[Sugar-devel] GSoC idea: Chart/graph-making activity

[Walter Bender]

Interesting idea. I don't see why this couldn't work; I am not sure of
the security implications, but I don't see why collaboration always
has to be between two identical activities.

-walter

2009/3/25 Frederick Grose <fgrose at gmail.com>:
> Why no collaboration-like tube between activities?
>
>    --Fred
>
> On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 1:51 PM, Eben Eliason <eben at laptop.org> wrote:
>>
>> Seconding Walter...more inline.
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 10:19 AM, Wade Brainerd <wadetb at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > This whole thing brings to mind something that I've been curious about
>> > for
>> > awhile.
>> >
>> > What's the "recommended" way to transfer data between activities?
>> >
>> > Say, I record some data in Measure and want to import it into Chart.  Or
>> > I
>> > generate some data in Finance and want to import it into Chart.
>> >
>> > Is the Clipboard the way to do it?  IE, should we support specialize
>> > "copy
>> > as text/csv" (or whatever) and "paste text/csv" in our activities?
>>
>> I don't think we should be adding specific data formats to the copy
>> action, if we can avoid it.  This is better suited to the "Keep as..."
>> (some other format) action. However, I do think that basic copy/paste
>> within a given activity, or between activities, should be strongly
>> encouraged. Sugar adds a visual, multi-item clipboard (with
>> forthcoming previews/descriptions) in order to make even better suited
>> to this task.
>>
>> It should never be _necessary_ to save something to the Journal in
>> order to move data into another activity, for common image/text/media
>> formats.
>>
>> > Same goes for transferring of pictures.  If I take a picture in Record
>> > and
>> > want to paint over it in Colors!, is Copy in Record and then Paste in
>> > Colors! the way to go, or should I have Colors! open the Record Journal
>> > entry?
>>
>> I'm in support of adding "import" buttons for particular media formats
>> which make sense within the context of an activity. However, this
>> shouldn't be confused with "open" buttons.  The difference there is
>> that importing an image should place an image file onto the canvas; it
>> shouldn't replace the canvas, or change the canvas size, etc.
>>
>> In your specific example, taking a photo in Record already results in
>> a Journal entry, so I think it's perfectly natural to say that one
>> should go to that photo and resume it with Colors! in order to modify
>> it there.
>>
>> I should also mention that I'd like to see the OS provided file
>> chooser dialogs grow basic recording functionality, so that an "insert
>> image" button could quickly snap a photo from the camera, and an
>> "insert audio" button record a quick audio snippet, etc. This would
>> prevent need for saving data to the Journal OR copying it from another
>> activity, in some cases.
>>
>> - Eben
>>
>> > Thanks,
>> > Wade
>> >
>> > On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 10:16 AM, Walter Bender
>> > <walter.bender at gmail.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >>
>> >> The Measure activity is another approach to consider: data collection
>> >> from multiple sources are shared and displayed in the same
>> >> visualization space.
>> >>
>> >> -walter
>> >>
>> >> On Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 11:02 AM, Eben Eliason <eben at laptop.org> wrote:
>> >> > 2009/3/23 Jameson Quinn <jameson.quinn at gmail.com>:
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> On Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 8:44 AM, Garrison Benson
>> >> >> <Benson.Garrison at gmail.com>
>> >> >> wrote:
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> Jameson Quinn wrote:
>> >> >>> >
>> >> >>> > Implementing a whole spreadsheet is a big enough chore. We do
>> >> >>> > really
>> >> >>> > care
>> >> >>> > about collaboration, but I would advise you to limit your
>> >> >>> > ambitions
>> >> >>> > to
>> >> >>> > something achievable, so worrying too much about collaboration
>> >> >>> > right
>> >> >>> > now
>> >> >>> > is
>> >> >>> > not vital.
>> >> >>> >
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> I don't plan to create a spreadsheet, just a graph/chart tool.
>> >> >>> Obviously a
>> >> >>> full-featured spreadsheet (with functions, formulas, etc.) would be
>> >> >>> great
>> >> >>> for Sugar, but I think a simple, user-friendly charting activity
>> >> >>> would
>> >> >>> be
>> >> >>> much more feasible and more likely to actually be used in a primary
>> >> >>> school/middle school environment. (Full spreadsheet applications
>> >> >>> are
>> >> >>> pretty
>> >> >>> daunting to learn.) I was just throwing out the idea of a
>> >> >>> spreadsheet-style
>> >> >>> interface as the most obvious (but not necessarily best) type of
>> >> >>> interface
>> >> >>> for this kind of program.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> OK, understood. I think that you're right, a spreadsheet-style
>> >> >> interface is
>> >> >> best - when you're doing charts by hand, you start with data tables.
>> >> >> Still,
>> >> >> I recommend that you plan your main deliverable as something that is
>> >> >> polished but without collaboration, and keep collaboration as
>> >> >> something
>> >> >> that
>> >> >> you'll work on if you have the time. Collaboration is actually
>> >> >> harder
>> >> >> to get
>> >> >> right than formulas, IMO.
>> >> >
>> >> > Agreed.  I'd simply encourage you to keep future collaboration in
>> >> > mind, such that large reorganization of the code isn't needed later
>> >> > on
>> >> > to add it.  You might also look into
>> >> > http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Groupthink, which could be a potential
>> >> > solution to adding collaboration in the long run.
>> >> >
>> >> > - Eben
>> >> >
>> >> >>
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>> >> >>
>> >> >>
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>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> Walter Bender
>> >> Sugar Labs
>> >> http://www.sugarlabs.org
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>> >
>> >
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-- 
Walter Bender
Sugar Labs
http://www.sugarlabs.org