Re: [CF-metadata] Editing/publishing workflow

[Jeffrey F. Painter]

re word processor formats:  I'm not going that way, but if I had, it wouldn't have involved proprietary software.  I was tempted because there was no open-source XML editor which could usefully make sense of all features of the existing CF Conventions document. re markup languages: I haven't looked at any seriously, and most I've not looked at at all.  Most of the CF Conventions document, like most any document, is simple stuff which anything can handle.  But there are features which I'm not so sure about - custom tags, cross-references, and color-coded tables come to mind.  If an alternative markup language can't do it all, then we have to consider how much we value the missing features. - Jeff On 3/11/14 1:14 PM, Chris Barker wrote: All, Converting to a simpler, more tractable markup format would be nice, but a couple comments: > A few months ago I looked into converting to a word processor format, but it looked like a much bigger job than I could afford the time for. Please dont go that way anyway! XML may be a pain, but if you're going to make a change, make a change to a format that is easier to mange in a version control system, and doesn't require proprietary software to manage. I am willing to take an initial crack at putting the CF Conventions document in github format, if that's the missing piece. gitHub supports a number of different markup formats. Markdown is the default, and is nice an simple, but pretty limited. So take a look at the other options -- ReStructuredText (RST) may be a better option, for instance. -Chris   John On Mar 11, 2014, at 09:44, "Jeffrey F. Painter" <paint...@llnl.gov> wrote: > Richard, > > We (meaning LLNL people) don't really have positive plans to stay in DocBook format.   It is simply less effort to use it than to identify and convert to an alternative, if one exists.  We recently bought a copy of the XMLmind XML Editor, which makes in reasonably tractable to edit in DocBook. > > I suspect that most markup languages won't do all features used in the CF Conventions document.  We may be able to work around that, but I'm not sure of it.  A few months ago I looked into converting to a word processor format, but it looked like a much bigger job than I could afford the time for. > > I would be delighted if you could do this better!   You definitely have the right idea for where we should be.   And I hope that having this discussion on the cf-metadata list will bring out some more good ideas.  For the next few weeks, I don't think we at LLNL will do more than make the documents, and the Trac system, reliably available on the web again, and put the document sources on github. > > - Jeff > > > On 3/11/14 3:22 AM, Hattersley, Richard wrote: >> Hi Jeff, >> >> That's excellent news. And thanks for the update - it'll save me duplicating your efforts. >> >> It looks like your current plans are for the source code to stay in DocBook format. Do you also have any plans to allow "instant" visual feedback? For example, to convert it to another format which can be rendered by GitHub (https://github.com/github/markup#markups) or reathedocs.org? >> >> >> Richard >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: CF-metadata [mailto:cf-metadata-boun...@cgd.ucar.edu] On Behalf Of Jeffrey F. Painter >> Sent: 10 March 2014 20:04 >> To: cf-metadata@cgd.ucar.edu >> Subject: Re: [CF-metadata] Editing/publishing workflow >> >> Several of us at LLNL agree that a github-based system is the way to go for the CF Conventions.  And the previous messages on this thread turn out to be very timely! >> >> For background, over the last few months our Plone-based web site has >> become unmaintainable as we lost infrastructure support.   Just a few >> days ago I gave up on fixing the system.  Matthew Harris has been working on a new web site, located mostly at github.  It should be up within a week. >> >> The CF Conventions "source code" has for many years been in in DocBook, >> an xml dialect.  It is presently kept in a Subversion repository.   We >> will very likely make this available on github. >> >> After the documents, the most important component of the CF Conventions web site is the Trac issue-tracking system.  Last week I migrated it to a more recent version on a new machine.  Over the next week I plan to migrate it to the latest production version.  This will continue to be hosted at LLNL, but a link to it will be on the github site. >> >> I hope these changes will serve the CF community at least for the short run, so we can think seriously about what systems to use in the long run. >> >> - Jeff Painter >> >> On 3/10/14 7:20 AM, Signell, Richard wrote: >>> Richard, >>> >>> I think moving to github would be a huge improvement.  The git model >>> and the tools that github provides would make it much easier for other >>> folks to propose changes, and for those changes to be reviewed, >>> discussed and merged.    I think Brian and a few others were also in >>> favor when we discussed this last fall, but we lacked someone to carry >>> the flag. >>> >>> -Rich >>> >>> On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 7:35 AM, Hattersley, Richard >>> <richard.hatters...@metoffice.gov.uk>   wrote: >>>> Hi all, >>>> >>>> I've recently been dipping into the UGRID conventions >>>> (https://github.com/ugrid-conventions/ugrid-conventions) and was >>>> struck by how pleasant the editing/publishing workflow was. Clearly >>>> from a content complexity point of view the UGRID conventions are >>>> smaller and simpler than CF so a direct comparison is not possible, >>>> but to help illustrate some of the possibilities I've prepared a >>>> cut-down demo version of the CF conventions document using GitHub and "Read the Docs". >>>> >>>> The published versions of the demo are available from: >>>> http://cf-conventions.readthedocs.org. I've set the default version >>>> to 1.6, but by using the options in the bottom-left corner of the >>>> page it is possible to view 1.7-draft.1 instead. There is also a PDF >>>> option, but that currently has a few quirks which I've not attempted >>>> to address. NB. By ticking a box in GitHub, these published versions >>>> are automatically updated whenever the underlying content changes. >>>> >>>> The underlying "source code" is defined using reStructuredText (reST) >>>> markup for processing by the Spinx document generator. It is hosted on GitHub at: >>>> https://github.com/cf-metadata/cf-conventions. I created the reST >>>> markup using an off-the-shelf HTML-to-reST converter but it did >>>> require some subsequent manual tweaks. >>>> >>>> I've also created a simple "pull request" to illustrate what happens >>>> when someone proposes a change: >>>> https://github.com/cf-metadata/cf-conventions/pull/1. NB. By default >>>> GitHub shows the changes in the source code, but it can also show a >>>> rendered version of the changes, much like the strikeout/highlight >>>> style used in the current workflow: >>>> https://github.com/cf-metadata/cf-conventions/pull/show/1/files/e7c84 >>>> 59#diff-e7c84590262562a10e9fb4cf714098d3 >>>> >>>> Is there interest in taking this further? >>>> >>>> >>>> Richard Hattersley >>>> Benevolent Dictator of Iris - a CF library for Python: >>>> www.scitools.org.uk/iris >>>> Met Office  FitzRoy Road  Exeter  Devon  EX1 3PB  United Kingdom >>>> Tel: +44 (0)1392 885702 >>>> Email: richard.hatters...@metoffice.gov.uk  Web: www.metoffice.gov.uk >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> CF-metadata mailing list >>>> CF-metadata@cgd.ucar.edu >>>> http://mailman.cgd.ucar.edu/mailman/listinfo/cf-metadata >>>> >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> CF-metadata mailing list >> CF-metadata@cgd.ucar.edu >> http://mailman.cgd.ucar.edu/mailman/listinfo/cf-metadata > _______________________________________________ > CF-metadata mailing list > CF-metadata@cgd.ucar.edu > http://mailman.cgd.ucar.edu/mailman/listinfo/cf-metadata John Graybeal jbgrayb...@mindspring.com _______________________________________________ CF-metadata mailing list CF-metadata@cgd.ucar.edu http://mailman.cgd.ucar.edu/mailman/listinfo/cf-metadata -- Christopher Barker, Ph.D. Oceanographer Emergency Response Division NOAA/NOS/OR&R            (206) 526-6959   voice 7600 Sand Point Way NE   (206) 526-6329   fax Seattle, WA  98115       (206) 526-6317   main reception chris.bar...@noaa.gov

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