b. OpenACS Glossary

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  1. What is the OpenACS Glossary?
  2. aD
  3. ad_form
  4. ACS
  5. ACS package manager
  6. AMS
  7. API
  8. APM
  9. application
  10. application group
  11. Content item
  12. content repository
  13. CR
  14. ctk
  15. Database API
  16. dotLRN
  17. etp
  18. globalization
  19. group
  20. group type
  21. i18n
  22. internationalization
  23. list builder
  24. LMS
  25. L10n
  26. locale
  27. localization
  28. objects
  29. OpenACS Kernel
  30. OpenACS Core
  31. main-site
  32. package
  33. package-key
  34. parameters
  35. party, parties
  36. person
  37. portlet
  38. pretty name
  39. request processor
  40. SCORM
  41. service
  42. site-map
  43. site-wide
  44. Subsite aware
  45. templating system
  46. user
  47. WebDAV
  48. WSRP

  1. Q: What is the OpenACS Glossary?

    A:

    The OpenACS Glossary contains definitions to OpenACS terms and jargon.

    You can contribute by:

    • suggesting terms you would like to see defined
    • submitting definitions of terms (even if there is already a definition there)
    • volunteering to help administer the faqs

    And you may ask yourself, how do I work this?

    I have set up an email Send terms, definitions, suggestions.

    One way is to post your definition in the Q&A Forum and send me an email about it. By doing that you will make your definition searchable by all immediately.

    Thank you,

    Jerry Asher and Jade Rubick

  2. Q: aD

    A: Arsdigita - the company that built ACS

  3. Q: ad_form

    A: a high-level, declarative syntax for the generation and handling of HTML forms (see: http://openacs.org/api-doc/proc-view?proc=ad_form)

  4. Q: ACS

    A: Arsdigita Community System; the precursor to OpenACS

  5. Q: ACS package manager

    A: (abbrev:APM) Accessible to admins of OpenACS website, the APM allows you to install new packages, upgrade to new versions of packages, and manipulate the packages you have installed on your system (see: http://openacs.org/doc/packages.html#packages-apm)

  6. Q: AMS

    A: Attribute Management System

  7. Q: API

    A: Application Program Interface. Documentation for the various OpenACS API's at each OpenACS site's url: /api-doc. For openacs.org, the url is: http://openacs.org/api-doc

  8. Q: APM

    A: see: ACS Package Manager

  9. Q: application

    A: a package with a user interface (see http://openacs/doc/tutorial-newpackage.html)

  10. Q: application group

    A: a group consisting of users and parties of an application. They include a package_id field which allows them to be easily "scoped" to a specific "application"/subsite (see related procedures: http://openacs.org/api-doc/procs-file-view?path=packages/acs-subsite/tcl/application-group-procs.tcl&public_p=0)

  11. Q: Content item

    A: Content items are the fundamental building blocks of the content repository. Each item represents a distinct text or binary content object that is publishable to the web, such as an article, report, message or photograph. An item my also include any number of attributes with more structured data, such as title, source, byline and publication date. See http://openacs.org/doc/acs-content-repository/requirements.html

  12. Q: content repository

    A: a standardized way of handling content with OpenACS (see: http://openacs.org/doc/acs-content-repository/)

  13. Q: CR

    A: Content Repository

  14. Q: ctk

    A: Cyberactivism Tool Kit

  15. Q: Database API

    A: (DB API) The tcl commands used to access the database, (see http://openacs.org/doc/db-api.html )

  16. Q: dotLRN

    A: (variations: .lrn, dotlrn) An open source e-learning system built with OpenACS. (see http://dotlrn.org)

  17. Q: etp

    A: Edit This Page; name of a package

  18. Q: globalization

    A: A product development approach which ensures that software products are usable in the worldwide markets through a combination of internationalization and localization. (see http://openacs.org/doc/i18n-requirements.html)

  19. Q: group

    A: (permissions) a collection of zero or more parties. (see http://openacs.org/doc/groups-requirements.html)

  20. Q: group type

    A: "group" user groups by "type" as a way to manage user groups (see http://openacs.org/doc/acs-subsite/group-admin-pages-requirements.html and http://openacs.org/api-doc/procs-file-view?path=packages/acs_subsite/tcl/group-type-procs.tcl and a little here http://openacs.org/forums/message-view?message_id=116231)

  21. Q: i18n

    A: acronym for "internationalization" and localization features

  22. Q: internationalization

    A: The provision within a computer program of the capability of making itself adaptable to the requirements of different native languages, local customs and coded character sets. (see http://openacs.org/doc/i18n-requirements.html)

  23. Q: list builder

    A: a standard way to use the templating system to build and display lists where users can change display settings. (see https://www.rubick.com/openacs/list-builder and http://www.cognovis.de/entwickler/tips/listbuilder/)

  24. Q: LMS

    A: Learning Mangement System; A dotLRN topic.

  25. Q: L10n

    A: abbreviation for "localization"

  26. Q: locale

    A: The subset of a user's environment that depends on language and cultural conventions. (see http://openacs.org/doc/i18n-requirements.html)

  27. Q: localization

    A: The process of establishing information within a computer system specific to the operation of particular native languages, local customs and coded character sets. (see http://openacs.org/doc/i18n-requirements.html)

  28. Q: objects

    A: A conceptual entity (see Wikipedia.org's definition for objects in computer science: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_(computer_science)). Object identity is a central part of in the OpenACS system (see http://openacs.org/doc/object-system-design.html#objects-design-object-ident, (How to use OpenACS objects: http://openacs.org/doc/objects.html)

  29. Q: OpenACS Kernel

    A: Handles system-wide necessities such as metadata, security, users and groups, subsites, and package management and deployment. (see http://openacs.org/doc/kernel-overview.html)

  30. Q: OpenACS Core

    A: Consists of packages that are not part of the kernel, but ship with the kernel. Core packages are most frequently needed by users, such as templating, forums, and user registration/management. (see http://openacs.org/doc/kernel-overview.html)

  31. Q: main-site

    A: The common name of the root (first) subsite in the site-map

  32. Q: package

    A: a discrete collection of web pages, tcl code, and database tables and procedures. A package with user interface is called an application; a package which provides functions to other packages and has no direct interface, a service. A package can be installed, upgraded, and removed. It communicates with other packages through an API (see: http://openacs.org/doc/tutorial-newpackage.html, more at: http://openacs.org/doc/packages.html)

  33. Q: package-key

    A: This is a short text string that should uniquely name your package to distinguish it from all the others. It is used as a database key to keep track of the package and as the name of the directory in the file system where all the files related to your package will live. Example package keys in the current system include: forums, acs-kernel and so on. (see http://openacs.org/doc/packages.html)

  34. Q: parameters

    A: 1. OpenACS parameters set values used to configure the site. Some parameters are set from the Site-Wide Admin (/acs-admin) and others from the site-map. 2. In development context, tcl procedures and sql functions take parameters for input values.

  35. Q: party, parties

    A: (permissions) an entity used to represent either a group or a person. (see http://openacs.org/doc/groups-requirements.html)

  36. Q: person

    A: (permissions) human being, must have an an associated name. Does not have to be registered in the system. (see http://openacs.org/doc/groups-requirements.html)

  37. Q: portlet

    A: "Producer hosted component that generates content design for aggregating and processes interactions generated from that content." (from WSRP 1.0 standards Glossary at http://oasis-open.org )

  38. Q: pretty name

    A: a unique, human-readable string, usually derived from title, which makes an even better 'pretty url' than a numeric id. Many Openacs objects use a pretty-name. (see http://openacs.org/doc/tutorial-vuh.html)

  39. Q: request processor

    A: Request Processor is a global filter and set of Tcl procs that respond to every incoming URL request that reaches an OpenACS server (see: http://openacs.org/doc/request-processor.html)

  40. Q: SCORM

    A: Sharable Content Object Reference Model; a dotLRN topic. (see: http://www.adlnet.org/scorm/)

  41. Q: service

    A: a package which provides functions to other packages and has no direct user interface (see http://openacs/doc/tutorial-newpackage.html)

  42. Q: site-map

    A: Manages mounting of OpenACS subsites and packages (http://openacs.org/doc/configuring-mounting-packages.html) and configuring parameters and permissions (developer tutorial info: http://openacs.org/doc/packages.html#packages-subsites)

  43. Q: site-wide

    A: (scope) the entire website

  44. Q: Subsite aware

    A: See: http://openacs.org/forums/message-view?message_id=105740 -JR

  45. Q: templating system

    A: Separates application logic from display logic for a url. Logic related to manipulating the database and other application state data are in one place, and all the logic related to displaying the state of the application in another place (see: http://openacs.org/doc/templates.html)

  46. Q: user

    A: (permissions) a person who has registered with an OpenACS site (see http://openacs.org/doc/groups-requirements.html).

  47. Q: WebDAV

    A: "Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning"; a set of extensions to HTTP protocol for editing and managing files on remote web servers. (see http://webDAV.org)

  48. Q: WSRP

    A: Web Services for Remote Portlets. "Presentation oriented, interactive web services that can be aggregated by consuming applications." (from WSRP specification Glossary http://oasis-open.org )

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