Hi, sorry I've been too busy lately to participate in anything I've promised over time. It's not that I don't want to do it any more, just time... well, you know.
Reading this thread, something clicked as I've been working on a simple website using Cocoon with simple XML files as "backend". So no high-end, sophisticated connecting-legacy-to-homegrown-software-to-Cocoon stuff, but simply taking advantage of things already available in Cocoon. I could try and write down the process I've gone through and using that as a base for a tutorial for "MyFirstCocoonWebApp". I know I sometimes work backwards (i.e. develop first, think later ;-)), so things might be out of (efficient) order. The website I'm referring to is currently online at: http://137.120.8.30 It's a multi-lingual (NL + EN) site with some Cforms for registration and a connection to an eXist database for some searching. My idea about this tutorial is building a similar website e.g. "MyPersonalSite" containing biography and CV, "MySmallBusinessSite" (who are we, what do we do, portfolio, contact form). WDYT? Bye, Helma > -----Original Message----- > From: Upayavira [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, 13 April, 2005 10:30 > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: "Apache Cocoon in Action" suggestion and call > for opinions > > > Sebastien, > > I know Reinhard has said a lot already. I just wanted to make a few > comments. > > 1) Thanks for coming over to the dev list. It is the best place for > these discussions as all developers will be reading what it said. > > 2) What myself and Reinhard have conceived is a container for > ALL docs. > We need first of all to bring the reference docs across, and > to scrap a > lot of the crud that has built up over the years. That, I hope, will > establish a foundation upon which we can build more howto and > tutorial > like docs. > > 3) I completely agree with you that such walkthrough docs are > completely > necessary and the work I have done with Reinhard very much takes that > into account. We just haven't yet conceived of exactly what > form those > docs will take, and your assistance (and that of others too) is most > welcome in crafting this side of our documentation. So long as we can > keep it cohesive, then the more the better. > > Thanks for your comments, and I look forward to seeing what > you come up > with! > > Regards, Upayavira > > > > Sebastien Arbogast wrote: > > Hi, > > > > I may have something to suggest concernig the new documentation > > effort. The main problem that I had to face while begining to work > > with Cocoon was the enormous gap between the level of the first > > tutorials I found on the wiki or other sources like > theserverside.com > > or IBM DeveloperWorks. I mean those detailed articles about > particular > > features of Cocoon are very useful as a reference when you > know how to > > use Cocoon but it's very difficult to integrate things > when you are a > > beginner. And it's even worse with samples because either > they make a > > lot of basic assumptions to fit precisely what's said in > the parallel > > documentation or wiki article, or we get enormous technology > > demonstrations like CHS, which are very difficult to dive into. > > > > And as it seems, the new documentation effort is mainly aimed at > > reviewing and reorganizing existing articles and then > filling the gaps > > with missing articles. The result of that process will be at best a > > wonderful reference, but it won't solve this gap between "getting > > started" stuff and everyday-work with cocoon. > > > > So my suggestion is the following : all the technologies > I've learnt, > > Java in first, I've learnt them thanks to some great books based on > > case studies explained in parallel with theoretical issues, > in order > > to apply things concretely and progressively as you discover and > > understand them, while building a common application by > aggregation. > > Sort of a big tutorial like you can read them in Hibernate > in Action > > or J2EE tutorial for example. > > > > The objectives/topics that should be covered in such a > "Apache Cocoon > > in Action" tutorial could be : > > > > 1st part : Getting started with Cocoon > > - What is Cocoon ? History and theory > > - Installing Cocoon on Tomcat : building process, blocks > description > > etc. > > - Hello Cocoon : classical but always efficient to demonstrate and > > reassure people... > > - Integrating Cocoon into your development environment : > > application/web server, source versioning control, build > tools (ant or > > preferably maven), IDE (eclipse and tools like xml editor, > > anyware-tech plugins, etc.), information sources (mail lists, > > websites, etc.) > > - Case study presentation : goals to achieve, overview, > etc. the exact > > nature of this case study is still to determine but I think > it has to > > be as common as possible. For example it could be a complete website > > with a backend > > > > 2nd part : describing the basic concepts and giving links > to the new > > reference for details each specific feature. Each chapter would end > > with integration of concepts into the case study > > - sitemap concepts + matchers, readers, protocols, modules > > - generators + quick introduction to XML > > - transformers + quick introduction to XSLT > > - serializers + quick introduction to XHTML/CSS > > - resources and views > > - flow control inside the sitemap : selectors, redirecting, error > > handling, actions,etc. > > > > 3rd part : advanced concepts making it possible to optimize > things, to > > improve performance and accessibility of the case study application > > - caching > > - internationalization > > - forms (with an overview of the different forms technologies, not > > only CForms, in order to understand why CForms are a good choice) > > - control flow (with a introduction to apples if possible) > > - XSP and logicsheets > > > > 4th part : integrating Cocoon with other tools to add a > backend to the > > sample application > > - authentication framework to protect the backend > > - introduction to Java, design patterns and avalon > > - introduction to Hibernate and AndroMDA for data > representation using > > an embedded HSQLDB database + integrating Hibernate into Cocoon > > - advanced CForms and control flow to edit Java Beans > > - integrating other blocks with small introduction samples > for axis, > > batik and other interesting blocks > > > > ..... > > > > This is just a suggestion and I obviously miss many things because > > I've been working with Cocoon for only a few months, but I > think that > > this content should help people to fill in the gap and > getting to know > > that wonderful tool better. Moreover this documentation could be > > written and reviewed in parallel and tight collaboration > with the new > > Cocoon 2.2 documentation effort to make sure that the > information is > > accurate and exact and to keep stuff in sync. And it could > be written > > and reviewed/corrected progressively with the help of users giving > > feedback about what's missing and what should be removed. > > > > What do you think ? > > > > Would anyone be interested in helping me to write such a > documentation > > ? > > > > Do you have ideas about technical infrastructure we could > use : wiki, > > mail lists, maybe forums and IRC channel which are ideal for user > > feedback and easy communication, documentation format (forrest, SVN > > repository, writing and reviewing process) ? > > > > What about work team organization (I find this very > important to avoid > > stepping over each other's feet and make sure everything is correct > > and precise, even if it's longer) ? > > > > What about translations : would some people interested in > translating > > that documentation to other languages as we write it > (french ? spanish > > ?) maybe a few polls on local development communities would be > > necessary to determine what languages are worth translating to. > > > > What about a common website area to centralize efforts and make the > > project known to users and potential writers ? > > > > Maybe it's not necessary to talk about the content in the > first place, > > to insist on whether or not it would be interesting and if > some people > > are willing to participate, and what could be the general shape of > > such a project... I'm waiting for your opinions. > > > > FTR, I should precise that right now I'm working on a big project > > using Cocoon as its core XML server and it's my first project using > > Cocoon, which implies that > > -> I won't be able to spend my whole days on this > > -> I don't have much knowledge about Cocoon > > which means that even if I intend to use my newbie aspect > to make the > > documentation accessible and my great interest in Cocoon to > make this > > documentation successful, we would need many interested > > diverse-skilled people to bring this to realty in a reasonable time > > (that is before Cocoon 4 at least ;o) > > > > Regards > > > > -- > > Sebastien ARBOGAST > > > >
