Oshani Seneviratne wrote:
Ross,
Thanks a lot for all your comments!
I have revised my proposal [1] a bit based on your suggestions and it
is yet again open for review. Please note that I did not change some
of the things, which I have certain doubts about on implementing.
However, based on your advice I am willing to change the proposal once
again.
As for the questions you raised, please see my comments inline.
On 3/25/07, Ross Gardler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
The reason I ask is that there is already a DOAP plugin in the
whiteboard which is reasonably functional (and a little buggy). It works
with both the skins and the dispatcher and may serve to act as a
template for how your plugins will look. Then again, you may decide it's
not quite right.
Actually I was unaware of the DOAP plugin! So during the last couple
of days, I tried to play with it a bit and learn how it works.
Unfortunately, I was not able to get it working with a custom DOAP
file. So, any points or links for documentation regarding this would
be appreciated.
It's whiteboard, therefore no community or documentation at this stage.
Bring your specific questions to this list and I'll answer them and/or
start documentation efforts.
I like the idea of focussing on a FOAF plugin and using that to gather
community feedback. I note that you have assigned a considerable amount
of time to this, but provide very little information about what we can
expect this plugin to do. For example, is it simply going to transform a
FOAF file to XDoc or will it also include a number of indexes generated
from the available FOAF files?
I imagined the FOAF plugin to generate the HTML view of the FOAF data.
However as you suggested we could also generate indexes. What I
understood by these 'indexes', is for example, to use FOAF 'knows'
relationship and give a structural view for the data in the xdocs. Is
that what you meant? If not, please do correct me.
That is precisely what I meant. In the context of the DOAP plugin we
have indexes based on category or language, for example.
I'm particularly interested in producing JSON output to enable the FOAF
data to be viewed with Exhibit (from Simile at MIT). I've started to do
this in the DOAP plugin, but it is incomplete as other things have got
in the way. Would you be interested in adding this kind of functionality
(or finishing it in the DOAP plugin)?
Yes, I also like idea. IMO, producing JSON output off a FOAF will not
be a problem. However, I am not that clear about the relationship
between viewing it in Exhibit and using JSON output with Forrest.
Could it be that you would want the Exhibit like look-and-feel with
Forrest? Or did you mean something else?
Exhibit is, essentially, a small Javascript application that enables the
JSON content to be filtered and presented using AJAX. I've not spent any
time exploring exactly how this would work out, but we'll find a way ;-)
I suspect it will be pretty simple using the dispatcher, but fairly
complex using skins. Therefore, this would probably be a dispatcher only
feature.
With a bit of clarification on this, I am very much interested in
doing this for the FOAF as well as for the DOAP plugins.
No problem, I'm happy to work with you both as mentor and as a community
member. However, given our current drive to a 0.8 release I am unlikely
to focus on this until after the code freeze for the release (which is
all over before GSoC starts).
For my personal use case I need the plugins to be implemented using the
Dispatcher, but for Forrest 0.8 release we need the code to be
compatible with skins. Fortunately it's easy to do this (see the DOAP
plugin for an example). It is not a requirement of the project to create
Dispatcher code, in fact, I would be tempted to say that it may be
better to leave that for the community, thus reducing your learning
curve. However, if you are already confident with dispatcher or want to
learn it that would also be fine. Can you please make a note in your
application indicating what you preference will be (this is for
evaluation purposes later in the project).
Well, since I am a newcomer to Forrest, I would like to try out with
the skins first.
I would also like to learn about Dispatcher and fulfill your use case.
But at this point I am not so sure of the scope involved. So, I would
take the safe option and not promise to create the dispatcher code.
That would impact the JSON stuff, as I say neither the JSON nor the
dispatcher implementations are necessarily part of this project. It's up
to you to scope it. Clearly, if you went this route you would implement
fewer plugins. Knowing in advance what you want to achieve helps me as
a mentor when it comes to evaluation. Of course, things can change once
you get started.
One of the goals of GSoC is to introduce new people to the ASF and how
it works. It appears you do not need this introduction. Can you tell me
why you feel you should be selected again? What do you feel a second
year in GSoC will give you? (it is well worth putting this into your app
as they are rated by the ASF community as a whole, not just the Forrest
community).
Well, I really like challenges, and GSoC to me in a way, is a big
challenge. I liked doing it last time and I guess I was naturally
drawn to it this time as well. And yes, you are right.. I don't need
an introduction, but I suppose I have lots more to learn! So, I
consider this as a wonderful opportunity to learn new things, test my
skills, interact with a new community and finally deliver something
useful.
[The following comments will appear to some people, from some cultures,
including my own, to be rude, nobody likes talking about money. I hope
you understand that I do not mean to offend you, or anyone else]
You can get all that without the GSoC money.
Have you been active within Woden since GSoC 2006?
Did you consider looking through ASF projects *prior* to GSoC 2007 for
things that will fire up your interest in the semantic web and
contributing as an existing ASF committer?
How do you propose managing your commitments to GSoC and your work on
your final exams?
Hmm.. tough one :)
Thanks for your candid responses.
Ross
