GSOC Weekly Blog Entry (2009-06-27)

I finally fixed the problems with my module. Turns out there was a bug with the ExtensionPoint tag (it was already fixed).

So, now that I had the module up and ready for coding, the deliverables for this week were to create the Add Concept dialog for some of the widgets, by following my previous mockups. After having some trouble with Javascript (mainly because there are no “compiler errors” and the hard debugging, even with the Firebug tool), I finally have some (roughly) working thing to show.

Here’s a (working) Add Concept Dialog:

And here’s what happens to the big textarea if you click on Submit:

This is all Javascript magic. I’m still trying to figure out the perfect way of adding the widget dialogs so it’s easy for other developers to implement them (for new widgets). If you want you can check my progress on the module repository.

PS: I’m at a very early stage of development, so don’t be stressed about the “nasty popup dialog”. The goal this week is to have a simple code generator for the HTML Form Entry module. Both TinyMCE and FCKEditors support a lot more fancier “popups” (without really opening a new window), which will be used later.

PPS: Just one more exam to go (July 1)! Well, actually I’ll still have one more exam period (in which I can repeat the previous exams to get a better grade), but, for now, I’m only expecting to repeat one exam…

GSOC Weekly Blog Entry (2009-06-18)

Phew, I survived this final weeks of the semester. I’ll still have exams (until July 1, or later if I need to repeat some of them), but I’ll have more free time (for GSOC and for myself ).

About the HTML Form Entry Designer project, I had two deliverables to complete this week:

1 – Create a mockup of the Add Concept dialog of each widget

Boolean Widgets

Coded Widgets

Date Widgets

Numeric Widgets

Text Widgets

2 – Create the core components of the htmlformentrydesigner module (config.xml, activator and a portlet extension to the htmlformentry module)

I had (am having) some problems with setting up an extension point with the htmlformentry module. See this thread on the dev-list.

I’ve commited my module to the module repository, so if you want to help I’ll appreciate it.

GSOC Weekly Blog Entry (2009-06-06)

Google Summer of Code coding period officially started May 23, so I’m a bit late with my first weekly blog entry. The reason for that is the amount of work and effort that the end of the school semester implies: lots of tests and projects to complete.

Fortunately, my classes have ended yesterday (I still have to finish two projects and study for the upcoming exams), so I’ll be more available to focus on GSOC project.

I was not completely idle, and, as such, I talked with my mentors, Darius and Daniel, to help me define the project requirements, a schedule and to help me in some points. The results of these discussions are compiled on the project wiki page at OpenMRS. The project page is a work in progress, and I intend to update it very often.

I’ve also created a module for my project in the OpenMRS repository (a branch from the Hello World module, I’m still customizing it) . The Module ID is htmlformentrydesigner.

What I’m trying to do next is to identify the widgets available at the HTML Form Entry module and how they relate to the concepts data type. As such, for each widget, I’ll sketch the GUI for the input dialog and the results as they should be displayed on the WYSIWYG editor.

Here’s a mockup of the WYSIWYG Form Designer interface (thanks Darius for pointing me to a really fun and productive tool: Balsamiq Mockups):