Hi Gary,
I am glad you are having a shot at the DP web world. You do not have to go the XSLT or even the XML route, it's just that for me I have found them convenient tools, that coexist with many other products. In some of my applications I just use TAB or comma delimited text files as the output from DP, in others I just use HTML. In regards to transforming XML documents into HTML, or in fact any type of data in HTML, I sometimes use the Perl CPAN HTML::Template module. I have found using Perl for CGI programming, especially with the huge repository of open source code at CPAN to be extremely useful. For processing XML you can use things like the XML::XPath module which you can use to extract required bits from a DP XML output, and if you do not want to use XSLT you can more easily create HTML templates and then use the HTML::Template to populate the data and send it to the browser. There are also things like the XML::XSLT modules where you can perform XSLT transformations at the server side, or you can let the browsers handle the transformations for you. My thoughts for a simple panel browsers were based on using the STE-MGR.com and STE-BASE applications to build the structure into forms, with a library or Javascript and AJAX to provide the interactivity. I have recently started using Flex, and I have thought it might be even easier to use this as a form designer. With I would envisage a report in the STE-BASE which outputs a Flex MXML file defining the "panel" The balance of the application could be a standard set of components and classes which add search, lookup, new record, save, edit delete functions whih would then be used by a set of libraries on the server to communicate with DP. Your articles on Scribd are interesting. Just to clarify, are you using IM to automate contact with people, to send say projects managers automated to-do messages based on their project schedule? I have not ever thought of using IM in an automated manner. Bye Brian _____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Gary_Gabriel Sent: Monday, 16 March 2009 12:30 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Dataperf] HTML Brian Hancock wrote: Hi Brian. A belated thanks for all the expertise you have provided over the years. I have conscientiously saved it and finally in the last months got the chance to begin to educate myself in the topics you discussed and worked out. At the moment I feel like Robinson Crusoe I basically agree with your analysis. However details differ. While it is a similar view, I am progressing from a browser-centric approach. My experience has shown that Microsoft successfully fulfills business requirements, but I think a realistic analysis would show that it is too difficult for the user to assimilate and apply as well as much too costly. To achieve a cost-effective performance, the cost must be significantly reduced and the use adapted to the user. I personally have never felt comfortable with the Microsoft products. In Aug. I moved to the Mozilla suite and then adapted a strategy of a browser-centric approach instead of an office centered environment. That gave me the opportunity to begin the DP- web processing. I am currently in the painful process of learning to use xml, xslt and your background information and other tutorials are slowly moving me forward. DP remains in the background for the moment but there is a lot of work invested. Previously I experimented with using batch files to call up DP from other applications and to replace the menu. That worked well and positioned dp as a central repository as described in your strategy. You can call up panels and menus but not reports if my memory serves me correctly. Reports are only available when importing a transaction log. Access to DP would improve if reports could be called up directly from other applications. I also positioned DP to index documents or records in other applications and to maintain a central index. A browser-centric system- Internet Messaging positions a personal or network web server to serve as a database and moves as much documentation as possible into this personal or network server according to web standards. It regards a database as a collection of web pages actually built according to database principles embodied in DP. It uses fields, panels, and search much like DP but employs web server functionality. Much of this is done and functions in Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird. POW works as a personal web server in the browser. ScrapBook is an excellent extension containing a personal web server and satisfies many requirements for using document manipulation for Project Management. I am in the process of building web "panels" from forms as I acquaint myself with xml and xslt. I have positioned xml as the central element to allow exchange within the database and a standard communication between business processes. Currently within Mozilla; support for the processes in Web Research and Project Management has been implemented and works well. If you are interested I published the articles listed below on the web. I use jEdit as an editor and that installed the Apache Xalan Xslt processor for me. I am occupied trying to get it to work, but it takes it's time. (BTW- I worked through your tutorial and gathered information on the Microsoft WordProcessingML Transformation Inference Tool but the thing would not even install in XP -> confirming once again my impression of microsoft quality. I work according to the principle of either it goes or not and left it. I agree with you- it would be valuable to have xml with a microsoft office (xslt) transform in the microsoft environment. I will probably come back to it someday. I expect that when I can competently manipulate the xslt I will be getting back to you, and maybe able to contribute to the pool of expertise. I expect to integrate DP to manipulate xml. Next I will look at Mozilla Xforms to build forms for the web database hopefully as containers for xml. These form documents build the records in the web database. The crux of the database seems to be the search capability. Probably regular expressions will be necessary to address that issue. I have not yet found a reasonable way to maintain and manipulate the xml files that transform into Html documents. DP would be ideal but I don't believe that any user will seriously call up DP to enter data while using his Internet Messaging. If DP had a modern UI, then batch files could call up panels, menus or reports let them run to generate the web pages as explained and expounded by you. These pages store as database records on the personal or local web server or somewhere else on the web. Project If you are interested in building a project, I would be glad (honored) to work in the project and do what I can. In Dataperf Digest, Vol 25, Issue 5 you outlined some ideas: By the way, although I do not have a specific plan for it as a project, I have been thinking of the possibility of creating a generic web client application for simple panel browsing, adding, editing and deleting. In my opinion this would be very good for the moment. This would or could offer xml files for use with other applications accessible through the browser. If you are interested in the literature refer to: Using Common Ground to shorten Team Contact, Lead and Project Management Internet Messaging builds a common point of entrance for Internet and e-mail contacts and exploits the contact data without the need of re-entry into parallel data sources. Fusing the browser and e-mail superstructure combines the actions or to-dos so that the majority of Project Management issues resolve within the browser and e-mail client. Similarly for Web Research which engages Internet information sources bringing the contacts into the common pool to process together with the to-dos from Project Management. Internet Messaging equips the browser and e-mail client to share and handle incoming to-dos. It benefits from the contact, lead and project entry contained natively within the messaging. Preceding it routes the information into four aggregates that drive the team. Internet Messaging being part of the first, the second is a team knowledge base to hold team experience and knowledge, the third implements team knowledge in educational systems, and the fourth adapts team information resources for technical support systems. Strategical Business Development and Sales Cycle Management provide good examples of the fusion benefits. URL: <http://www.scribd.com/doc/13283685/Internet-Messaging-builds-a-common-point -of-entrance-for-Internet-and-email-contacts-and-exploits-the-contact-data-w ithout-the-need-of-reentry-into-> >>> Here's a series of articles on an application of Internet Messaging to Strategic Business Development and Sales Cycle Management. This was originally a DP database. On the Way I met Internet Messaging. It took me .... Internet Messaging combines Internet and E-mail into a useful, seamlessly combined media. Expanding Internet Messaging incorporates Project Management, team shared To-Dos and Follow-up for the user benefit. The following articles introduce Internet Messaging and explain how to customize Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird to share Project Management To-Dos as well as Web Research resources. Use the advances in Internet Messaging to build a knowledge base in Mozilla Thunderbird for team use. URL: <http://www.scribd.com/doc/11001160/20091WebVirtStratBusSalesCyc> >>> Build a Team Knowledge Base using Browser-Centric Processing Store and Process Team Knowledge and Experience to qualify Support Team knowledge bases collect and process Information Project Management and Web Research teams collect Information Resources primarily from Internet Messaging resources of Internet and e-mail. Team Sharing connects the group collecting the Information Resources storing it for further use. This knowledge pool generates a growth of project management experience and information assets growing value for the team and users. Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird enclose an open, flexible architecture enabling specialization for team knowledge base use to collect and manage incoming information directly from Internet Messaging. This integration offers the users tools to reduce the implementation time of documenting team knowledge and experience. URL: <http://www.scribd.com/doc/12686279/Store-and-Process-Team-Knowledge-and-Exp erience-to-qualify-Support> >>> Once again, I sincerely appreciate your work and it serves as an important inspiration and valuable resources. When I can competently add to the dialog, I will be happy to do so. - Gary
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