[ODP-dev] A good place to start developing. [was: RFC: A new directory structure for OpenDocumentPHP]

[<no...@se...>]

Hi Dan et. al,


Daniel Longest wrote:
> Norman et al:
> Sorry for the several day delay on my response.
we are all doing this as a hobby in our spare time, not as a job, so you
don't need to apologize  for any delay.
> > - some examples, a webpage, for instance, where you could write some
> > lines. Fill in some meta data forms and we make a odt out of it.
>
> This one, at least on its face, appears to be the "easiest" for a new
developer to the project. If I am understanding you/the project
correctly, I would need to basically provide the functionality to
convert a basic web page with form to an ODT. Is that correct?

Okay, I will concrete my thoughts a little bit more:

I would like to see a webpage with a (or some) forms, where you can input
some (plain) paragraphs and some meta data (like the file name, the
creation date, the initial creator ... what ever you find interesting in
the DublinCoreFragment and MetaFragment classes in the src/meta directory)
and then press a button and you can download a freshly made
OpenDocumentText. This webpage should also be on our website
(http://opendocumentphp.org) as a short demo.
A good start should be to take a look at the
src/samples/OpenDocumentTextTest.php file and get rid of the "test" stuff.
You should easily get the code you need to create a OpenDocumentText. The
missing part is the website stuff. (Please you a production code statement
at the beginning, like require_once 'OpenDocumentPHP/...' and not the one
in the test file require_once '...'!)
> > - the manifest class has some missing functionality, which should be
> > 'easiely' added by some one...
>
> Forgive my ignorance and I apologize if this is answered in the project
docs, but I'm currently unfamiliar with the manifest.
Okay, the manifest is the basic directory of an OpenDocument package.
Every file you put in the OpenDocument package is listed in two places.
The first place is in the zip file directory, this is done automatically
by the ZIP class. The second place is in a special file, called the
manifest. This is very similar to the MANIFEST.MF you will find in every
(good) JAR file. Sun has decided to spend OpenDocument also a manifest,
but one in XML style. So every OpenDocument packages has a manifest.xml in
witch you can find all the files in the OpenDocument package with some
extra data.
Currently we support only the main parts of this manifest. But you can
also add some more data. More informations about this are in the
OpenDocument specifications.

> > - currently we are working on the text (and more or less on the
> > spreadsheet) part of a OpenDocument. The *:number format stuff is needed
> > by both parts in a way. This could be a good staring point for some new
> > classes.
>
> If I understand this part correctly, you are talking about the actual
grunt labor of converting a text file to OpenDoc, specifically dealing
numeric formatting (which can be shared across multiple parts for such
formatting as needed).
I will give response to that part later, okay?

> I am leaning towards working on the first task that I quoted,
translating meta data webpage forms into ODT, assuming I understood the
objective.  What is the "best" way to test my code? I guess a way to
rephrase that question is: where can I (or should I be using) a
standalone PHP interpreter? Or is the "best" way simply through a
locally installed Apache webserver configured with PHP?
The best thing for the first subproject is to start with a local Apache
webserver, I think (WAMP or XAMP or ... ???). You should check that you
have PHP 5.2.0 or 5.2.1 running on the server. After that, install the
current _production code_ and write some code that will run under Apache
in PHP (or was in in Apache under PHP???). If you got it, tell us and we
will include this in the source tree.

> I realize some of these questions are rather simple but I want to make
absolutely certain I understand the basics before wreaking havoc :-)

No problem, mostly my faults.

I know, I should talk more about what I am thinking on this list (or in my
blog) and I promise to do so....

Yours,
Norman