[OpenAjaxIDE] <require> type attribute values ...

Fri Sep 12 13:52:43 PDT 2008

Hi.

Much of what we are doing in widget.xml is about defining 
the "interface" contract between the widget and its environment (though
there are exceptions). Your question is valid; we should specify whether

<requires> is part of that contract or whether it is some kind of
manifest 
of a widget's internal implementation assets.

I see <requires> as defining a portion of the contract between. 
This contract is not concerned with the contents of the widget; 
it is a declaration that specifies what the environment must provide 
in order for the widget to function when embedded in that environment.

As such, <requires> does not list every one of the widget's internal 
HTML, JavaScript, XML or image files (particularly as some of these may 
be dynamically generated at run-time or retrieved from servers 
based on dynamic URLs). Rather, <requires> only lists the files that 
the external canvas/environment must provide so that the widget will
work properly. 

So why do we include images in <requires>? As I understand it, 
a widget's <require> should ONLY list images that are defined externally
to 
the widget. For example, suppose that a family of widgets is
"skinnable."
All widgets in the family depend on an external "skin" asset associated 
with the context in which the widgets are embedded (the site, page, IDE,
or
whatever. The "skin" must provide an image (user.png) that represents a 
user. The image is not baked into any of the widgets; rather, all of the

widgets need the environment / canvas to provide the image. Most of the 
time the "skin" is probably defined as a folder, but sometimes we may
want 
to be more specific. 

In general, I don't see flash movies and the like being required for
this purpose.
Maybe sounds... .  

Does everyone else see <requires> as a contract specification? 

Best Regards,
Howard

________________________________

	From: ide-bounces at openajax.org [mailto:ide-bounces at openajax.org]
On Behalf Of Kin Blas
	Sent: Friday, September 12, 2008 12:20 PM
	To: ide at openajax.org
	Subject: Re: [OpenAjaxIDE] <require> type attribute values ...

	We can't assume that it will be loaded by a JS dependency or a
library.

	My understanding of <require> is that it does a couple of
things:

	-          It lists the assets that the widget depends on.

	-          It gives a hint to the IDE what references need to be
included in the <head> of the document.

	Some IDEs such as Dreamweaver depend on the assets list to
figure out what files and directories need to be copied to a user's
site. Now these media files could be in a directory that is referenced
by a <require> file, but I don't think we should be assuming that
*every* widgets assets will be organized that way.

	--== Kin ==--

________________________________

	From: Howard Weingram [mailto:weingram at tibco.com] 
	Sent: Friday, September 12, 2008 11:48 AM
	To: Kin Blas; ide at openajax.org
	Subject: RE: [OpenAjaxIDE] <require> type attribute values ...

	The <require> deals with incorporating the portlet's

	dependencies into the canvas outside of the widget's

	own "space". Wouldn't the multimedia files that you

	are talking about exist as part of the widget itself, or

	else be loaded by a JavaScript dependency or a library?

	Best Regards,

	Howard

________________________________

		From: ide-bounces at openajax.org
[mailto:ide-bounces at openajax.org] On Behalf Of Kin Blas
		Sent: Friday, September 12, 2008 11:20 AM
		To: ide at openajax.org
		Subject: [OpenAjaxIDE] <require> type attribute values
...

		The spec currently enumerates these values for the @type
attribute of the <require> tag:

		library | javascript | image | css | folder

		I think we need to either add some other types, or
introduce the notion of an "other" value to accommodate other popular
file formats such as .mov, .avi, mp3, .swf, .flv, etc?

		Thoughts?

		--== Kin ==--

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