Final Report: Chuck Patterson

Also see:

Subject: things to document

• What are all the websites you manage, and is there anything special about any of them?

This question requires detailed answers, which are provided in separate documents.
(See Web Projects: Chuck Patterson.)

• What is on the current "to do" list?  Where do things stand with the Standard Analysis
  confluence pages vs the WB tutorials? Anything  outstanding on the local machine that
  needs to be uploaded?

Pointlike. I was able to complete the Pointlike documentation before leaving on vacation,
but only by including several notes referencing the need to use the next ScienceTools
release, or higher, which will include last minute changes Joshua Lande made to address
specific software issues.

Josh expressed a willingness to maintain the HTML version of the tutorial in preference
to the Confluence version once it was posted to the web and checked into CVS, both
of which I was able to do before leaving on vacation.  I explained that as soon as he
notified me of any changes I, as “gatekeeper”, would then update the “master” files
maintained on my machine and upload them to the web.

I would urge that he be encouraged to make any changes he deems necessary and
to remove the notes referencing the next release as soon as Jim Chiang creates a
new tag.

Once Joshua’s changes are made, it is a simple matter to do a CVS update to the
masters using Tortoise CVS, which is installed on my machine, then in Dreamweaver,
highlighting the updated files and clicking on the upload arrow/icon.

New gtgrb tutorial. After discussions with Gino Tosti, I had planned to create
a new gtgrb analysis tutorial using the new gtgrb analysis software as soon as
the Pointlike tutorial was completed.

After gtgrb tutorial. After the gtgrb tutorial, I planned to continue work on updating
the remainder of the Science Tools tutorials (i.e., The Pulsar Analysis tutorials and
the ObsSim tutorials), then make another pass thru the SciTools References to make
sure they were up-to-date.

• How do you "go live"?

“Going live” means posting to the server for a given website and varies with each
website.  This will be addressed in a separate set of  “website” documents.

• How do you get the WB to Berrie?

The workbook is the only website that is checked into CVS.  Each time I create a new
CVS tag, I simply notify Berrie and he checks the new version of the workbook out of
CVS and uploads it to his local site, thus creating a mirror site of the workbook that is
current up to the last tagged version.

• Does the CVS "workbook" archive completely mirror the directory structure on your
  local machine?

See above.

• Can we document the directory structure and contents in the "workbook" area in CVS?  

I’m not quite sure what you intended here.  I’ve not added any specific documentation
for the WB in CVS, nor do I now have time to do so. 

• Anything to say about the workbook/Templates and workbook/"style sheets"?

Recently, I have tended to use Joanne’s Template and style sheets when creating a
new page for any of the sections in the WB.  It would probably be a good idea to
create one new template, making sure to incorporate all variations of the javascript
codes that support the various popup pages; all versions should include the toolbar
option enabling popup pages to be printed.

Caution: NEVER select the “update all pages” when changing one of the existing
templates.  Unfortunately, this option may lead to unintended consequences due
to special codes or styles that may have been incorporated in some of the pages
“on-the-fly”.

Note: As I recall, there is some special code supporting the popup for the
Science Tools Reference navbars:

This code has to be embedded in the map for the SciTools References HTML page
after it is exported from Fireworks, or the “Open in New Window” popup functionality
will be lost.

• What's a good Dreamweaver reference?

In the early days, I used 'The Dreamweaver  Bible". I think I also bought a similar
'Bible' for Fireworks.

Note:  Dreamweaver was my tool of choice for several reasons.  First and foremost
was the seamless interface between Dreamweaver and Fireworks.  This enabled me to
focus on creating a “three click” maximum navigation system.  (While we did not always
make it in three clicks, we’ve come awfully close.)  Frames were central to this approach
in order to prevent the navigation bars from scrolling off of the page. 

(I still view this approach as essential when developing a website as complex as the
tutorials and references encompassed by the workbook, and, in my opinion, this
approach continues to hold up well when compared to various benchmark sites.  I will be
sorry to see it abandoned, which it almost certainly will be.)

• Top Ten Tips for making sure the web pages display correctly across platforms and
  browsers.

When we first started this project seven years ago, you set down the requirement
that they function well with the Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers.  Over the
years, I’ve found that these two browsers still provide a good test environment and,
as far as I know, if things play together with them, they will play together with the
other browsers out there.

I always test them in my Windows environment before posting to the web, and
periodically, I test them using Firefox in a SLAC Central Linux environment.

When making changes to one of the main “splash” pages, be sure to test that all
buttons on the top-level navbar are functioning as intended. If they are, it is also
important to spot check the 2nd level and 3rd level navbars to make sure they are
displaying properly.

Tips: It is important to understand exactly how the frames work and interact with
respect to the various levels of navigation bars.  Be sure to experiment with
Dreamweaver’s View --> Visual Aids --> Frame Borders function. 

• How do the Doxygen links work?  As in the Gleam Outputs area:
  http://glast-ground.slac.stanford.edu/workbook/pages/gleamOvrvw/summaryNtuples.htm

At this point in time, I can only remember that I hashed out the links given on the diagram
with Heather and Leon until both were satisfied. The two of them should probably review
them to make sure that they are working as intended in this brave new SCons
(i.e., post-CMT) world.  I think that we did revisit them, but am not absolutely positive.
Judging from the following link, I think we probably did.

http://www.slac.stanford.edu/exp/glast/ground/software/status/documentation/
GlastRelease/latest/AnalysisNtuple/latest/anatup_vars.html

• Are there pages you had in mind that needed maintenance soon?

My top priorities are listed in the “to do” section above. 

However, the site maps are woefully out-of-date, and I’ve not been able to update
the glossary in the last several years.

• Do you have a maintenance schedule?
  

In recent years, as the workbook grew and new responsibilities were added
(e.g., the Fermi LAT Newsletter) to my position, I’ve not been able to set up a regular
maintenance schedule, but have relied on feedback from users.  When a link is discovered
that is either broken or obsolete, I use the search capability to find the other areas in the
workbook that have the same or related problems.  As a cautionary note, one has to be
careful not to confuse links that are specific to the SCons environment and those that
are specific to the CMT environment.