Forum OpenACS Development: file-storage as UI staging area for another app

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1: file-storage as UI staging area for another app
Posted by Torben Brosten on 06/23/12 08:42 PM
Hi,

I have an app that manipulates graphics images to create other graphics images.

How can I use file-storage as a staging area for importing groups of files, for example, all images in a folder?

Should I copy over the whole UI via the file-storage/www/index and modify?

Or, is there a widget available for choosing a folder in an existing file-storage (same subsite) or alternately a proc or set of procs that return folder_id's and the necessary info to build a widget? And, if so, what proc provides the file pathname for the system?

I will make /lib includelets to make this process easier for other apps.

Torben

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2: Re: file-storage as UI staging area for another app (response to 1)
Posted by Dave Bauer on 06/24/12 03:37 AM
Ack don't do that.

FIle storage adds an unecessary layer of complexity onto the content repository.

You can write a more specific custom package in less time than trying to repurpose and retrofit file storage. It already has too many settings to change the behavior. Just write what you need.

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3: Re: file-storage as UI staging area for another app (response to 2)
Posted by Torben Brosten on 06/24/12 04:41 AM
Hi Dave,

I'll follow your suggestion combined with my aversion to the CR, and write something else.

cheers,

Torben

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4: Re: file-storage as UI staging area for another app (response to 3)
Posted by Don Baccus on 06/24/12 05:53 AM
"I'll follow your suggestion combined with my aversion to the CR, and write something else."

That, of course, is not what Dave suggested. He suggested you write your own UI on top of the CR.

Alternatively, you could look at extending the file storage package (using "extends" rather than "requires") to do what you want, but I agree with Dave that FS has been pretty much FUBAR'd by undisciplined changes to FS.

Your aversion to the CR is just ... strange.

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5: Re: file-storage as UI staging area for another app (response to 1)
Posted by Torben Brosten on 06/24/12 06:15 AM
Hi Don,

Can you point me to an example package that uses the current CR standards?

When I've tried learning to program with the CR pre-2002, I couldn't understand the documentation. I readily admit, it's too heady for me --as is the ad_forms API, which is why I wrote qf_* forms API.

Anyway, the systems I've managed have been plagued by corrupt data in the CR; and I've lacked the computing experience to fix it, so it makes sense to avoid it; Though I really like how XOWIKI seems to be using it.

Also, there's no audit mechanism to automate diagnosis or fixing of a broken CR.

In this particular case, I'm going to use standard package permissions and the tcl file API to generate a generic file handling utility.

cheers,

Torben