Rails - Jun 2005 - Feedback Request: CookbooXUL v2 (Ruby/Odeum w/ 10k+ Recipes)

Hi Rails folks,

I''ve been working on a new souped up version of my original CookbooXUL
application that I did a while back.  The original was just a rip-off of
Curt Hibb''s article, but the new one is a dangerous beast all its own.
The new one uses Ruby/Odeum to search and return some 10k+ recipes in
RecipeML format.

I have a beta online of the new one and I''m interested in feedback from
folks about it.  Please visit:

http://zedsucks.dhs.org:8000/recipes/

With Firefox, Mozilla, or even Epiphany (any Gecko/Mozilla based browser
should work).

Let me know what you think about the usability and whether the app
worked for you on your platform/browser.  Keep in mind it''s a XUL app,
so just forget things like, "Can you do a floating three column setup
with a CSS only layout just like at Zen Garden?"  That stuff just
doesn''t work the same in XUL.

Thanks for your time.  Really good suggestions will get an honorable
mention in my little blog post about the application.


Zed A. Shaw
http://www.zedshaw.com/

P.S. Yes, I know the link says I suck.  Just thought I''d preempt the
haters.  :-)

enchiladas

----- Original Message Follows -----
From: "Zed A. Shaw"
<zedshaw-dd7LMGGEL7NBDgjK7y7TUQ@public.gmane.org>
To: Ruby On Rails List
<rails-1W37MKcQCpIf0INCOvqR/iCwEArCW2h5@public.gmane.org>
Subject: [Rails] Feedback Request: CookbooXUL v2 (Ruby/Odeum
w/ 10k+ Recipes)
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 03:00:52 -0400
> Hi Rails folks,
> 
> I''ve been working on a new souped up version of my
> original CookbooXUL application that I did a while back. 
> The original was just a rip-off of Curt Hibb''s article,
> but the new one is a dangerous beast all its own. The new
> one uses Ruby/Odeum to search and return some 10k+ recipes
> in RecipeML format.
> 
> I have a beta online of the new one and I''m interested in
> feedback from folks about it.  Please visit:
> 
> http://zedsucks.dhs.org:8000/recipes/
> 
> With Firefox, Mozilla, or even Epiphany (any Gecko/Mozilla
> based browser should work).
> 
> Let me know what you think about the usability and whether
> the app worked for you on your platform/browser.  Keep in
> mind it''s a XUL app, so just forget things like, "Can you
> do a floating three column setup with a CSS only layout
> just like at Zen Garden?"  That stuff just doesn''t work
> the same in XUL.
> 
> Thanks for your time.  Really good suggestions will get an
> honorable mention in my little blog post about the
> application.
> 
> 
> Zed A. Shaw
> http://www.zedshaw.com/
> 
> P.S. Yes, I know the link says I suck.  Just thought I''d
> preempt the haters.  :-)
> _______________________________________________
> Rails mailing list
> Rails-1W37MKcQCpIf0INCOvqR/iCwEArCW2h5@public.gmane.org
> http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails

> Let me know what you think about the usability and whether the app
> worked for you on your platform/browser.
Wow, on Firefox/Mac it worked amazingly, it was surprisingly fast. It  
felt like a desktop app inside of a browser. My only problem is that  
Firefox/Mac''s XUL widgets don''t look much like OSX at all.

On Jun 22, 2005, at 3:00 AM, Zed A. Shaw wrote:
> I''ve been working on a new souped up version of my original
CookbooXUL
> application that I did a while back.  The original was just a rip- 
> off of
> Curt Hibb''s article, but the new one is a dangerous beast all its
own.
> The new one uses Ruby/Odeum to search and return some 10k+ recipes in
> RecipeML format.
>
> I have a beta online of the new one and I''m interested in feedback
> from
> folks about it.  Please visit:
>
> http://zedsucks.dhs.org:8000/recipes/
>
> With Firefox, Mozilla, or even Epiphany (any Gecko/Mozilla based  
> browser
> should work).
>
> Let me know what you think about the usability and whether the app
> worked for you on your platform/browser.  Keep in mind it''s a XUL
app,
> so just forget things like, "Can you do a floating three column setup
> with a CSS only layout just like at Zen Garden?"  That stuff just
> doesn''t work the same in XUL.
>
> Thanks for your time.  Really good suggestions will get an honorable
> mention in my little blog post about the application.
Nice work - worked great for me in Firefox on a Mac.

As for usability, having the columns sortable by clicking on the  
headers would be nice.

Is there Rails going on behind the scenes?  Are you using Rails to  
generate XUL?

     Erik

On 6/22/05, Erik Hatcher
<erik-LIifS8st6VgJvtFkdXX2HpqQE7yCjDx5@public.gmane.org>
wrote:
> 
> 
> Is there Rails going on behind the scenes? Are you using Rails to
> generate XUL?

XUL is just XML really, so using Ruby on Rails to do this would be really 
nice....


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Colin Ramsay wrote:
> On 6/22/05, *Erik Hatcher*
<erik-LIifS8st6VgJvtFkdXX2HpqQE7yCjDx5@public.gmane.org
> <mailto:erik-LIifS8st6VgJvtFkdXX2HpqQE7yCjDx5@public.gmane.org>>
wrote:
> 
> 
>     Is there Rails going on behind the scenes?  Are you using Rails to
>     generate XUL?
> 
> 
> XUL is just XML really, so using Ruby on Rails to do this would be 
> really nice....
Zed''s original used Rails, so I have no reason to believe that that
this
one is any different.

Curt

Is something supposed to happen when I click on a recipe? I''m using a 
new-ish Firefox (Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8b2) 
Gecko/20050504 Firefox/1.0+).


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Zed A. Shaw wrote:
> Hi Rails folks,
> 
> I''ve been working on a new souped up version of my original
CookbooXUL
> application that I did a while back.  The original was just a rip-off of
> Curt Hibb''s article, but the new one is a dangerous beast all its
own.
> The new one uses Ruby/Odeum to search and return some 10k+ recipes in
> RecipeML format.
> 
> I have a beta online of the new one and I''m interested in feedback
from
> folks about it.  Please visit:
> 
> http://zedsucks.dhs.org:8000/recipes/
This is fantastic, Zed! It works great on Firefox on both Windows XP and 
Windows 2000.

Are you going to open source this? I''d like to install it on my local 
server. Also, where did you get the recipes?

Curt

How about putting the ingredients list inside a section with a
splitter between it and the destructions?

Do you convert the RecipeML data into RDF to load into the controls?

How about a placeholder for picture of dish (and picture upload method)?

Instead of listing the recipe "key" words under the title of the
recipe, how about showing them .join''d together on one line or
otherwise toggle their visibility, or barring that, put another
splitter between this part and the ingredients section?

As far as the question about generating the XUL code, it wouldn''t be
too hard to convert the view generator code to throw out XUL code
instead (done that. if I had the time, I''d try to do it for real,
i.e., ruby script/generate XulView MyController)...


On 6/22/05, Curt Hibbs <curt-fk6st7iWb8MAvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org>
wrote:
> Zed A. Shaw wrote:
> > Hi Rails folks,
> >
> > I''ve been working on a new souped up version of my original
CookbooXUL
> > application that I did a while back.  The original was just a rip-off
of
> > Curt Hibb''s article, but the new one is a dangerous beast all
its own.
> > The new one uses Ruby/Odeum to search and return some 10k+ recipes in
> > RecipeML format.
> >
> > I have a beta online of the new one and I''m interested in
feedback from
> > folks about it.  Please visit:
> >
> > http://zedsucks.dhs.org:8000/recipes/
> 
> This is fantastic, Zed! It works great on Firefox on both Windows XP and
> Windows 2000.
> 
> Are you going to open source this? I''d like to install it on my
local
> server. Also, where did you get the recipes?
> 
> Curt
> _______________________________________________
> Rails mailing list
> Rails-1W37MKcQCpIf0INCOvqR/iCwEArCW2h5@public.gmane.org
> http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails
>

Hi All,

Yep, a couple people asked for details, so here they are:

* It''s a Rails application that uses Ruby/Odeum to index and search the
RecipeML files.
* The list of results is generated via an .rhtml file as XUL and
directly pasted into the panel.
* The recipe view is actually generated using an XSLT file which the
JavaScript FSM downloads and then applies to the raw XML file.  This is
part of the reason why it''s so fast, all Firefox does is snap down the
XSLT once and then each recipe XML file when you click.  Since these are
static files I can serve them directly off lighttpd for super speed.
Even have compression turned on (although, not quite sure if it''s being
done).
* The XSLT for the recipe is pretty basic, just enough to show the
recipe.  It is also a mix of XUL and HTML.  It would probably be better
to just make it plain HTML and do a nice layout, but I wanted to
demonstrate mixing.
* The recipes were taken from the LargoRecipe project and are a
collection of public domain or otherwise free recipes in RecipeML.
* I avoided RDF like the plague.  I didn''t want to shoot myself in the
face after going insane and requiring a constant prozac drip.  In the
end, it''s easier and much more efficient to simple do a client side
XSLT
on the raw XML.  No fuss, no muss.  The XBL and RDF stuff is just
horrible, and I reserve it for custom high function component (and only
if I have to).
* There is not database backing the system (other than the ruby/odeum
index).  I was contemplating adding some ratings and all, but ran out of
time.
* The application''s client side logic is created using a javascript
"framework" that I worked up for this application.  The central
feature
of the framework is that it uses a Finite State Machine to control the
application''s interactions.  This FSM accepts transitions and events,
and it can even process an event passed from the Rails app in an HTTP
header.

For the rest of the details people will have to wait until I write the
article.

Zed

On Wed, 2005-06-22 at 15:43 +0100, Colin Ramsay wrote:
> On 6/22/05, Erik Hatcher
<erik-LIifS8st6VgJvtFkdXX2HpqQE7yCjDx5@public.gmane.org> wrote:
>         
>         Is there Rails going on behind the scenes?  Are you using
>         Rails to
>         generate XUL?
> 
> XUL is just XML really, so using Ruby on Rails to do this would be
> really nice....
>

Good work Zed! I thought it was slick and very functional, my only
thought were just that it''d be nice to have some sort of visual
indicator when a search has been submitted... even if it was as simple
as the search button being deactivated or grayed out. Also, the search
results took a little longer to appear then it seem like the should.
Last comment, could you make the recipe ingredient window bigger? At
least on my screen it''s mildly annoying to have to scroll through a
little window to see the ingredients.

Again, good work!

Regards, Abe B.

On 6/22/05, Zed A. Shaw <zedshaw-dd7LMGGEL7NBDgjK7y7TUQ@public.gmane.org>
wrote:
> Hi Rails folks,
> 
> I''ve been working on a new souped up version of my original
CookbooXUL
> application that I did a while back.  The original was just a rip-off of
> Curt Hibb''s article, but the new one is a dangerous beast all its
own.
> The new one uses Ruby/Odeum to search and return some 10k+ recipes in
> RecipeML format.
> 
> I have a beta online of the new one and I''m interested in feedback
from
> folks about it.  Please visit:
> 
> http://zedsucks.dhs.org:8000/recipes/
> 
> With Firefox, Mozilla, or even Epiphany (any Gecko/Mozilla based browser
> should work).
> 
> Let me know what you think about the usability and whether the app
> worked for you on your platform/browser.  Keep in mind it''s a XUL
app,
> so just forget things like, "Can you do a floating three column setup
> with a CSS only layout just like at Zen Garden?"  That stuff just
> doesn''t work the same in XUL.
> 
> Thanks for your time.  Really good suggestions will get an honorable
> mention in my little blog post about the application.
> 
> 
> Zed A. Shaw
> http://www.zedshaw.com/
> 
> P.S. Yes, I know the link says I suck.  Just thought I''d preempt
the
> haters.  :-)
> _______________________________________________
> Rails mailing list
> Rails-1W37MKcQCpIf0INCOvqR/iCwEArCW2h5@public.gmane.org
> http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails
>