MySource Matrix Developer

MySource Matrix Developer Newsletter Issue 43
Friday 30th September 2005

covers versions 3.4.6 stable, 3.6.0 stable, 3.7.0 development

News

Stable Release Tuesday x2

With Monday being a public holiday, 3.6.1 stable and 3.4.7 stable will be released on Tuesday next week.

Clarified Workflow Permissions

When workflow is running, write access is granted and revoked based on who can currently approve or reject the content of the asset. The rules in place to grant and revoke access have been a bit hazy for a while. They have now been re-checked and changed in 3.7.0 development to conform to the following rules:

- users with read access will have read access if the asset is being approved from safe edit
- users with write access will always have read access during workflow
- users with permission to approve or reject changes will have write access
- user with admin access will have admin access during the workflow

Modified Status Change Rules

Previously when changing the status of a dependent asset, a check was made so that if the new status is lower than that of all its parents the change will not be made. Now in 3.7.0 development, this check only occurs if the status of the dependent asset is being lowered. This allows dependent assets to "catch up" in status to their parents

For example, if a new DIV is added to a page where workflow is applied, it would start at Under Construction and could not be changed to Live through workflow. Now it can be sent through workflow separately and catch up to the page's status.

New Features

Asset Listing Lists Shadow Assets

Added to: 3.7.0 development

The asset listing now has the ability to list shadow assets, but there are some restrictions. Shadow assets can only be listed in an asset listing (not whats new or search pages) and they will only work with standard grouping (eg. 10 per page). A-Z listings will not work. Grouping and sorting will also not work.

Data Sources

Added to: 3.7.0 development

Data Source assets are used to pull information from external sources into MySource Matrix. The data is presented in the asset map as shadow assets and can be listed using the Asset Listing.

The first data source that has been implemented is the DB data source. This data source allows you to connect to a local or an external database and execute a query. The results of the query will be displayed as shadow assets in the asset map. The DB data source asset also contains a GUI interface to build simple queries.

Global Keywords

Added to: 3.7.0 development

Global keywords to print attributes of the currently logged in user are now available in any asset that has a design applied to it. Keywords are currently in the format: globals_user_*

Where '*' is any attribute or metadata field available to the user asset, eg. 'globals_user_name' or 'globals_user_assetid'.

Just place these keywords into the contents of any bodycopy for instant content personalisation.

Planned Development

Data Source Graphing

To be added to : 3.7.0 development
Estimated start date: already in development
Estimated end date : 14th October 2005

A new asset is being developed to graph the records created by a data source asset. This asset will use the PEAR:Graph package, a very powerful graphing tool. Initially, you will be able to use the graph asset to graph the result of queries on your local MySource Matrix database or any external database through the DB data source.

RSS Data Source

To be added to : 3.7.0 development
Estimated start date: 17th October 2005
Estimated end date : 1st November 2005

A new data source will be developed to read RSS feeds and display the entries from the feed as shadow assets in the asset map. When used with the asset listing, you will be able to redisplay RSS feeds from other sites inside your MySource Matrix system.

A Better Thesaurus

To be added to : 3.7.0 development
Estimated start date: already in development
Estimated end date : 14th October 2005

The thesaurus asset is getting a major overhaul. When completed, you will be able to browse your thesaurus using the asset map. You will also be able to add, delete and modify the terms and relationships using the MySource Matrix interface rather than uploading a new XML file.

The thesaurus metadata field will also be changed to use the asset map for selecting terms.

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: no
Run step_03.php: no
Run compile_locale.php: yes

Additional queries: No additional queries are required for upgrades.

Additional comments: No additional upgrade steps are required.

New Bugs Added To Bug Tracker

Notes:

Bug #926 (Dragging multiple assets doesn't work with Java 1.4.2) was submitted by Tom Barrett on the 16th of September but was marked as Can Not Replicate after other developers and Tom could not replicate the bug again.

Bug #931 (HTML altered to something incorrect) was submitted by MargieW on the 19th of September but was marked as no being a bug after it was found that Internet Explorer was changing the HTML and MySource Matrix was storing it correctly. This is not something we can fix.

Bug #933 (Rules fire when form question is optional) was submitted by Avi on the 20th of September but was marked as Can Not Replicate after the bug could not be reproduced by a developer.

New Feature Requests Added To Bug Tracker

No new feature requests were added the the MySource Matrix bug tracker.

Bugs Fixed In The Bug Tracker

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