<jsp:include page="formelements/projects.jsp"/> <jsp:include page="formelements/broadcasts_tv.jsp"/> <jsp:include page="formelements/projectteam_tv.jsp"/> <jsp:include page="formelements/websiteproductions.jsp"/> <jsp:include page="formelements/projectteam_internet.jsp"/>
Where these include files contain entries like:
<jsp:include page="field.jsp"> <jsp:param name="nodemanager" value="projects"/> <jsp:param name="field" value="description"/> <jsp:param name="guiname" value="Projectomschrijving"/> </jsp:include> <jsp:include page="related_search.jsp"> <jsp:param name="guiname" value="Gerelateerde projecten"/> <jsp:param name="relationmanager" value="related"/> <jsp:param name="relatednodemanager" value="projects"/> <jsp:param name="fields" value="projectnumber_title"/> </jsp:include>
field.jsp displays an input field according to the field definition in the builder file. The definitions in the builder file can be overwritten (like it is done with guiname in the example above).
related_search.jsp presents a popup to search for an existing node. If a user selects a node in this popup, the popup will be closed and the node inserted into the form on the parent page using JavaScript/DOM (without reloading the parent page). It is also possible to add new related objects (formelements) without reloading the page. All information (a tree of nodes) is submitted in one post to the server.
If we would spend more time to make this solution more generic I think configuring "editwizards" would come down to writing some include tags with parameters like the examples above. The code I've written so far to make this possible is just one JavaScript include file and some Java methods. This makes it easy to extend and to add your own flavor to the end result.
I would like to share my experience with this project and idea's for making it more generic. So count me in for any meeting on this subject.
Jaco
Rob Vermeulen wrote:
hi developers,
I noticed that many people are thinking about making new MMBase wizards. The current implementation seems to be to difficult to use, unstable, not flexible, it needs a lot of resources, etc.. The last days i spoke with some people that are already having nice ideas about engineer new MMBase wizards. And I would like to plan a meeting, or start a discussion on this list about how we think about new MMBase wizards. The foundation asked the VPRO if their want to join some organization in improving the current wizards, but we don't like this idea because the current wizards are not a good starting point and are becoming more complex, and less usable.
Instead, we are thinking about starting over again, keeping in mind the lessons learned, and create simple wizards. Simple to configure the wizards, and simple in the sense of using common technologies and don't stack to many technologies that are making the current wizards very complex.
I already know some people that would like to join a team to create new wizards, please let me know how you think about this. I really hope that we can join forces to create good wizards.
Rob Vermeulen
