I've already tried, twice, to make use of "cleaner", "prettier" URLs. The result worked poorly for a number of reasons.
Primary reason is relative URLs to static assets. Developers want to write <img src="images/header.gif"/> They don't want to have to write: <img src="/context/images/header.gif"/> Because the /context part is a deployment time, not compile/construction time, artifact. The same app can be deployed with a different context name and should work. Tapestry manages this by writing all dynamic URLs as "/context/servlet", meaning that the base URL is always "/context" and relative URLs work as expected. I've tried a number of things, including writing an explicit <base> tag. Some JavaScript didn't like it. This didn't work well with a number of users that operated applications behind a firewall; the firewall managed to mangle incoming requests. See the mailing list archive for details. The current approach works well, except that the URLs are ugly. If it's really an issue, you might be able to create servlet filters that translate between ugly Tapestry URLs and pretty URLs, but you'll almost undoubtedly break *something*. The current system, espcially with the enhancements coming in 2.4, are very complimentary to WYSIWYG editting. What you see in your editor can reliably match what end users will see in their browser (at least, for the non-dynamic portions of the page). That's a major selling point of Tapestry ... with plenty of feedback to back that statement up. -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://tapestry.sf.net > > i'm reposting this, as it never made it to the list :) > > > On Fri, 13 Dec 2002 16:46:12 -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] said: > > hi, > > > > i don't know if i count as a "user" but i do like short urls, that tell > > about the structure of a site's information. i like it when i can easily > > navigate around if i get a 404 (ok, linkrot is bad too, but it's a fact > > of life). or jump straight to something i know is there, but have not > > bookmarked it (eg. i can jump to the javadoc of java.lang.String without > > having it bookmarked, or even bringing up the page)... > > > > as a site-builder, i like nice urls that i can send out in an email > > without it breaking (less than 80 chars) on certain mail readers... or > > print on a piece of paper and a user can type it in... simple urls make > > log analysis easier too. > > > > call me weird, but other's share my opinion - here's a couple of links > > google gave me for "url usability": > > > > http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990321.html > > http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/web/library/us-cranky8.html?dwzone=web > > http://www.bohmann.dk/articles/making_urls_predictable.html > > > > i think ugly urls are against the spirit of the original concept - use > > them if you have no other option... > > http://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/URI.html > > > > or take your mailing address for example - yeah, it could be > > ?1235&1234@fooboo-123@arlington@MA@USA@ but "1 Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA > > 98052, USA" still looks better to me :) > > > > viktor > > > > > > On Fri, 13 Dec 2002 19:07:59 +0000, [EMAIL PROTECTED] said: > > > I double-dog dare you to find me a user (I mean an end user, not a client > > > who > > > think s/he knows "what user's want") ... find me a user that actually > > > cares > > > about the URLs. > > > > > > They might care if they can't bookmark a URL and come back later. They > > > might > > > care if the URL is broken. But I double-dog dare you to find me a user > > > that > > > cares about the difference between "/products/food/fruit/apple" and > > > "/app? > > > service=catalog&sp=food&sp=fruit&sp=apple". We're not > > > talking > > > telegrams here; nobody's paying by the letter (well, maybe on WAP). > > > > > > The only difference is that users of the Tapestry app will be less > > > inclined to > > > second guess the URL construction by manually hacking the URL, and > > > therefore > > > less likely to be frustrated when it doesn't work. > > > > > > Also, the fact that users are trying to second guess and circumvent your > > > application means that your app has a usuability problem ... and it isn't > > > the > > > format of your URLs. > > > > > > You Are Not Your Users. > > > > -- > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > -- > > http://fastmail.fm - The professional email service > -- > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -- > http://fastmail.fm - Accessible with your email software > or over the web > > > ------------------------------------------------------- > This sf.net email is sponsored by: > With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility > Learn to use your power at OSDN's High Performance Computing Channel > http://hpc.devchannel.org/ > _______________________________________________ > Tapestry-contrib mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/tapestry-contrib ------------------------------------------------------- This sf.net email is sponsored by: With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility Learn to use your power at OSDN's High Performance Computing Channel http://hpc.devchannel.org/ _______________________________________________ Tapestry-developer mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/tapestry-developer
