I've been trying to get a clear picture of what the options and positions are about menu creation for J2.
I'm quite lost after reviewing several sources: - 1) current J1 impl - 2) design-docs/src/decorations/J2 layout and decorator handling.pdf, - 3) http://nagoya.apache.org/eyebrowse/ReadMsg?listId=22&msgNo=14232 ([J2} Proposal for Layout, pages & Decorator handling in J2) - 4) http://nagoya.apache.org/jira/browse/JS2-69 (Finalizing Portal Navigation using the Profiler)
A few design issues needs to be addressed I think to be able to decide on the impl. of menus.
- Nested pages Should these be allowed? Part of that question is what a Page is. The pdf (see 2) says its to be considered a Fragment. If this is meant as a "fragment" which can be included, alright. But, I don't see how it also can be a "Fragment" (note the case) or why it should be made one.
Fragments already can contain other Fragments though. This is more or less in analogy to nested portlets in J1 I belief.
Maybe one reason why one would want to nest pages is to be able to define different decoration on a nested page. It has been suggested by Scott (see 4) to allow for the most flexible way possible this should be possible (even up/down overrides if needed).
To me, this seems to lead to very complex psml though. I would certainly like to see a more simple model implemented first before going that road.
Probably the same result could be created without page nesting using fragment references. These could reference other pages (pulling in their decorator definitions with them) or fragments within other pages. As far as I can tell, then there would be no need to define pages within pages.
- Folder or menu elements The Folder concept containing other folders and/or pages could be used to generate menus as proposed by Scott (see 4). Something I'm missing right now is a clear understanding how/where folders are defined. I found the om impl but no usage yet so its something I can't relate to enough yet to really decide if I'm going to like it or not.
One important issue I would have with it though is that it wouldn't allow me to render page fragments/portlets in a menu, not external links.
Likewise, I don't see how a TabbedPane could be rendered for the current page using the folder
concept.
The other proposal from David Taylor was defining new psml menu and menu-item elements which could reference pages, (external) fragments and external links (see 3).
I understand Scott didn't like adding additional data structures into the mix (see 4), but I for one would prefer this
above the folder/page -> menu concept. AFAIK its way more flexible and probably much easier to understand for a user.
And, it isn't that different from the J1 implementation. Recreating the current J1 features for J2 will be relatively easier to do I think.
Note: I know the folder concept is not *just* about menus. I'm not opposed to folders in anyway. I just think its to restricted for menu rendering.
I'd like some comments and if already possible a vote which way we should go about menu rendering. I know I'll something soon ;-)
Regards,
Ate
--------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
