Revision [2435]
This is an old revision of WikkaTables made by GmBowen on 2004-11-24 23:31:29.
Tables in Wikka
Editable tables
I don't know if this goes against the Wiki way of doing things, but it would be nice to configure a table in which users could enter data into and then 'submit' (click a submit button I suppose) and have it saved to the page without having to 'edit page'.--ArisStathakis
Can you post a link to a site where you can enter data without editing the page? I'm not sure what that would look like. - JsnX
GmBowen had something related here. I can't seem to get his page to load, therefore I've linked it to its google-cache. Basically, it's a form input thing that allows you to create tables row by row and edit data cell by cell. Very tedious to initialise, but i suppose it could be handy just to click on celldata to edit it (and view data if the user has readonly access). This method is a lot more intuitive than the current method of creating tables, but it would involve flatdb (or a new/seperate mysql schema). Just adding to the discussion, I don't believe that this suggestion is the ultimate solution. -- Sam
The "spreadsheet" (or, interactive table if you want) script uses a MYSQL table with the spreadsheet assigned by default to the page name & owner (which has to match the logged in user), although the logged in user can "force" another table name. Another "action" script allows just showing the table without the interactive nature. So the user can enter the table components using the "spreadsheet", and then show it on the page using the "showtable name=" script. The spreadsheet script allows one to calculate sum, average, count, and frequency (at this point only on the columns) and is intended to provide simple on-line spreadsheet functions for kids working on science projects which they can then embed in a written report. I'm moving the server right now which is why it isn't up. It will be in the next week. The script is a (greatly) modified version of one available from this site...http://www.ka.sara.nl/home/boven/ .... Because it's intended for kids it is reasonably user friendly, although lacking many formatting abilities that "adult" users are used to -- Mike Bowen
My 2 cents on tables. I think we should consider in the long run the possibility of a major refactoring of the syntax for tabular data. The current table action is extremely user-unfriendly (just have a look at the source of ConfigurationOptions). Moreover, the table action does not convert wikka-formatted strings, which in some cases is a little annoying. It think a nice idea would be to have tables directly handled in the formatter, instead of using an action. I like very much the wacko approach to tables, maybe we could do even better and find a more intuitive syntax. -- DarTar
I haven't checked this out yet, but doesn't UsingHTML pretty much solve the problem on table syntax? Now it's just figuring out how to edit a cell without editting a page. --Sam
If you want to work with individual cells, it sounds like you're thinking about something like this.... http://www.ycode.com/SpreadSheet/Latest/yCode_spreadSheet_simple.htm ... although it is not open source. Just providing the link for discussion purposes. -- Mike B
Tables were one of the biggest reasons for us wanting to go with Wikka over our existing WakkaWiki. However the syntax as it is right now is pretty unintuitive. Having one giant string of comma separated values just doesn't work for me. It would be nice to at least make it so you can add line breaks between rows. -- Justin F
FlexWiki* has a rich table markup that seems fairly easy to use. See FormattingRules for the basics and TableFormattingRules for the details. I'd like us to adopt at least the basics, and maybe add some of the extended possibilities gradually.
* (MS open source! And with Ward Cunningham apparently working for MS now...)
--JavaWoman
JW, an interesting syntax for tabular data is used by CitiWiki (adapted from ComaWiki): HelpMeTable -- DarTar
DT, JW, JT etc....if you "like" the table format used by CitiWiki (and I personally think it's reasonably user friendly & a good alternative), I might suggest not looking at the code at all but trying to replicate the outcome using your own coding approach. Rightly or wrongly, ComaWiki is copyrighted...at least the "new" parts are....and not released to public domain (he charges for commercial use), so using (and, in legal cases, even looking at somebodies code makes you culpable is my understanding) the code as part of wikka might lead to problems. Just food for thought. --GmBowen
Hmmm - the CitiWiki syntax looks very much like FlexWiki as far as the basic syntax is concerned - but the complete FlexiWiki table syntax is not only richer, but it's syntax "pattern" is more easily extensible, too. Do have a look and compare what they do with CitiWiki and you'll (probably) see what I mean. :) I like extensibility so I like the FlexiWiki syntax better. No problems with copyright either - it's open source.
In fact, since I expect I'll need tables for my (planned) Wiki I'd do my own mod for this if Wikka doesn't have one by the time I get may email stuff finished (hacking hard...). -- JavaWoman
All that to generate a very basic HTML table (not even a data table)? A good Wiki syntax would probably be easier to understand as well as more efficient for the basics. -- JavaWoman
CategoryDevelopment
