See also CocoonDocsDrafts for "rules" about how to work on this document.
Documentation tracks?
We'd like to add tracks to the existing documentation on the Cocoon web site, to help users interested in specific parts of Cocoon to get up to speed.
The idea of a track is to provide a reading list (links to pages, technically) of documents that one should study to get up to speed on specific parts of Cocoon. The track itself will not contain any content, only point to existing content.
The main goal is to answer questions like "what documentation should I study, and in which order, to go from zero to being able to publish the results of database queries in PDF format?".
A secondary, but important goal is to show which documentation is available: tracks that have only a title but little content will show that information is still scarce in this area.
Help Wanted!
You might be a Master of one of the areas listed in the tracks plan below, or maybe you studied a specific Cocoon feature recently and would like to complete the plan? Please do!
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Tracks - the plan
This is very rough for now - feel free to add sections and/or complete their contents. You can also use footnotes #1 to enter comments.
Track: General information
Done in the CVS docs ("First steps" track).
Track: HTML publishing
Done in the CVS docs ("Web Publishing" track).
Track: PDF and RTF publishing
Done in the CVS docs ("Web Publishing" track).
Track: SQL Database Connectivity
- Database Access – An excellent overview. 1.# Configure – Before accessing your database, you must configure it as a Cocoon datasource. 1.## Install and Configure a Datasource – Learn how to add a new datasource to Cocoon. 1.## SpecificDatabaseConnection and SpecificDatabaseConnectionNew Database Actions] – Learn the gory details of connecting your favorite database software to Cocoon. JDBC drivers, JDBC class names, and connection strings. 1.# Query – Choose from three different query approaches: 1.## [http://cocoon.apache.org/2.1/userdocs/actions/database-actions.html 1.## ESQL Taglib 1.## SQL Transformer
Track: XML databases with Xindice
- please complete - what tracks/documents to study for this?
Track: Form Handling and Validation
As with the database track, there are multiple approaches to choose from.
- FormValidatorAction – A fairly simple approach to form validation. Requires little or no custom Java code. Could be bad for complex multi-page forms. 1.# Official docs 1.# FormValidationUsingCocoon – wiki docs for the action 1.# XSPFormValidator – wiki docs for the companion logicsheet 1.# SimpleFormTransformer – An alternative to the logicsheet. The official docs do not adequately describe this transformer.
- XMLForm – A powerful (but complex) approach to form validation. Requires extensive Java code to be written for each form. Good for complicated multi-page form wizards, but overkill for simpler forms. 1.# Official docs 1.# XMLForm wizard
- Woody – A new approach to form validation that does not seem to require Java code to be written. Only documented in the wiki.
Track: Flow
- please complete - what tracks/documents to study for this?
Track: Embedding Cocoon
I'm just throwing this out as a candidate. I want to be able to use Cocoon pipelines from within my own application, rather than embedding it in a web server. I'm not even sure where to start looking, though. – ScottBrickner
Add another title above this if you have an idea for another track!
like this example footnote
These wiki pages need some major work. When finished, they need to be added to the main cocoon docs.
This document states that JFOR cannot be included within Cocoon. It is now included within Cocoon 2.1. Upayavira