Digital Workshop

Is anyone using a JSON Editor that could be considered both 'advanced' in features as well as newbie-friendly.
ETA: I will be using Windows 7 64. Will also have Windows 8, and local servers (LAMP stack or such).

Other than opusscript endeavors, I have not done any modern programming (C, C++, PHP, etc = no experience). I have done some (now historical) work with DB report writers, and other DB work -- but nothing with XML, Java, etc. where syntax makes or breaks.

I am looking for External Storage to be used with Opus pubs in the future, incl mobile. I have been investigating various forms of noSql, and more basically JSON.

So any help and any pointers are welcome.

Meanwhile, here is something I just stumbled upon that may be useful for others here going into more complex projects. Not exactly a json editor, but I think it may help me work with understanding object structure... and generating content in some other tool.

http://jsonschema.net/faq.html
This seems like something that may help me move forward.

btw, an editor from al-to-va looked nice on the surface, but I cannot see spending that kind of money on an editor for content creation.

I use Editix - it's an XML editor but the 2013 version has support for importing and exporting JSON.

Mack

Thanks Mack.
I did a quick look into Editix' screenshots. That looks promising, it seems to be the swiss-army-knife of syntax slicing... with time at the end of the day to use the corkscrew.

I see recently that Notepad++ has a plugin of some kind for JSON. I doubt it will have a Tree pane or other visual-orientation features (cull out the syntax, to edit the name/value pairs).

Later,
Larry

There is a free, lite version of Editix that's just for XML. If your development application supports it or your language can parse it, then you might be able to keep the data in XML and convert back and forth as needed.



Are you using an editor for coding or an IDE?

Mack

Thanks Mack.
I do not know.
I am trying to sort this out. I think I am ~uneducated here. Recently thinking a JS Framework + Tech Editor for JSON. (avoiding .NET, and maybe biased against XML).

The simple answer is that in the old-world, pre-mobile, I would have just aimed to produce a .EXE pub, and I could figure out how to handle all the content in External Files or in SQLite DB. Most, but not all, of the logic could be in Opus and Opusscript.
--- in this case, I would Author / generate Content externally in an RTF editor (eg, TheJournal), which would export to HTML pages. Other more granular 'nuggets' of content --- I'd figure out in a DB, INI, or other.

okay, the really long-answer.
Now that multiple platforms and devices need to be considered, ...
and I no longer have the luxury of .EXE Pubs (and so limited or no Write access on the Client)
--- I am trying to bootstrap myself into this newish world of development.

a.) The goal is non-fiction ebooks, with user interaction + conditional branching + persistent storage of User input. So the "Content" is essentially read-only, but breadcrumbs and User responses are additional, augmented data.

b.) I think I want a CMS to take care of the actual up-front writing, authoring, tagging of the Content.

c.) My challenge is how and where to store the original ebook R-O content, as well as the User-specific data. I think mySQL and Server DBs in general may work, but maybe not the only way to go. So I am looking at noSql and/or JSON.
BTW, I hope to avoid hosting a site or cloud for anything but the original ebook, read-only content (but I may need to rething that) ...unless you would like some extra dev work and projects.

Summary:
* I think I want/need a CMS that let's me Author the meat of the work in a fluid manner. (Opus text editor is not this)
* For content presentation view/display. Previously, Opus v7, I would have used both text objects and Opus Browser windows. Now/future v9, I don't know. I think External Content of the ebook would be raw text when in stores (JSON, a DB, or ?). For Opus output... I still like the idea you surfaced -- an iFrame within a webpage, within an iFrame (or whatever that was 6+ months ago).
* User input/interaction is key. So capturing those Navs and choices, and text/quiz input. It would get integrated later as part of content branching/filtering. (cookies are not enough here -- not well-controlled for persistent reuse).
* One way or another, I am pulled into working on Server-side components or code. I guess that is the nature of mobile, html5, cloud (a user switching devices he uses).

I am looking at Tapestry 5 framework. -- would need to learn Java there.
A PHP approach could also work -- I have no experience w/php.
I expect jQuery and other libraries will be part of the Dev Tools.
"Content" I think is more geared to unstructured stores (JSON or other), but it will have cross-referenced IDs for 'flow', also Tags, and I may want to overwrite object properties as User progresses.

Eclipse IDE is another possibility. I don't know where this fits vis a vis Tapestry or other alternatives. Other IDEs to consider??
I have researched other Dev Tools (googling, no hands-on yet) -- there are several that focus on multi-platform publishing. They may be overkill for me, some are pricey (Enterprise), and many in this category are XHTML for multi-porting. But I want to continue using Opus if possible for what it brings in user interaction and its developer ease of use. (I expect I'll be in evolution subscription next month to get going on this).

In the U.S. we [s]have[/s] had a saying: "This is not your father's Oldsmobile". Meaning... times have changed and so have we.

I've left off other factors -- social media, crowd sharing, ...distribution, DRM or not, ...

Is this primarily research or are you prototyping these technologies?

Mack

Sorry Mack, I do not quite understand the question.


If I cannot do it all in OpusPro + minimal php coding --- then I think will need to add IDE and other Tools, Libraries. True??


BTW, I just realized how 'off' I have been in my thinking: my volume of content is too large for mobile. And I assumed that HTML5 could only pull content from a Server (however, I do want to have mobile offline use... DB or other).
ETA: It seems IndexedDB was left behind, incompatible with most recent browser updates. http://caniuse.com/indexeddb

Nothing complex - you just refer to a lot of different technology in your posts and I was wondering whether you were just researching possibilities or whether you're playing with the technology - for example have you set-up LAMP or installed any content management systems to explore what they can do or how they work...

Mack

Okay, 'yes' thanks.
Mostly, I am not hands-on yet. I am just trying to understand what I need, or rather... what will work well for dev tools, while making sure what I choose plays-together nice.

Status:
CMS = I am looking ahead, searching. I plan to manually generate test-Content w/o cms initially. ('yes' here I have had some hands-on play, as most open-source CMS have decent demos online. So far I find I do not want the Collab & Mgmt as much as I want the Authoring and custom-fields to be used for IDs, filtering, flow-coding.)
LAMP = not yet installed. I have a few 'spare' laptops I can dedicate for this. I can clone the drive with Acronis TrueImage on Windows and get LAMP back to pristine state if need be. (I have a 2-HD laptop)
IDE = no experience yet. Which one if any is... to be determined.
FRAMEWORK = none yet. Absent a framework I am thinking that at a minimum I might just need jQuery, and then some tools/utilities for JSON. But... I am willing to learn stuff, so Tapestry 5 F/W is something I am "researching".
Also, re: Framework -- that is probably one of the first things I would get some hands-on to walk through their tuturials/examples. It's possible I will not need to go this heavy on the Server side... this is the piece in the development toolchain I do not know/understand yet. In any case, getting hands-on here should help me better understand JSON, adding child objects, extending properties, etc. ...to know what is possible.
OpusPro v9 = I am planning on joining Evolution in Oct.

My Dev Sys PC Win8/Win7 is still sitting in the box. I need to clear some new office space, requires a few trips to the dump

Morning Lar,

I'm going to try and get useful stuff on twitter. Our first tweets including a couple of links to free Java and jQuery courses might interest you.

@imsmackavi

Thanks Mack,
'Yes' I'll have to get up-to-speed with these fundamental languages/libraries.

From what I am reading about jQuery, the emphasis seems to be on the UI -- but I expect that for most of User interactions, that Opus would handle that quite well. Maybe Opus cannot do accordian menus (as easily), or automatically adapt to different display resolutions (?). Also, I had the impression jQuery would be useful for certain object and property manipulation that was beyond Opus' realm. Maybe I misunderstood, and those courses will set me straight. Appendto training looks interesting for a start. Univ courses too... I will find one where I gain better, more formal, grasp of the JS world. Thanks.

I'm looking forward to getting restarted on Pubs again, and will discover what Opus can do and where it leaves off... especially on writing to persistent data/storage.

Best and thanks.
Larry

I cannot give any information about Opus 9 on a public board but I will say that the quality of discussion from members and DW staff in the evolution section has been outstanding and extremely insightful in many areas.

@imsmackavi

Acknowledged re: 9. I understand completely. I will soon join-in over there.

I am finding bits and pieces of key info on html5 and on mobile apps -- such that I am much more encouraged about storage on the client device. e.g., appcache
Also, I think Web Workers and importScripts() in html5 will give me flexibility/workarounds should I hit a roadblock trying to accomplish something.

To accelerate my progress, I think I will go out and find a girlfriend of the nerdy variety.
ps. I am not on twitter, FB

Just a little bit too much information there Lars

Ask Mack to recommend you a book!

Cheers

Graham

Sarcasm; Sauciness and Scripting - what a way to end the week.

@imsmackavi