wftk -- Process definition

Topic: wftk -- Sitemap for initial specifications and analysis

(3/9/00) - This sitemap is kind of a culmination of the analysis process, in the sense that I'm going to start coding a prototype now and so the analysis from here on out may actually have some grounding in reality. So I thought it would be fitting to take a kind of snapshot of where our thinking is right now and archive it off into a separate little corner of the site.

Usage scenarios: usage_scenarios.html
The usage scenarios were my starting point, sketching out what we expect the system to be.
- Chair scenario: usage/chair.html
- Trade show organization: usage/tradeshow.html
- Open-source project: usage/openproj.html
- Closed-source project: usage/closedproj.html
- E-commerce transaction: usage/ecomm.html
- SourceXchange project: usage/sxc.html
- To-do list addition: usage/todo.html
System overview: server_design.html
The system overview was next, as the usage scenarios had pretty much made clear what components the system must have to do its job. The system overview has a nice picture of the whole thing.
- Crude database schema: sys_overview/schema.html
XML DTD of process definition: process_defn.html
Next up was the process definition in detail, and the XML structures I considered necessary to express the kinds of things I was doing with the usage scenarios. For this, I also coded the scenarios as XML.

Pieces of the process definition explanation:
- Alerts: process_defn/alert.html
- Data: process_defn/data.html
- Conditionals: process_defn/if.html
- Iteration and situations: process_defn/loop.html
The XML DTD itself:
- XML DTD: process_defn/xml_dtd.html
- Text version (i.e. the DTD without the chit-chat): process_defn/xml_dtd.txt
XML versions of the various usage scenarios:
- Chair scenario: process_defn/chair_defn.html>
- Tradeshow scenario: process_defn/tradeshow_defn.html>
- Open-source scenario: process_defn/openproj_defn.html>
- Closed-source scenario: process_defn/closedproj_defn.html>
- E-commerce scenario: process_defn/ecomm_defn.html>
- SourceXchange scenario: process_defn/sxc_defn.html>
Mockup of user interface: user_interface.html
The final piece of initial analysis was a sketch of what the (initial) user interface to the system should look like. Note that the design of the system in no way restricts the user to a single interface -- any number of comprehensive or specialized interfaces could coexist quite nicely.

The quasi-active version of the interface at the site includes a Perl-driven navigation frame; that frame simply contains links to the following static pages for the purposes of navigation:
- My processes
  - Process list: ui_mockup/process_list.html
  - Completed processes: ui_mockup/process_complete.html
  - Start process: ui_mockup/process_start.html
  - New process: ui_mockup/process_new.html
  - Open (edit) process: ui_mockup/process_open.html
    This is quite significant, as it's the outline of what the process editor will look like. The example I sketched was the chair scenario.
    - Overall (top): ui_mockup/process_open_chair.html
    - Roles: ui_mockup/process_open_chair_roles.html
    - Data: ui_mockup/process_open_chair_data.html
    - Actions (detailed): ui_mockup/process_open_chair_actions.html
    - Actions (no details): ui_mockup/process_open_chair_actions_overview.html
- My to-do list
  - To-do list: ui_mockup/todo.html
  - To-do today: ui_mockup/todo_today.html
  - To-do calendar: ui_mockup/todo_calendar.html
  - Add ad-hoc entry to list: ui_mockup/todo_add.html
- Reports
  - Reports musings: ui_mockup/reports_overview.html
- Administration
  - Preferences: ui_mockup/admin_pref.html
  - User/group admin: ui_mockup/admin_users.html
  - Permissions: ui_mockup/admin_perms.html
  - Global values: ui_mockup/admin_globals.html
  - Sytem activity: ui_mockup/admin_system.html