Re: [Hypercontent-users] [Fwd: Needed help using Hypercontent]

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Hi Michael

The XML and XSL part of HyperContent is the hard part as Alex said. But 
with that comes a greater amount of flexibility. There isn’t anything 
that I’ve needed to do that I haven’t been able to achieve, things like 
automatic generation of navigation, pdf files and breadcrumb trails. We 
are now hosing around thirty sites and are in the process of building 
our main university site in HyperContent.

I too was relatively new to XML and XSL when I started using 
HyperContent but thanks to Alex at Columbia I have managed to become 
proficient. I find it a very flexible and adaptable way of working. I 
will try and help out with any of your XSL queries if you post them up 
to the email list.

Good luck !

Carl

Alex Vigdor wrote:

> Hi Michael,
> If you're looking specifically at the home page, you'll notice in the 
> project definition that the home navigation file data is included:
>
> <include data="yes" metadata="no" source="/config/home-navigation.xml"/>
>
> This means that you can refer to its root element in xsl like so:
>
> <xsl:variable name="home-navigation" 
> select="/cms:wrapper/cms:include[@path='/config/home-navigation.xml']/navigation"/> 
>
>
> However, there may be a way to leverage the XSL that's there if you 
> want to change the class name for left nav links at a certain depth. 
> As you may notice, "class" is a parameter to the "nav-item-link" 
> template, so it makes sense to determine an alternate class name, if 
> appropriate, in the XSL that calls this template.
>
> You'll find this template is activated in the "nav-item-rows" template 
> at line 215:
>
> <xsl:call-template name="nav-item-link"/>
>
> If you want to change the classname for sub-menu links, you could 
> check the value of the "indent" variable that is already used to 
> indicate depth
>
> <xsl:choose>
> <xsl:when test="$indent = 10">
> <xsl:call-template name="nav-item-link">
> <xsl:with-param name="class" select="'leftNavSub'"/>
> </xsl:call-template>
> </xsl:when>
> <xsl:otherwise>
> <xsl:call-template name="nav-item-link"/>
> </xsl:otherwise>
> </xsl:choose>
>
> -Alex
>
> On Oct 20, 2005, at 12:21 PM, michael ayodele wrote:
>
>     Thanks for your help. I have another question. Okay I understand
>     what you just said about changing the css. I guess your right the
>     hard part is the XSL. I have added a new class style to the css.
>     And I think I have located the section in common.xsl that I need
>     to change:
>
>     <
>     xsl:template name="nav-item-link">
>
>     <xsl:param name="class">
>
>     <xsl:choose>
>
>     <xsl:when test="@location=$sourcePath">leftnavOn </xsl:when>
>
>     <xsl:otherwise>leftnavMenu</xsl:otherwise >
>
>     </xsl:choose>
>     (lines 148-153)
>     I figure I need to add and if statement for leftnavOn and
>     leftnavMenu that checks if the link is a Menu link or submenu
>     link. I was thinking I could reference the home-navigation file
>     but I don't know how. Any suggestions.
>
>     Michael Ayodele
>
>     On 10/19/05, *Alex Vigdor* <av...@co...> wrote: Michael,
>
>         XSL is definitely the "hard part" of working with
>         HyperContent. Be
>         patient, I know it took me a while to really be comfortable
>         with it.
>         The example you give is actually controlled in css; the
>         topmost left
>         nav link has a class "navhead" and the menu links have a class
>         "leftnav" or "leftnavOn" for the current page link. Most folks
>         use the
>         XSL to generate just basically formatted HTML and use CSS to
>         control
>         things like font sizes, colors, background images, even
>         positioning for
>         sites that don't worry so much about Netscape 4.7 compatibility.
>
>         You may find it useful to step back from HyperContent and do
>         some XSL
>         tutorials on-line if it's unfamiliar to you, as that way
>         you're not
>         trying to learn everything all at once.
>
>         Good luck,
>         Alex
>
>         On Oct 19, 2005, at 10:47 AM, michael ayodele wrote:
>
>         > Thank You for your response. I am still a little confused
>         about the
>         > hypercontent system.How would Ias a developer use
>         hypercontent to
>         > create new html pages.For example how would I change the
>         size of the
>         > hyperlinks in theleftnav menu bar, so that the Menu link's
>         size and
>         > color is different from its submenu links. It seems almost
>         impossible
>         > as look through the common.xsl for thesample project. Is
>         there an
>         > easy way to do this, I am new to XML/XSL.It would really
>         help me if I
>         > could talk to someone on the phone. If you can could you
>         give me a
>         > call at850-766-6908
>         >
>         > Michael Ayodele
>         >
>         >
>         > On 10/18/05, Alex Vigdor <av...@co...> wrote: Hi
>         Michael,
>         >> I'll respond to your question via e-mail, since that is the
>         >> preferred
>         >> mechanism amongst hypercontent users, although I noticed
>         your post on
>         >> the forums as well.
>         >>
>         >> The directions in the Read Me tell you how to port an
>         existing project
>         >> into HC2; since you're starting from scratch, the main
>         thing you need
>         >> to do is create the repository definition under
>         /projects/.Once
>         >> you're able to access your repository via its mount point,
>         you have
>         >> your blank slate. A directory called "/config/" is
>         automatically
>         >> created with blank project definition, groups and
>         permissions files,
>         >> as
>         >> well as copies of the workflow scripts found in the
>         bootstrap project.
>         >> A directory called "/workflow-data/" is also created, which
>         you can
>         >> ignore; this is where HC2 stores various workflow related
>         data such as
>         >> batch tasks, work queues, etc.You don't need to upload a
>         repository
>         >> zip since you're not converting an existing project.
>         >>
>         >> The place you start defining your file structure, XSL
>         transformations
>         >> and such is in the file "/config/project- definition.xml ",
>         which when
>         >> you begin is simply an empty document.This document is
>         >> backwards-compatible with the format documented in the v1.4
>         manual
>         >> starting at
>         >>
>         >>
>         >>
>         http://hypercontent.sourceforge.net/docs/manual/develop/project-
>         >> def.html
>         >>
>         >> There are new things you can do in this file that are not
>         expressed in
>         >> the 1.4 documentation, such as specify files with "**"
>         patterns ( e.g.
>         >> /**/index.xml indicates an index page in any directory at
>         any level)
>         >> and add output elements to resource-directories ( e.g. to
>         auto-create
>         >> an
>         >> HTML page to display an image with metadata and navigation,
>         or to
>         >> output multiple resized versions of an image). But for the
>         most part
>         >> you'll find the v1.4 documentation a good starting point for
>         >> understanding what this file does.
>         >>
>         >> I've been promising a release candidate for a while now,
>         which will
>         >> include a couple more sample projects which are simpler and
>         and show
>         >> off some of the newer features.This release is planned for
>         the very
>         >> near future, I've just been very busy with our internal
>         migration to
>         >> HC2 the last few weeks, handling bug fixes and GUI tweaks
>         based on
>         >> user
>         >> feedback, all of which will make the final product more
>         polished.Our
>         >> HC2 server handled about 40,000 requests during business hours
>         >> yesterday, and our users, who had been using the 1.x series
>         for up to
>         >> 2
>         >> years, are very happy with intuitiveness and performance of
>         the new
>         >> system.Of course we're only about 15% migrated, so the work
>         goes on
>         >> .
>         >> . .
>         >>
>         >> Cheers,
>         >> Alex
>         >>
>         >>
>         >> On Oct 18, 2005, at 12:01 PM, Carl Barrow wrote:
>         >>
>         >> > Hi Michael
>         >> >
>         >> > By way of this email I have forwarded your email to the
>         HyperContent
>         >> > mailing list, which you should join as it is very useful
>         >> > http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=101745. There is
>         usually one
>         >> of
>         >> > us around to help answer your questions and there is some
>         very good
>         >> > info on there already.
>         >> >
>         >> > Unfortunately I am about to leave work for the
>         evening,Alex might
>         >> be
>         >> > able to send a response later today. If not I will get
>         back to you
>         >> > tomorrow.
>         >> >
>         >> > Many Thanks
>         >> > Carl
>         >> >
>         >> >
>         >> >
>         >> > -------- Original Message --------
>         >> > Subject:Needed help using Hypercontent
>         >> > Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 12:10:13 -0400
>         >> > From: michael ayodele < mic...@gm...>
>         >> > To: por...@hu...
>         >> >
>         >> >
>         >> >
>         >> > Hi I have been trying to use hypercontent and as you say
>         it can be a
>         >> > very daunting task. I have been trying to follow the
>         sample website
>         >> > that comes with hypercontent to see how the system works.
>         However it
>         >> > is quite overwhelming. So I am trying to build a simple
>         website of
>         >> my
>         >> > own following the directions in the readme file. I am
>         stuck now on
>         >> the
>         >> > step that says to create a project-definition.xml file and
>         >> uploading a
>         >> > repository zip. What does my repository zip contain?,
>         what is its
>         >> > structure? I sort of understand we are suppose to create our
>         >> websites
>         >> > by changing XML content, using XSL into HTML. But how
>         does it all
>         >> fit
>         >> > together, what am I supposed to provide and what does
>         hypercontent
>         >> > take care of for me. If you help me get started I would
>         really
>         >> > apreciate, there does not seem to be a lot of documentation
>         >> available
>         >> > Michael Ayodele
>         >> > Software Engineering Graduate Student
>         >> > Florida A&M University
>         >> >
>         >> > --
>         >> > ************************************
>         >> >
>         >> > Carl Barrow
>         >> > Systems Integrator
>         >> > e-Services
>         >> > The University of Hull
>         >> > Cottingham Road
>         >> > Hull
>         >> > HU6 7RX
>         >> > Ext. 6838
>         >> > ************************************
>         >> >
>         >> >
>         >> >
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>         >> >
>         >>
>

-- 
************************************

Carl Barrow
Systems Integrator
e-Services
The University of Hull
Cottingham Road
Hull
HU6 7RX
Ext. 6838

************************************