Re: [Slashcode-development] Re: Question about section behavior with regard to Sections

[Cliff W. <cl...@sl...>]

Speaking as a Generic-Slash-Developer

As near as I can tell, there are two types of sections: "contained" and 
"collected".

If you have a "contained" section, you limit the objects in question to 
only those of that specific section.

If you have a "collected" section, you limit the objects in question to
ALL sections that are "collected" in the section referenced.

The "index" section is a "collected" section, so I'd say that you'd 
display only the objects (in your case galleries) that are collected by 
the "index" section. Likewise if you had a "collected" section called 
"shane-mtb", you'd display all of the galleries collected in the "shane" 
and the "mtb" section.

My point here is that I think you are mistaking the intent of the 
"index" section, and that is why you are confused. Stick with the 
general rules of section types and I think you'll most likely match the 
"generally expected section behavior".

Users won't necessarily get this, initially. However if your site is 
consistent, they *should* eventually get it. If not, a simple 
explanation of how the sections work, should kick in the lightbulb over 
their heads, so I wouldn't worry about it.

The Slash Team can correct any misconceptions in what I've said above, 
when they have the time.

- Cliff
Generic Slash Developer

Shane wrote:

> Hey guys, I realize everyone's busy and all, but I would appreciate some 
> replies on this one.
> 
> I *know* I'm not the only one who's in the quagmire of "how should a 
> plugin's behavior work". I've had people email me asking the same thing 
> a few times.
> 
> I'm not trying to be an ass, but for me, it's questions like this that 
> make it hard to code for Slash. I would rather code things with 
> consistency, so that the plugins work *with* Slash, and it's 
> organization and look and feel. And I'd rather code it right the first 
> time, then have to go back and re-tool.
> 
> We (the confused/misguided/whatever) need some direction here.
> 
>  Shane
> 
> On Jan 14, 2004, at 7:35 AM, Shane wrote:
> 
>> This question is about how our plugins should behave in regard for 
>> sections.
>>
>> I'm not sure even what I'm asking, so reading this may be an exercise 
>> for patience. I'll show what I'm asking about by example, first, then 
>> try to elaborate a bit more at the end about it.
>>
>> I have a photogallery plugin. Each user can have up to XX galleries. 
>> Each gallery can be associated with a section and a topic.
>>
>> If someone hits the gallery plugin, from 'section==index', as in 
>> http://www.lottadot.com/galleria.pl , then I have it set so that
>>
>> a) it shows only galleries marked with section 'index'
>> b) it shows a pulldown that will let you change the section and topic.
>>
>> Now, goto a section that's marked as 'contained':
>>
>> http://shane.lottadot.com/galleria.pl
>>
>> Since you're hitting a section that's contained, it automatically only 
>> shows galleries that are section = 'shane'.
>>
>> Is this the *expected* behavior that plugins should handle data 
>> display with regard to sections such that if the current hit's section 
>> ne 'index' then limit data to that current_section only?
>>
>> Now, I updated Slash::Apache::User a bit, adding some /my/ options as 
>> such:
>>
>> http://www.lottadot.com/~shane/galleries
>>
>> lists user "shane"'s galleries that are only in section 'index'.
>>
>> and http://shane.lottadot.com/~shane/galleries
>>
>> lists user "shane"'s galleries that are only in section 'shane'.
>>
>> as well as http://mtb.lottadot.com/~shane/galleries
>>
>> only lists my galleries in section 'mtb'.
>>
>> That's supposed to mimick the "standard slash behavior".
>>
>> Now, given that I've spent a little bit of time toying with the 
>> Slashcode over the past couple of years, if this is expected behavior, 
>> I understand it.
>>
>> However, I wonder if *users* don't?
>>
>> And if they don't, how are you developing your plugins such that they 
>> *do* understand the section/topic/relationship.
>>
>> For the adventurous, if you'd like to comment about what should happen 
>> when a section is 'a collection of sections', or, possibly, when it's 
>> 'isolated', I'd love to see discussion about that as well.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>  Shane
>>
>>
> -- 
> One gadget to catch them all, and in digital darkness bind them.
> 
> 
> 
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