Documentation

[jalil]

i don't really know where to post this, so i'll use this base. this is perhaps for @Chris Davenport who is involved with documentation, but anyone else who might have answers please help.

two things...

1) some the documentation nicely done have width/css definition problems and drops to the bottom of my page ( IE6 ).
this is an example.
http://dev.joomla.org/component/option, ... llo_world/

the new db page also has the same problem, the components page is fine.

2) i have been looking and looking for a map of joomla. some call it architechure map, but basically it is a map of all the various functions in joomla core. this is extremely useful for a developer, who needs this and a list of available function calls, conveniently documented.
the function calls are already put out i think, its just a matter of preferred format, which the user can reformat as desired.

but the complete map, there is none. where can i find it please ?
us newbies here in a new land without a map is very scarry.

[Chris Davenport]

Hi Jalil,

i don't really know where to post this, so i'll use this base. this is perhaps for @Chris Davenport who is involved with documentation, but anyone else who might have answers please help.

two things...

1) some the documentation nicely done have width/css definition problems and drops to the bottom of my page ( IE6 ).
this is an example.
http://dev.joomla.org/component/option, ... llo_world/

the new db page also has the same problem, the components page is fine.

Confirmed.  I don't use Windows any more so hadn't spotted it before.  I'll try to get it fixed.

2) i have been looking and looking for a map of joomla. some call it architechure map, but basically it is a map of all the various functions in joomla core. this is extremely useful for a developer, who needs this and a list of available function calls, conveniently documented.
the function calls are already put out i think, its just a matter of preferred format, which the user can reformat as desired.

but the complete map, there is none. where can i find it please ?
us newbies here in a new land without a map is very scarry.

Not entirely sure what you're after.  How about these:
http://dev.joomla.org/content/view/1137/80/ gives an overview, although the UML diagrams are a bit out-of-date.
http://dev.joomla.org/component/option,com_jd-wiki/Itemid,/id,references:joomla.framework/ is the front-page of the wiki API reference and the UML is more up-to-date.

Regards,
Chris.

[jalil]

Not entirely sure what you're after.  How about these:
http://dev.joomla.org/content/view/1137/80/ gives an overview, although the UML diagrams are a bit out-of-date.
http://dev.joomla.org/component/option,com_jd-wiki/Itemid,/id,references:joomla.framework/ is the front-page of the wiki API reference and the UML is more up-to-date.
Regards,
Chris.

thanks chris, they are bits and peices of what i'm looking for and they are very helpful.

what i need is a whole map complete, need not be uptodate, just complete.
i'll see if i can find any, and if there's none i'll make one, but not pretty soon.

heh...thanks again.

[jalil]

anyone has a flow chart of joomla!  ?
if theres none i better get started on it. if i need it, many others would.

[seadap]

I'm convinced that we all would benifit from that.  Sounds like a lot of work!

[Chris Davenport]

I seem to recall there being a flowchart for 1.0.x but I can't seem to find it right now.  I doubt it would be of much use for 1.5 anyway.

Regards,
Chris.

[AmyStephen]

anyone has a flow chart of joomla!  ?
if theres none i better get started on it. if i need it, many others would.

I agree with seadap - a flowchart would be excellent. How would that look, I wonder? I wouldn't want too much detail. It would be great, though!

[Fuqaha]

I seem to recall there being a flowchart for 1.0.x but I can't seem to find it right now.  I doubt it would be of much use for 1.5 anyway.

Regards,
Chris.

Yup, i think ive seen it somewhere too. lemme do a search first.

[tagore79]

anyone has a flow chart of joomla!  ?
if theres none i better get started on it. if i need it, many others would.

Yes, a flow chart or a class diagram of sorts would be excellent for newbies like me =)

[AmyStephen]

It would for me, as well. Now that Scott has provided instructions for an IDE environment, we can "walk" the code and begin plotting that flow out.

So, does anyone know what that documentation should look like? Is there a certain format or standard that is best for this purpose? The benefit of wanting something - and needing to learn - is that by doing it - our knowledge will be deeper.  So, if there is something missing that we want, let's figure out how to do it. Then, the experts can review and revise our work.

If people want help configuring your IDE environment, or want to get more involved, join us on the Skype line - everything we are using is free of charge and you are all invited to participate.

Amy

[Chris Davenport]

I finally found one of the "flowcharts" that I remembered.  You can use it as a starting point to create a new one.  The other one was for 1.0.x and is almost certainly irrelevant.  If you do create a new one, then please donate it back to the community.

Thanks,
Chris.

[AmyStephen]

Great!  I have not seen that before, or, if I did it made no sense. For me, I like it because it's like a Globe. You can see the entire world at once and also locate your country.

In addition to this, I would also like one lower layer that links to specific files / classes in the files. Maybe that's too detailed? Maybe that would be too difficult to maintain over time. If so, then I would want to document how you can get from this image to that detail. Understanding that process might be enough.

Thanks very much, Chris.

Who else is interested in working on this?

Amy

[seadap]

I love it.  I like your idea too Amy but maybe the files/classes layer would have to wait until 1.5 is official.  Sure would be difficult to track changes to to the code base I think.

[Chris Davenport]

No significant changes are being made to the codebase for 1.5 (with the single exception of the media manager refactoring).  It's just bug fixing.  So feel free to write up what you see.

Oh.  And have fun! 

Regards,
Chris.