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Posted to dev@cocoon.apache.org by Jeremy Quinn <je...@media.demon.co.uk> on 2003/11/05 15:11:20 UTC
[Woody] wd:help
Dear All,
Correct me if I am wrong, but it does not appear that the <wd:help/>
tag of the <wd:widget/> is supported by the 'woody-field-styling.xsl',
except for when it is used inside a <wd:group/>.
Would anyone object to me adding this?
I was thinking of adding handling for this to the 'woody-field-common'
template, by adding a '?' that is linked to a javascript alert
containing the text of the <wd:help/>, that sits just after the field,
like the required '*".
Alternatively, it could be done with a <div> popup.
WDYT?
regards Jeremy
Re: [Woody] wd:help
Posted by Sylvain Wallez <sy...@apache.org>.
Bruno Dumon wrote:
>On Wed, 2003-11-05 at 15:44, Sylvain Wallez wrote:
>
>
>>Jeremy Quinn wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>>Dear All,
>>>
>>>Correct me if I am wrong, but it does not appear that the <wd:help/> tag of the <wd:widget/> is supported by the 'woody-field-styling.xsl', except for when it is used inside a <wd:group/>.
>>>
>>>Would anyone object to me adding this?
>>>
>>>
>>Certainly not! Do it, do it ;-)
>>
>>
>>
>>>I was thinking of adding handling for this to the 'woody-field-common' template, by adding a '?' that is linked to a javascript alert containing the text of the <wd:help/>, that sits just after the field, like the required '*".
>>>
>>>Alternatively, it could be done with a <div> popup.
>>>
>>>
>>I would prefer this solution which would allow for markup in help, and the CalendarPopup.js in Woody [1] already contains a library for this to build the popups [2].
>>
>>Having a "?" IMO makes the page look "heavier", and I was thinking of placing a "help mode switch" in the pages. This switch (analogous to the one that appears in the title bar of some dialog on Windows) would change the mouse cursor to a "?" and display the associated help (if any) associated to clicked elements.
>>
>>
>
>I'm not sure about this from a usability point of view.
>
>
I find this quite convenient on Windows, and Mac has (or used to have -
dunno in MacOS X) the equivalent with help balloons.
>> How hard would this be to do?
>>
>>[1] http://www.mattkruse.com/javascript/calendarpopup/
>>[2] http://www.mattkruse.com/javascript/popupwindow/
>>
>>
>
>Another alternative would be to use the label of the widget as trigger to show the help.
>
>
Do you mean that clicking on the label would show the help? Normally,
clicking on a label gives focus to the associated input widget. And what
about label-less widgets such as buttons?
>Currently the wt:widget-label tag only outputs the content of the label of the widget, without any tag around it telling it is the label. I'm thinking we should maybe replace that with a wt:widget-displaydata which would effectively insert a wi:displaydata containg the label & help (&hotkey in the future), so that the XSL can react on that and put the label inside a <label> tag
>
Hehe, exactly my thoughts after adding support for <label> today in
page-styling.xsl...
>and also add some javascript to show the help when you hover over it. (the label could have a e.g. a slightly different color if it has help)
>
>
Hover is currently used for tooltips defined though <wd:hint>.
Sylvain
--
Sylvain Wallez Anyware Technologies
http://www.apache.org/~sylvain http://www.anyware-tech.com
{ XML, Java, Cocoon, OpenSource }*{ Training, Consulting, Projects }
Orixo, the opensource XML business alliance - http://www.orixo.com
Re: [Woody] wd:help
Posted by Bruno Dumon <br...@outerthought.org>.
On Wed, 2003-11-05 at 15:44, Sylvain Wallez wrote:
> Jeremy Quinn wrote:
>
> > Dear All,
> >
> > Correct me if I am wrong, but it does not appear that the <wd:help/>
> > tag of the <wd:widget/> is supported by the 'woody-field-styling.xsl',
> > except for when it is used inside a <wd:group/>.
> >
> > Would anyone object to me adding this?
>
>
> Certainly not! Do it, do it ;-)
>
> > I was thinking of adding handling for this to the 'woody-field-common'
> > template, by adding a '?' that is linked to a javascript alert
> > containing the text of the <wd:help/>, that sits just after the field,
> > like the required '*".
> >
> > Alternatively, it could be done with a <div> popup.
>
>
> I would prefer this solution which would allow for markup in help, and
> the CalendarPopup.js in Woody [1] already contains a library for this to
> build the popups [2].
>
> Having a "?" IMO makes the page look "heavier", and I was thinking of
> placing a "help mode switch" in the pages. This switch (analogous to the
> one that appears in the title bar of some dialog on Windows) would
> change the mouse cursor to a "?" and display the associated help (if
> any) associated to clicked elements.
I'm not sure about this from a usability point of view.
> How hard would this be to do?
>
> [1] http://www.mattkruse.com/javascript/calendarpopup/
> [2] http://www.mattkruse.com/javascript/popupwindow/
Another alternative would be to use the label of the widget as trigger
to show the help.
Currently the wt:widget-label tag only outputs the content of the label
of the widget, without any tag around it telling it is the label. I'm
thinking we should maybe replace that with a wt:widget-displaydata which
would effectively insert a wi:displaydata containg the label & help (&
hotkey in the future), so that the XSL can react on that and put the
label inside a <label> tag, and also add some javascript to show the
help when you hover over it. (the label could have a e.g. a slightly
different color if it has help)
--
Bruno Dumon http://outerthought.org/
Outerthought - Open Source, Java & XML Competence Support Center
bruno@outerthought.org bruno@apache.org
Re: [Woody] wd:help
Posted by Jeremy Quinn <je...@media.demon.co.uk>.
On Wednesday, November 5, 2003, at 02:44 PM, Sylvain Wallez wrote:
> Jeremy Quinn wrote:
>
>> Dear All,
>>
>> Correct me if I am wrong, but it does not appear that the <wd:help/>
>> tag of the <wd:widget/> is supported by the
>> 'woody-field-styling.xsl', except for when it is used inside a
>> <wd:group/>.
>>
>> Would anyone object to me adding this?
>
>
> Certainly not! Do it, do it ;-)
He He!
>> I was thinking of adding handling for this to the
>> 'woody-field-common' template, by adding a '?' that is linked to a
>> javascript alert containing the text of the <wd:help/>, that sits
>> just after the field, like the required '*".
>>
>> Alternatively, it could be done with a <div> popup.
>
>
> I would prefer this solution which would allow for markup in help
Markup would be good
> , and the CalendarPopup.js in Woody [1] already contains a library for
> this to build the popups [2].
OK
> Having a "?" IMO makes the page look "heavier", and I was thinking of
> placing a "help mode switch" in the pages. This switch (analogous to
> the one that appears in the title bar of some dialog on Windows) would
> change the mouse cursor to a "?" and display the associated help (if
> any) associated to clicked elements.
Nice idea .... not sure about being inspired by Windows GUI design
though :)
Would they best popup (in help-mode) when clicked, or rolled-over?
> How hard would this be to do?
Not sure ..... but it could be beyond my current DHTML knowledge, do
you know of any sites that do this? ;)
It is something I'd like to have a go at ..... this weekend however I
will be tied up, upgrading my Macs to Panther :)
There is a CSS2 directive for changing the cursor, but have no idea how
well implemented it is across browsers.
<http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS2/ui.html#cursor-props>, there is a 'help'
cursor.
I'll checkout your references to the popup stuff ....
regards Jeremy
Re: [Woody] wd:help
Posted by Sylvain Wallez <sy...@apache.org>.
Jeremy Quinn wrote:
> Dear All,
>
> Correct me if I am wrong, but it does not appear that the <wd:help/>
> tag of the <wd:widget/> is supported by the 'woody-field-styling.xsl',
> except for when it is used inside a <wd:group/>.
>
> Would anyone object to me adding this?
Certainly not! Do it, do it ;-)
> I was thinking of adding handling for this to the 'woody-field-common'
> template, by adding a '?' that is linked to a javascript alert
> containing the text of the <wd:help/>, that sits just after the field,
> like the required '*".
>
> Alternatively, it could be done with a <div> popup.
I would prefer this solution which would allow for markup in help, and
the CalendarPopup.js in Woody [1] already contains a library for this to
build the popups [2].
Having a "?" IMO makes the page look "heavier", and I was thinking of
placing a "help mode switch" in the pages. This switch (analogous to the
one that appears in the title bar of some dialog on Windows) would
change the mouse cursor to a "?" and display the associated help (if
any) associated to clicked elements. How hard would this be to do?
[1] http://www.mattkruse.com/javascript/calendarpopup/
[2] http://www.mattkruse.com/javascript/popupwindow/
>
> WDYT?
>
> regards Jeremy
>
>
--
Sylvain Wallez Anyware Technologies
http://www.apache.org/~sylvain http://www.anyware-tech.com
{ XML, Java, Cocoon, OpenSource }*{ Training, Consulting, Projects }
Orixo, the opensource XML business alliance - http://www.orixo.com