Minutes from SSS Mtg 2008-May-20
Attendees: M.Claussen, D.Harland, B.Hesman, G.v.Moorsel, F.Owen,
J.Rochford, M.Rupen, L.Sjouwerman, B.Truitt
We had a quick (1/2 hr) meeting during which we summarized the JIRA issues
that had significant work done on them last week (see list at bottom of this
page).
Some other topics we discussed:
1. The term "Group" is probably not the best one we could have chosen.
Would "Sublist" or "Category" or something else be better?
It is also clear that what exactly a user is doing when he or she
manipulates items within a group is not self evident. At some
future date we could replace groups by supporting "tags" on the
catalog items.
In the near term this is a documentation problem.
2. The columns in the summary views in the RCT should be sortable.
[DMH will create a JIRA issue.]
3. The RCT export / import process translates the catalog
into / back from XML. Because we do not want users to feel free
to edit these files, we zip them. Remember: the two main reasons
to export a catalog are a) to keep a personal backup and b) to
share your catalog with a friend. It was pointed out that some
email systems reject zip files. We will keep things as-is for
now, but should think about a different obfuscation technique
for the future.
[DMH will create a JIRA issue.]
4. The RCT export process produces a valid zipped XML file, but the
import process is a little flaky.
[The 3 programmers teamed up and fixed this after the meeting.
Export / import may be tested beginning tomorrow, after Brian
updates webtest, which should be done prior to 08:00.]
5. Users may start testing the Source Catalog Tool (SCT), but need
to be aware that the placing of things in the detailed tabs
was done arbitrarily and will be reorganized in the coming
week or two.
Special Note:
During development we're making a lot of rapid changes that often
render prior versions of the tools obsolete. It is a feature of
most web browsers, though, to cache pages, and this sometimes causes
the tools to behave bizarrely. It is a good idea to clear your cache
before testing each of our updates, which are currently occurring once
a week. You really don't even have to clear your whole cache (which
can be done by navigating the browsers' menus, starting usually with
Edit / Preferences or Tools / Clear Private Data) -- you can just force
your browser to reload the application from webtest, instead of from
your cache, by doing one of the following (at least in Firefox):
* Holding down the control and shift keys while pressing "r"
* Pressing the reload button with the mouse while holding down a shift key
* Holding down the control key while pressing the F5 key (didn't work for me!)
(You first go to the tool and then execute one of the above.)
I suggest that we put a section in the users' manual that talks about
what to do if the applications look screwy or are otherwise misbehaving.
Work related to the following JIRA issues is included in the software that was placed on webtest today, Tuesday May 20, 2008.
(
As a reminder, the HTTP address for the RCT is
http://webtest.aoc.nrao.edu/rct/.
You can navigate to this from the main SSS Documentation page,
http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/asg-internal/software/sss/sssDocMain.shtml.
)