[NBP web-reskin] NBP Reskin Development Questions

[Didomenico, Steven]

Hi Ethan,

Thanks for the answers.

You answered question 3 for me in your answer to question 2.

Regards,

Steve 

-----Original Message-----
From: web-reskin-bounces at nbp.org [mailto:web-reskin-bounces at nbp.org] On
Behalf Of Ethan Rowe
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 1:50 AM
To: Discussions regarding the 2009 UI reskin of nbp.org
Subject: Re: [NBP web-reskin] NBP Reskin Development Questions

Didomenico, Steven wrote:
> Hi Ethan and Edie,
> 
> These questions might sound silly, but here goes....
> 
> (1) Are we going to be keeping the current directory structure? From
> what I have seen and tested it looks like directories are tied to the
> Apache and Interchange configuration settings. Is this true?
> 
> catalogs\nbp\pages		.html files

Specifically: ITL files, which Interchange interpolates on-demand and
returns to the client, typically as HTML.

Things with the URL path of /ic/nbp/<blah> will typically come from
catalogs/nbp/pages/<blah>.  There are some exceptions, which are
probably most easily dealt with on a case-by-case basis.  One thing to
look out for, though, is "process".  If you see something with the URL
path portion of /ic/nbp/process, don't go looking in the pages directory
for it; it's an internal Interchange routine that provides functionality
for generic form processing, validation, etc.

> 
> htdocs\nbp			.css files

More specifically, static resources.  Images, static HTML (if any), and
yes, CSS.

htdocs/ is the Apache document root.  Any URL path portions that do
*not* start with /ic/nbp will be served from within htdocs/.  While
/ic/nbp/* by contrast gets handled by Interchange.

> catalogs\nbp\templates\regions	templates

Yep.

> (2) Also, how does [var CUSTOM_CSS] work?  I can not find this
template,
> so maybe it is not a template, but I do see that it renders the links
> for the style sheets in htdocs\nbp like this:
> 
>        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
href="/nbp/main_font.css">
> 
>        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
> ref="/nbp/main_color_default.css">
> 
>        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
> href="/nbp/main_size_default.css">  

All of these "templates" are in truth just Interchange "variables", as
mentioned in an earlier email.  So it is in fact a template in the sense
of providing a templating (reusable content) function, though it is not
defined in the same manner as the templates/regions/ ones you've been
looking at.

It's definition is in the catalog configuration file, for historical
reasons I do not recall.  It's not a problem to change that if it needs
to be changed.  The definition in catalogs/nbp/catalog.cfg:
Variable CUSTOM_CSS <<EOV
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/nbp/main_font.css">
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/nbp/main_color_[value
style_color].css">
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/nbp/main_size_[value
style_size].css">
EOV

See how the href attribute values include:
* [value style_color]
* [value style_size]

When you choose a custom size/colorscheme, values are set in your user
session.  Those values are substituted in place of [value ...], so they
effectively change the color and size stylesheets you get.

Both style_color and style_size have default values of (surprise!)
"default".

> (3) Are there any Apache and Interchange configuration settings that
> will limit us to how to create the directory structure for the pages
> that will not be in catalogs\nbp\pages?

Can you give an example?  Since Interchange is providing the templating
tools, session management, etc., I'm wondering what you're envisioning
as residing outside of the Interchange catalog's pages directory tree.

> (4) How about the graphics? It looks like these are not limited to
> Apache or Interchange configuration settings and can go anywhere. By
> looking at index.html I see they are accessed in various directories
> like:
> 
> nbp/images/images/
> home/
> support/

They are static resources and as such can be served from anywhere under
htdocs/.  However, Interchange is configured to expect images to reside
under htdocs/nbp/images/.  If you keep images within that directory (or
subdirectories thereof, naturally), you can use IC's [image] ITL tag to
generate your <image ../> HTML tags, and it will fill out the dimensions
and whatnot for you.  So it's best to put images there, because it
maximizes ease of use with the app server.

I hope this adequately clarifies things.  I'm going to be out of the
office for a few work days, returning on Tuesday.  I'll still check
email, but I may be slow to respond in the interrim.

Thanks.
- Ethan
-- 
Ethan Rowe
End Point Corporation
ethan at endpoint.com
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