Ds_RowNumber start at 0 / Image title short

Question

Some notes about how I have been using spry and how I have
got around some issues. Although simple it can take a non JS
expert like me a while to figure them out! If you know there
is a better way round any of these then let me know.
ds_RowNumber starting at zero
Added {ds_RowCounter} in sprydata.js to get round the problem
of displaying 0 when listing items. Now when listing items it will
begin at 1 rather than 0. I have tried not to modified the
sprydata.js as I don't want to be in position as not to easily
upgrade. But I could'nt find anyway around this with something like
{ds_RowNumber+1} for example.
Line 2098 sprydata.js -
if (token.data == "ds_RowNumber")
outputStr += dsContext.getRowIndex();
else if (token.data == "ds_RowCount")
outputStr += dsContext.getNumRows();
else if (token.data == "ds_RowCounter")
outputStr += dsContext.getRowIndex()+1;
else
var curDataSetRow = dsContext.getCurrentRow();
if (curDataSetRow)
outputStr += curDataSetRow[token.data];
Placing content into title/alt attribute of HTML tag i.e.
<img ... title="{title}"....>
spry cuts short any text with a space in it when inserting
into the alt/title attribute to get round this
I first put   in the text destined for these
attributes. But this messed other things up and was just ..messy!
So I tried the below on images which seems to work ok and
only adds a few extra characters of code.
<img ... onload="eval(this.title='{title}')" title=""
....>
Up to yet I cannot find how to access the alt attribute on
links so have no way round that.
spryif only seems to work with integers
I wanted to do something like this - spryif="{dsImages::@cat}
== 'thb'" but every combination of writing the condition i.e.
with/without quotes , different equalities etc failed so I end up
changing the xml attribute to an integer which obviously now works
in spry. ie.
spryif="{@cat} == '1'"
Why would I want to do something like this? - I wanted the
@cat attribute to double up as an insert for an image path i.e.
src="{@ref}{@cat}.{@fileType}".
Related to this problem was also my XML structure. I
originally had:
<images>
<icons>
<icon>.....</icon>
...repeated
</icons>
<backgrounds>
<background>.....</background>
...repeated
</backgrounds>
</images>
To display all these in one go I believe it would rquire 2
datasets i.e. one each for icons and backgrounds. Instead I opted
to modifying my XML by asigning a 'cat' atttribute to distinguish
from icon and background.
<images>
<image cat="1">.....<image>
...repeated
<image cat="2">.....<image>
...repeated
</images>
And then use a spryif condition i.e
spryif="{@cat} == '1'" then do this this...
spryif="{@cat} == '2'" then do this this...
.... to weed each type out and treat appropriately which
seems to work ok.
Just in case your wondering I do have more than 2 categories
in my project and I also wanted it to be easily 'expanable',
because the spry page is generated by php it does'nt matter
how many spryif's I have to put in... if you understand what I
mean. Where as creating multiple datasets as I did the first time
round is more messy to automatically produce.
I also learned that spryif="{@someattribute}" (i.e. just
checking if an attribute exists) also works which is very useful
and
simple way for weeding things out and differianting between
things.
Puzzle!
Something I have'nt worked out and I am not sure whether I
need to because at the moment it is working the way I need,
although it does puzzle me so if anyone can explain what is
happening that would be good as I can imagine some situations where
it could be useful to know how to get round it. This is a simple
example:
Original code in HTML page is..... <span
id"title">{title}</span>
An event occurs.. and I change it into a form input i.e.
document.getElementById("title").innerHTML = '<input
type="text" name="title" value="'+title+'"/>';
When the dataset gets reloaded i.e. loadData(); by some other
spry event the new HTML that has been dynamically written in (the
form) reverts back to how it was originally i.e. <span
id"title">{title}</span>.
i.e. it seems to have no memory of what has happened - is
this just the way it works? If so I will avoid any situations that
require this to happen.
Thanks
Andrew Richardson
I have just realised that I have an outdated version of spry
and some of the things above maybe irrelevent.

Answer 1

Hello Kinblas,
Sorry for the slow response... I am sprying on the side!
I am pleased you might find my long posts useful. Obviously
it must be very important to the success of your project to
consider 'how people work' and their current 'mindsets' as well as
just the 'technical' details.
I have not been to any 'seminars', although probably very
interesting - I have not really planned too... mainly because, as
you know there are many technologies involved in web development -
from the bright lights of 'flash animation' to the darkest server
tasks of scripting a cron job (that’s my perspective!!) - and
I ‘believe’ there is very little time for me to become
a 'master' of any one particular 'technology' and tend to skip
around trying different things to solve 'clients' needs at that
time - if I am 'confident' something works for its intended
audience (within a 'budget') - I use it. That is why your
'framework' is potentially valuable to me - because it is opening
up javascript for me again after I 'dumped' it a few years ago
(probably in favour of flash). To help me out I bought an
‘AJAX’ book, but to be honest I have not really read
it, I will probably learn more from fiddling with the SPRY
framework.
My transitions to new technologies tend to be very slow and
gradually implemented. The following web page for example
www.brook-industries.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=41
required AS1 scripting, 3D modelling, bit of java 'fiddling', CAD,
video editing as well as the usual mix of web technology (A drop in
the ocean with all the possible web technologies out there).
Despite utilising different technologies I might for example still
use 'tables' for layout - regardless of others 'scorning it', I
will shift completely to css very slowly as I gain more confidence
in it... and following 'accessibility guidelines' is only just
floating into my consciousness (someone could have at pick at
that!). You also have to keep your eye on time spent learning
'technologies' that may become 'redundant' - when I started
developing I learnt the VRML 2 spec inside out thinking it was the
next big thing...
In general I think clients cannot and do not even want to
perceive the value of all the back end technology (probably 80% of
my developing time), they seem to place more value (obviously) on
what they can 'see' - which is a strong point for SPRY as it does
create USEFUL yet visually interesting functionality quite readily.
I think in the last few weeks whilst I have been
‘playing’ with spry I have done more ‘visual
front end design’ than I would normally pay attention too -
maybe because JS is so inherently interlinked with HTML and CSS
(the display bit) – which is what I like! – when I get
that 80% down to 50% and I will be very happy!
Regardless of my seemingly limited time to learn - I have
done a bit more sprying and have more 'amateur questions' - I will
create a new post for these.
Andrew