On Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 8:27 PM, Vincent Massol <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> On Apr 28, 2013, at 6:43 PM, Thomas Mortagne <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>> On Fri, Apr 26, 2013 at 10:11 AM, Vincent Massol <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> Hi devs,
>>>
>>> I've started implementing XRENDERING-290 (I've spent already 1 day on it
>>> and have most of it done) but as I progressed I've realized we need to
>>> decide on something.
>>>
>>> It's an interesting problem! :)
>>>
>>> So the issues asks for support a "user" prefix in links to link to user
>>> profiles such as in: [[label>>user:evalica]]
>>>
>>> Explanation of Problem
>>> ==================
>>>
>>> I started with implementing a new Reference Type Parser to add support for
>>> the "user" prefix. I soon realized that we cannot implement this in XWiki
>>> Syntax 2.1 since it means if a user currently has [[label>>user:evalica]]
>>> it means pointing to the "user" wiki and to the page named "evalica".
>>
>> No this is not what this reference mean, this reference mean current
>> wiki, current space and page names "user:evalica".
>
> Indeed, good remark :)
>
> Now I don't think it changes the rest of the email. For example you could
> imagine a user named "vincent.massol" and the reference would be:
> "user:vincent.massol"… :)
Right now a user with a dot would not work well but nothing prevent
having a document named "user:evalica" so yes it does not change the
issue.
>
> Thanks
> -Vincent
>
>>> Thus we need to add this in a new syntax only (i.e. XWiki Syntax 2.2).
>>>
>>> Now the problem is that currently Reference Type Parsers are components and
>>> implementing a new component means it's going to be available to XWiki
>>> Syntax 2.1. So I spent a substantial amount of time to allow syntaxes to
>>> specifically specify the list of prefixes that they support. This is done,
>>> I just need to push it.
>>>
>>> Now this all looked good till I started implementing the
>>> UserXHTMLLinkTypeRenderer… I realized that I would need to be able to
>>> transform a String (supposed to represent a username) into a User reference
>>> and even though we don't have an API for this ATM this would normally mean
>>> to depend on the Platform User module… which is a big no go since Rendering
>>> cannot depend on Platform.
>>>
>>> Side Note:I also realized that XRENDERING-290 could also be extended to
>>> support displaying the user's avatar with image:user:evalica. This is
>>> currently done with the {{useravatar}} macro (which is also wrongly located
>>> in Rendering and should be in platform for the reason explained!!).
>>>
>>> So I thought I could just have the UserResourceReferenceTypeParser and
>>> UserXHTMLLinkTypeRenderer classes implemented in the Platform User module
>>> but that still meant that the XWiki Syntax 2.2 needs to reserve the "user"
>>> prefix.
>>>
>>> Then I realized that any time we will want to add support for a new prefix
>>> we would need to introduce a new Syntax version which is a huge PITA and a
>>> pity.
>>>
>>> I thought about several solutions.
>>>
>>> Solution 1
>>> ========
>>>
>>> * Consider that each syntax can reserve prefix type namespaces and this
>>> just means that if the user wants to write a link to a document a wiki
>>> named after one of these prefixes then he needs to use the full format:
>>> [[label>>doc:<wikiname>:….]]
>>> * Thus XWiki Syntax 2.2 would just add the "user" prefix to the reserved
>>> list of prefix type namespaces.
>>>
>>> PRO:
>>> * I have this code ready to be pushed on my computer
>>> * Doesn't change the current XWiki Syntax notation
>>>
>>> CONS:
>>> * Requires a new syntax whenever a new type parser is added (after a syntax
>>> has been released as final)
>>> * Creates a relationship between the syntax and implementations (the User
>>> module will provide an impl. for supporting the reserved "user" namespace).
>>>
>>> Solution 2
>>> ========
>>>
>>> * Don't implement support for linking to users using resource types and add
>>> a {{userlink}} macro and move both macros in platform.
>>>
>>> PRO:
>>> * Simple, no need for a new XWiki Syntax
>>>
>>> CONS:
>>> * Not integrated in the syntax
>>> * Not very logical since as a user you would want to write:
>>> [[label>>user:evalica]]
>>>
>>> Solution 3
>>> ========
>>>
>>> Force XWiki Syntax 2.2 to *ALWAYS* use the full form when creating a link,
>>> i.e. all links to doc would need to be written: [[label>>doc:reference]]
>>>
>>> PRO:
>>> * Solves all future needs for new reference types and makes the syntax
>>> extensible for this.
>>>
>>> CONS:
>>> * Harder to write links to documents and users will need to get used to it
>>>
>>> Solution 4
>>> ========
>>>
>>> Invent a new syntax when you wish to write links using a type prefix and
>>> keep the current link syntax for references to documents:
>>> * Ref to a doc: [[label>>docref]] (e.g. [[label>>xwiki:Main.WebHome]])
>>> * Ref to anything but using the type prefix: [[label>>>prefix:reference]]
>>> (e.g. [[label>>>doc:doc:Main.WebHome]]: link to a wiki named "doc")
>>>
>>> PRO:
>>> * Still easy to make refs to documents
>>> * Makes the syntax extensible by allowing new types to be added
>>>
>>> CONS:
>>> * Changes the syntaxes since it means introducing a new link notation
>>> [[label>>>ref]]. Also means that references to docs cannot start with ">"
>>> anymore (but that's not a real issue IMO)
>>> * A bit more complex to implement obviously since it needs a change to the
>>> javacc parser
>>>
>>> Conclusion
>>> ==========
>>>
>>> My POV:
>>> * The more correct solution is solution 3 but it makes harder to write
>>> links to documents so I believe that's going to be a problem since it's the
>>> main use case.
>>> * Solution 1 is already implemented on my computer and I just need to make
>>> a push to have it so the simplest for me. I think it could be acceptable
>>> since we don't introduce new type parsers all the time. But it's not
>>> perfect obviously.
>>> * Solution 4 is the most tempting for me even though it's more work. I've
>>> suggested ">>>" but we could imagine a different notation. Other ideas
>>> include using [[label>>doc:doc:Main.WebHome||typed="true"]] (ie setting a
>>> "type" param to mention that it's referring to a typed reference). It has
>>> the advantage of not requiring changes to the javacc parser but it has more
>>> chars to type for the user and is thus more complex for the user.
>>>
>>> Do you have an opinion? WDYT? Should I push what I have for now and make
>>> changes later?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>> -Vincent
>
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--
Thomas Mortagne
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