October 2003 - Koha-devel - lists.koha-community.org

Re: [Koha-devel] hard coded stuff?
by Owen Leonard 27 Oct '03

27 Oct '03

> If we had a mechanism to extract the strings for > translation only the translators wouldn't > have to worry about the underlying code behind > it. If you're requesting that all language strings be moved to some kind of master file for ease of translation, then say so! It sounds like the issue of the image path in the css file is unrelated. We've had this discussion before, about how to facilitate internationalization and make template translation easier. There are arguments on both sides, and right now the arguments to keep things the way they are are going to win because we're working up to 2.0 and too much work needs to be done on bug- fixing and functionality-enhancement. I hate tracking changes to templates just as much as you do--probably more, because our custom template is radically different from the default one. I have to look at template changes and translate them not into a different language but into a whole different HTML structure! But I don't know the solution, other than to document modifications much better than we do now. -- Owen

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Re: [Koha-devel] hard coded stuff?
by Owen Leonard 27 Oct '03

27 Oct '03

> .koha { > text-align:center; > background-image:url("/intranet- > tmpl/default/en/images/background-mem.gif"); > } > Now if the whole idea by introducing templates > was to separate the code from the > design then this behavior does not stick to the > rules. But css is not code, it *is* design. The css file is in a directory of files that are available to the template-writer for design. It seems to me that if somone is working on the /default/en/ template then they should be able to specify as much. That said, if template-writers can use HTML:Template variables to specify the current theme, that makes it easier on others--but I disagree that this has much bearing to the goal of internationalization. Template-writers may have very selfish goals: they want to customize Koha for themselves. They may not work with internationalization in mind. It's the developers that need to be held to a higher standard. > An example: a file in .default/en directory > changes. The modification includes a > language string and a path to a perl file ON THE > SAME LINE OF CODE. I don't understand what you're referring to here. The path to Perl files should remain constant no matter what template you use. Only the language string needs to be modified. Of course visual inspection of the template is needed--how else can you make a translation? > Before koha-1.2.3 all the language strings where > in the perl scripts. Now they are found > in the template files. Isn't this better? Maybe I don't understand at all what you're trying to say. -- Owen ---- Nelsonville Public Library

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koha and objecting to libraries [RT]
by MJ Ray 26 Oct '03

26 Oct '03

This is almost a random thought, so I add the RT tag to the subject line. If you've not seen random thoughts before, I stole the idea from apache cocoon and you should brace yourself. The subject line is a tease. This is nothing to do with physical libraries, who I wouldn't dare object to (honest) and all to do with turning libraries into objects. Here, I'm going to explore the use of perl modules by koha a little, or at least the ".pm" files which contain them. I think that the .pm files in koha are used for two purposes at the moment. Some of them are simple libraries, while others are object classes. Libraries are quite simple to evaluate, in a way. You can tell whether libraries are in a sensible structure by using some measures. Two that I know are called "coupling" and "cohesion". Cohesion is a description of the contents of a library. Some common forms are "functional cohesion," "temporal cohesion" and "accidental cohesion". Functional cohesion is what we want: all the things in the library relate to the same task. Temporal cohesion sometimes happens: the things in the library do different tasks, but normally happen around the same time. Sadly, accidental cohesion is most common: it's a rag bag of bits and pieces that have almost nothing to do with each other. Coupling is a description of how two libraries relate to each other, but more vague. If two libraries have "high coupling" with each other, then one requires knowledge of the internal behaviour of another, beyond what is exposed through method calls. Cohesion is almost a given for OO. That may be part of the reason that objects look so nice to software engineers. It solves part of the problem for them. I think it's coupling that normally causes problems for library-based programs that are moving to object orientation. Programs that use libraries with low coupling and functional cohesion normally hold the data that become the objects in the program itself. As the design is refactored, this data becomes part of the "state" of the object, which is normally kept private and accessed through methods belonging to the object. It's actually quite tricky to do the refactoring in a way that still has low coupling without massive changes. Sometimes if you want OO, you have to radically redesign parts of the program. The temptation is to ignore the demands for low coupling and produce programs or libraries that need internal knowledge of the object and objects that show too much of themselves to the outside world. As soon as the object encapsulation has gone, not only do you get high coupling, but you probably damage the cohesion, with one task being implemented across two libraries. That causes all sorts of problems. For example, it reduces the size of unit tests that you can write (and you'd expect me not to like that, wouldn't you?). How do we spot this problem? I don't have an absolute answer. The developers who know their parts of the code might be able to tell from smells. I think a tell-tale sign is when most private data gets exposed to the outside world. If that happens, we should ask just why do we want to be able to access all those parts of the object? Is that object really the right thing to have here? What productive things can we do with this information? We can look at the designs of our own favourite parts of koha and see whether we can organise into functionally cohesive libraries, if we haven't already, and move state from our programs to an object made from our library, if and only if it looks like an object is a good idea. We can look at any objects we've already got and look at how wide open it is. Feel free to question this. I can probably dig up references for parts of it if desired. -- MJR/slef My Opinion Only and possibly not of any group I know. Please http://remember.to/edit_messages on lists to be sure I read http://mjr.towers.org.uk/ gopher://g.towers.org.uk/ slef(a)jabber.at Creative copyleft computing services via http://www.ttllp.co.uk/

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Missing headers in 1.2.3
by Abu Obeida O. Bakhach 25 Oct '03

25 Oct '03

HI there, I just installed 1.2.2. I am noticing that the headers are not available, except in the case of Acquisitions and Circulation. By header I mean the 'koha:main menu <catalogu><members>..<home>' that should appear in each page. Was this a 1.2.2 bug? I installed 1.2.3 and it seems to be gone. I am debating to whether fix 122 or go ahead with 123. Thanks in advance, Obeida

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koha 2.0.0pre5 released
by paul POULAIN 25 Oct '03

25 Oct '03

Koha 2.0.0pre5 has been released here : http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=16466 RELEASE NOTES ============= This version of Koha is the last one of the 2.0.0 series in the "unstable" tree. 5 libraries are using it, so it's quite useable. 2 last problems have to be solved before 2.0.0RC1 : * biblio deletion : at the moment, biblio deletion is buggy (does not work in MARC, delete only non-marc data) * upgrader is provided for the 1st time, so it's probably buggy. If you want to use Koha, you're welcomed, but you're warned that this version still has some bugs and missing features. INSTALLATION ========== * Download the package * tar xvfz koha-version.tar.gz * cd koha-version * ./installer.pl * follow the instructions. NOTE: You will need to add lines to your main httpd.conf to include /etc/koha-httpd.conf and to make sure it is listening on the right ports (using the Listen directive). Previous versions updated the httpd.conf file, some users thought it was bad/poor decision. UPGRADE from previous 2.0.0preX version ======= * Download the package * tar xvfz koha-version.tar.gz * cd koha-version * ./koha.upgrade * follow the instructions. UPGRADE from previous 1.2.x version ======= This upgrade is possible with this release for the 1st time. EXPECT IT TO HAVE SOME BUGS SOMEWHERE. USE IT ONLY IF YOU KNOW HOW TO GO BACK TO PREVIOUS SITUATION. Otherwise, WAIT for next version or so. * Download the package * tar xvfz koha-version.tar.gz * cd koha-version * ./koha.upgrade * follow the instructions. * launch Koha * Go to Parameters >> Marc structure option and Koha-MARC links option. * Modify default MARC structure to fit your needs. * open a console/term * Enter : cd /path/to/koha/misc export PERL5LIB=/path/to/koha ./koha2marc.pl the old DB is "copied" in the new MARC one. Koha 2.0.0 is ready. BUGFIXES/IMPROVEMENTS ======= BUGS FIXED : +++++++++ 619 : Visiting selectbranchprinter.pl automatically resets branch 618 : Add member process does not check for duplicate barcode 532 : Can't assign new password without changing UserID 599 : edited items are stored incorrectly in old Koha DB (aka : barcode non mandatory bug) 616 : MARCgetbiblio doesn't create leader 500 : [INTRANET]Only 21 items are displayed in the search result 595 : 'Add field' link in /acqui.simple/addbiblio.pl adds incorrect field. 622 : processz3950queue fails 576 : add install locale test 39 : Update Dirs in z3950 scripts 536 : bulkmarcimport.pl generates subtitle error 436 : circulation.pl only partially templated (this bug is partially fixed) IMPROVEMENTS +++++++++ * Polish version of Koha (courtesy of Benedykt) * some useful tools in misc directory to manage the DB * adding "fines" entry in parameters section : to manage fees when a book is returned too late -- Paul POULAIN Consultant indépendant en logiciels libres responsable francophone de koha (SIGB libre http://www.koha-fr.org)

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biblio deletion
by paul POULAIN 25 Oct '03

25 Oct '03

Hi all, I'm working on biblio deletion in Koha. There are some very annoying bugs in deletion in 1.2.x code, that I want to clean. The deleted biblio is copied into a "deletedbiblio" table, for historic purposes. Note that there is no way to transfer the biblio back to "active DB". And it's a little buggy : the biblio can be deleted without the biblioitems :-\ (see delbiblio.pl & sub delbiblio in C4/Biblio.pm). and you can delete a biblioitem with items attached (deletebiblioitems.pl) I propose the following feature : * a confirmation is needed before any deletion. * delete can be done on biblio or items. If done on biblio, biblioitem and items are deleted too. * deleted biblios are no more stored in deletedbiblio tables : because there is no MARC deletedbiblio, no way to restore a biblio, I think it's a feature we could introduce in a future version of Koha. * deletion require a "superlibrarian" flag, to avoid any librarian deleting biblios. Any opinion/suggestions ? -- Paul POULAIN Consultant indépendant en logiciels libres responsable francophone de koha (SIGB libre http://www.koha-fr.org)

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Header and footers disappearence in 1.2.2
by Abu Obeida O. Bakhach 24 Oct '03

24 Oct '03

Hi there, I have been playing around with 122 and 123. I noticed that not all pages in 122 koha/intranet pages have the headers and footers in them. I assumed it was a SSI problem, but my apache config works fine for the other pages. And using the same config, the headers and footers are consistent in 123. Is there any special trick to get the headers working? thanks

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Re: [Koha-devel] new script in CVS to manage DB
by Owen Leonard 23 Oct '03

23 Oct '03

> > * debugging & releasing a good 2.0.0 version ? Speaking of which... maybe folks could 'sound off' and let everyone know what they're working on? I count 86 non-enhancement bugs (if my Bugzilla query can be trusted). We haven't had much movement in the last few months. We haven't even had a bug meeting since I-don't-know-when. Is the feature-freeze putting everyone in a bad mood? Is everyone secretly working on their own enhancements and waiting for 2.0? -- Owen ---- Nelsonville Public Library Koha 2.0.0-pre2-R2

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Re: [Koha] C4::AUTH problem
by Chris Cormack 22 Oct '03

22 Oct '03

Wow thats an odd one. Syntax error in type map, no ':' in /usr/local/koha/ opac/cgi-bin/opac-main.pl for header use strict; Im sending this to the koha-devel list in the hope that someone there might have seen this error before. Chris On Wed, Oct 22, 2003 at 01:03:04AM -0800, zuxiaolong said: > This is error log in attachement. > Thank you. > -- > zuxiaolong > hugojoe(a)fastmail.fm > > -- > http://www.fastmail.fm - Access all of your messages and folders > wherever you are -- Chris Cormack Programmer 027 4500 789 Katipo Communications Ltd chris(a)katipo.co.nz www.katipo.co.nz

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Help koha by checking a bug has gone
by MJ Ray 22 Oct '03

22 Oct '03

Non-developers with working koha 2.x installations can start helping to ensure that koha 2.0 has as few bugs as possible. Others may have to wait for pre5 (or RC1?) to appear very soon. The priority is to make sure that reported bugs really are fixed when we think they are. Go to the page at http://bugs.koha.org/cgi-bin/bugzilla/buglist.cgi?bug_status=RESOLVED&versi… to get a list of bugs we think are gone. Pick one and see if you can make the bug come back as described. If you can't, then pick "Mark bug as VERIFIED" from the list and click "Commit". If you're not sure whether you did the right thing, leave a comment. That's all it takes, but there are over 300 bugs waiting for this simple task to be done now. Once bugs get to "VERIFIED", my QA hat lets me close them, but I'll need your help to get them there. -- MJR/slef My Opinion Only and possibly not of any group I know. Please http://remember.to/edit_messages on lists to be sure I read http://mjr.towers.org.uk/ gopher://g.towers.org.uk/ slef(a)jabber.at Creative copyleft computing services via http://www.ttllp.co.uk/

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