Forum .LRN Q&A: Re: few questions about data model and implementation

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8: Re: few questions about data model and implementation (response to 1)
Posted by Dave Bauer on 07/20/05 03:41 AM
I am not aware of any dotlrn design documentation. OpenACS has quite a bit, check out https://openacs.org/doc/current/ at look at the Platform Developer's Guide for design documentation of the object model and more.

Regaring site-wide administation vs. dotlrn administartion:

First, some people use dotlrn alongside other non-dotlrn packages so we need to make sure nothing is lost.

Second, you want to reuse as much as possible between dotlrn and openacs by using reusable pages, includes etc.

Third, dotlrn has some issues where the dotlrn mounted under the main subsite acts like a replacement for site wide admin, and all the other dotlrn instances act like a replacement for acs-subsite. Jeff Davis has added support in OpenACS 5.2 to make it possible for a dotlrn instance (or another other package) to logically replace a subsite, and appear to the site node code as a subsite. So the missing piece is overriding the build in acs-admin site-wide administration pages without losing access to any of the default functionality.

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9: Re: Re: few questions about data model and implementation (response to 8)
Posted by Jeremy Monnet on 07/20/05 03:58 AM
Maybe I didn't say things clearly (or I do not have enough knowledge to fully understand what you are saying, in this case please forgive me)

I didn't talk about modifying the way it was mounted, or the features of dotlrn or openacs. I just said it would be easier to start if (this is just a case example) you removed the "OpenACS Site-Wide Administration" link from the dotlrn admin panel. If there are specific features of the OACS admin needed, you could just add a direct link to the very component, so people (newcomers) would still think they are still in dotlrn. If that is possible to link it directly of course ...
I also may understand that people using openacs alone, with dotlrn as just "another" application will fully understand the way OACS works, and they will not argue about whether the user is a dotlrn or OACS user. As I said, I am a very beginner in the dotlrn/OACS/aolserver/TCL technologies and applications.

I am just reporting my point of view as most of you are for so long in the business that you may have forgotten how difficult it is to understand such a big system 😉