, Ctrl =
S does not save the document. The rest of the keyboard shortcuts work =
fine,
and if you try to close the file, you get the dialog box asking if you =
want to save it. Not a big deal if you can't fix it, just remove the =
Ctrl S from the file menu.

2.  This one is a bit bigger as it has larger ramifications...If you =
"cancel" when using the Find Feature in the html document editor, it =
crashes
the editor and EClass.
http://payson.tulane.edu/staff/bjcameron/error6.jpg
Unfortunately, you lose all your unsaved work and despite the error =
message there is nothing in the errlog.txt. I seemed to have lost all my =
"system
preferences" after the crash too.

3.  Document Editor:
The Insert Bookmark seems to be acting a bit off. Maybe I am =
misunderstanding what you mean by "insert bookmark". Do you mean create =
the
bookmark or are you linking to the bookmark.  From the HTML code it =
looks like you are creating the bookmark. How are you suppose to link to =
the bookmark except through the html code? A quick explanation of what =
"#" does might help novice users.

Once you "create" the bookmark, the "insert hyperlink" sometimes does =
not work.

Also I noticed if you cancel the link window without putting a link, the =
link is still created...probably should do nothing.

4. Greenstone search...
Greenstone only indexes files in the pub directory. I looked in the =
collect.cfg file for some indication of what gets indexed, nothing. Are =
you using the import function? Anyways, I would also like to have the =
"file" directory and any sub-directories of the File directory indexed. =
Possible?

5. When using the no frames theme:
The alignment on some of the pages are off. Sometimes the treemenu is on =
the left margin and sometimes it is right next to the page content. =
Could we standardize it? I think the left margin looks best.

6. I have been having minor trouble editing the new template files =
(*.TPL) with Editpad lite. In particular, I can't move the cursor with =
the mouse. Can you recommend another editor?

7. The convert to PDF works great except most links do not work. It is =
looking for material in the same directory as the pdf file. I would =
recommend removing the links, or moving the pdf file into the file =
directory, where most of the material resides. Other ideas?

8. Not really a bug, but a feature I would like to see. In many text =
boxes (the Credit box, Quiz question box, author box), you can use =
simple scripts to change font size and include links. I wish you could =
do this in the objectives text box.

9. Not really a bug, but an idiosyncrasy. If you change a page name in =
the page properties, it changes the name on the page, but doesn't keep =
the change when you open the page editor. I would think that the two =
would work in conjunction.

10. Using Swish-e search, doc files do not get indexed even though they =
are in the "File" directory. I checked out swishe.conf, no problems =
there. Other ideas?


I will start again tomorrow.

Thanks,

BJ

Thanks,

BJ







William 'BJ' Cameron
Payson Center
Tulane University