[WWdevel] File Manager and linebreaks

[Sam Hathaway]

On Jan 8, 2005, at 12:08 PM, Davide P.Cervone wrote:

> Folks:
>
> Ken Appel's recent problems with uploading class list files suggests 
> that there is an issue that might need to be addressed in the File 
> Manager.  Currently, when text files are uploaded, their contents are 
> save verbatim.  In particular, nothing is done to adjust line 
> terminators for PC and Mac files to be in the unix form.  This may be 
> the cause of some of Ken's troubles.
>
> The question is, how should this be handled in the File Manager?  It 
> is probably a bad idea to ALWAYS convert line breaks, as if the 
> professor is uploaded an image, for example, this would damage it.  
> There are a couple of solutions:
>
> 	1.  Have a checkbox under the UPLOAD button that is "convert line 
> breaks to unix format"
> 	     or some such wording, with a warning about not doing this for 
> images or binary
> 	     data.  It could be checked by default, since most transfers 
> would be text.
>
> 	2.  Have another action button on the right for "Convert Line Breaks".
>
> 	3.  Try to use the file's extension (e.g., .lst) and contents to 
> determine if it is a text
> 	     file, and do the conversion automatically.  (Easiest for users, 
> when it works, but
> 	     prone to errors.)
>
> 	4.  Some combination of the above.
>
> What do you think?

Some FTP programs let you specify "Text", "Binary", or "Automatic" for 
the transfer mode. One of the effects of this is to turn on or off 
linebreak translation. I think this mechanism would work pretty well 
for WW.

We also have the choice of whether we reverse the translation when 
downloading files.

> A related question is should the File Manager try to be smarter about 
> where you are putting the files.  For example, if someone puts a .lst 
> file in the top level rather than in templates, should there be a 
> warning about that?  If so, what are the filetype-to-directory 
> mappings?  I know that .lst and set.def files should go in templates, 
> and .pg files should be somewhere below templates.  What other files 
> would people be uploading, and what are the restrictions on where they 
> should go?  Is a warning sufficient, or should there be some sort of 
> confirmation dialog box?

At the very least, there should be some documentation on the File 
Manager page of where various course files should go. I'm hesitant to 
do anything based on file type detection (although in WW it's probably 
a pretty safe bet). A warning couldn't hurt though.

Maybe there should be a mechanism to take to to the directory for a 
particular file type? Maybe a popup menu and a "Go" button?
-sam