MySource Matrix Developer

MySource Matrix Developer Newsletter Issue 48
Friday 4th November 2005

covers versions 3.4.7 stable, 3.6.1 stable, 3.7.0 development

News

New Release on Monday

Monday is release day for MySource Matrix. Version 3.6.2 stable will be released publicly and 3.4.8 will be released if there are bug fixes available. Version 3.4.8 is not scheduled for release at this time.

Using The New Asset Tag Lines

To standardise the way references to assets are shown to users, a new asset tag line has been developed. The tag line currently shows the name and ID of the asset, an icon of the asset type and a colour box identifying the asset's status. In the future it is expected the tag line will provide such functionality as jumping to any edit screen of the asset, finding the asset in the asset map and previewing the asset.

The tag line should be used instead of printing a combination of name and asset ID (including tables that contain both ID and name columns), or the more recent 'asset_format' localised string.

To print an asset using the tag line, use the new get_asset_tag_line() function. The function is in general.inc and will be always be available. The function only returns the HTML code required to paint the tag line. This means you have to echo it separately, but also means you can include it in the middle of a printed string, or as a parameter to a translation.

In its most basic form, the function is called like this: echo get_asset_tag_line($assetid);

The second parameter is optional, and specifies a screen that the name of the asset should be linked to. If you want a tag line with a link to the Details screen for instance, you can call it this way: echo get_asset_tag_line($assetid, 'details');

In addition, two other functions have been provided to display the icons used in the tag line. The get_asset_type_icon() function builds an icon for the type specified in the parameter. The get_asset_status_icon() function builds an asset status box for the specified status code. These functions should be used where possible for consistency and to provide further visual confirmation. They should not completely replace a textual representation of an asset type or status.

Global Defines

A new system for defining global values has been developed to allow developers to pragmatically set and retrieve values that would normally be stored using standard global variables. Developers should now use the methods provided by the MySource object to set and retrieve values stored within the MySource object as global defines. Essentially, the global define system provides interfaces for setting and retrieving values from a global array.

New Features

New Multiple Page Asset

Added to: 3.7.0 development

A new type of page is now available within MySource Matrix to make multi-page articles easier to develop. The new Multiple Page asset manages multiple pages of content and provides keywords to navigate between the pages. The individual pages have their own URLs, so links can be provided to these pages. Content can be shared between the individual pages, or between other pieces of content within the MySource Matrix system.

RSS Feeds

Added to: 3.7.0 development

A new asset has being developed to make the creation of RSS feeds easier. You can currently create RSS feeds by customising the type formats of the listing engine assets, but this new asset allows for feeds to be generated without the need for formatting. It also takes care of sending the correct headers and suppressing the site design. The RSS feed asset currently supports RSS 1.0 (RDF), RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0.

To create the feed, you will need either an asset listing or a whats new page configured so the RSS feed can be generated from that list of assets.

Online Poll Improved

Added to: 3.7.0 development

The online poll has been rewritten to allow for complete customisation. Bodycopies are now available to define the voting, results and previous question screens. A range of new keywords are also available to help you customise the interface. Designs and paint layouts can be applied to the poll and an option for multiple selections and votes has been added.

Note that the rewrite will break backwards compatibility for existing online polls. All existing polls will need to be recreated.

A Better Thesaurus

Added to: 3.7.0 development

The thesaurus asset has received a major overhaul and rewrite. You are now able to browse your thesaurus using the asset map. You are also be able to add, delete and modify the terms and relationships using the MySource Matrix interface rather than uploading a new XML file. A thesaurus can also be exported now.

The new thesaurus is not backwards compatible with the old thesaurus, so you will need to run an upgrade script to convert any existing thesauri to the new format and then export them to XML. This will replace your existing master file.

Datetime Field Print Format

Added to: 3.7.0 development

A new print format field has been added to the custom form datetime question. This format can be used to define how the date will appear in the form summary and the exported submission logs. The print format is entered in PHP date() format and defaults to Y-m-d H:i:s.

Configurable Link Types In Asset Listing

Added to: 3.7.0 development

Asset listings and Whats new pages can now look down any type of link when listing direct children of the root node. Previously, only TYPE_1 and TYPE_2 links were listed, but this is now a configurable option. The link types can be set for the entire listing and also for each parent grouping.

Group Listings By Standard Asset Fields

Added to: 3.7.0 development

Listing assets can now group their lists by the value of a standard asset field. The standard fields are asset ID, type code, version, name, short name, status (a text description) and the date fields (created, updated etc).

Limit Number Of Assets Listed In Group

Added to: 3.7.0 development

Listing assets can now group their lists by the value of a standard asset field. The standard fields are asset ID, type code, version, name, short name, status (a text description) and the date fields (created, updated etc).

Images Used For Thumbnails

Added to: 3.7.0 development

When applying a thumbnail to an asset, only assets of type "thumbnail" could be used. Thumbnail assets are smaller versions of the main "image" asset used within MySource Matrix. This has now been changed to allow any image asset to be used as a thumbnail for an asset.

Planned Development

Asset Find Me

To be added to : 3.7.0 development
Estimated start date: already in development
Estimated end date : 11th November 2005

The standard tag line for assets will soon have an icon to show a list of that asset's lineages within the system. Selecting a lineage will expand the asset map to the asset and highlight the lineage. Similiar functionality will be available on all edit screens for an asset and on the linking screen for all assets.

Linking Shadow Assets And Normal Assets

To be added to : 3.7.0 development
Estimated start date: already in development
Estimated end date : 11th November 2005

Numeric Sorting In Listings

To be added to : 3.7.0 development
Estimated start date: 14th November 2005
Estimated end date : 25th November 2005

Bulk Email Management

To be added to : 3.7.0 development
Estimated start date: already in development
Estimated end date : 1st December 2005

Upgrading

3.7.0 Development

Run step_02.php: yes
Run step_03.php: yes
Run compile_locale.php: yes

Additional queries: No additional queries are required for upgrades.

Additional comments: If you have the lexicon package installed and need to upgrade existing thesauri, perform the upgrade in the following order (from the MySource Matrix root directory): php install/step_02.php . php install/step_03.php . php install/compile_locale.php . php packages/lexicon/scripts/upgrade_thesaurus_db.php .

New Bugs Added To Bug Tracker

Notes:

Bug #990 (Asset metadata keyword is missing from the type formats dropdown) was submitted by davent but was marked as not being a bug because it is expected behaviour.

New Feature Requests Added To Bug Tracker

Bugs Fixed In The Bug Tracker

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