scheduled_resource

== README.md: #ScheduledResource This gem is for displaying how things are used over time -- a schedule for a set of "resources". You can configure the elements of the schedule and there are utilities and protocols to connect them: - Configuration (specification and management), - Query interfaces (a REST-like API and internal protocols to query the models), and - A basic Rails controller implementation. We have a way to configure the schedule, internal methods to generate the data, and a way to retrieve data from the client. However this gem is largely view-framework agnostic. We could use a variety of client-side packages or even more traditional Rails view templates to generate HTML. In any case, to get a good feel in a display like this we need some client-side code. The gem includes client-side modules to: - Manage <b>time and display geometries</b> with "infinite" scroll along the time axis. - <b>Format display cells</b> in ways specific to the resource models. - <b>Update text justification</b> as the display is scrolled horizontally. ## Configuration A **scheduled resource** is something that can be used for one thing at a time. So if "Rocky & Bullwinkle" is on channel 3 from 10am to 11am on Saturday, then 'channel 3' is the <u>resource</u> and that showing of the episode is a <u>resource-use</u> block. Resources and use-blocks are typically Rails models. Each resource and its use-blocks get one row in the display. That row has a label to the left with some timespan visible on the rest of the row. Something else you would expect see in a schedule would be headers and labels -- perhaps one row with the date and another row with the hour. Headers and labels also fit the model of resources and use-blocks. Basic timezone-aware classes (ZTime*) for those are included in this gem. ### Config File The schedule configuration comes from <tt>config/resource_schedule.yml</tt> which has three top-level sections: - ResourceKinds: A hash where the key is a Resource and the value is a UseBlock. (Both are class names), - Resources: A list where each item is a Resource Class followed by one or more resource ids, and - visibleTime: The visible timespan of the schedule in seconds. The example file <tt>config/resource_schedule.yml</tt> (installed when you run <tt>schedulize</tt>) should be enough to display a two-row schedule with just the date above and the hour below. Of course you can monkey-patch or subclass these classes for your own needs. ### The schedule API The 'schedule' endpoint uses parameters <tt>t1</tt> and <tt>t2</tt> to specify a time interval for the request. A third parameter <tt>inc</tt> allows an initial time window to be expanded without repeating blocks that span those boundaries. The time parameters _plus the configured resources_ define the data to be returned. ### More About Configuration Management The <b>ScheduledResource</b> class manages resource and use-block class names, id's and labels for a schedule according to the configuration file. A ScheduledResource instance ties together: 1. A resource class (eg TvStation), 2. An id (a channel number in this example), and 3. Strings and other assets that will go into the DOM. The id is used to - select a resource _instance_ and - select instances of the _resource use block_ class (eg Program instances). The id _could_ be a database id but more often is something a little more suited to human use in the configuration. In any case it is used by model class method <tt>(resource_use_block_class).get_all_blocks()</tt> to select the right use-blocks for the resource. A resource class name and id are are joined with a '_' to form a tag that also serves as an id for the DOM. Once the configuration yaml is loaded that data is maintained in the session structure. Of course having a single configuration file limits the application's usefulness. A more general approach would be to have a user model with login and configuration would be associated with the user. ## Installation Add this line to your application's Gemfile: ```ruby gem 'scheduled_resource' ``` And then execute: $ bundle Or install it yourself as: $ gem install scheduled_resource Then from your application's root execute: $ schedulize . This will install a few image placeholders, client-side modules and a stylesheet under <tt>vendor/assets</tt>, an example configuration in <tt>config/resource_schedule.yml</tt> and an example controller in <tt>app/controllers/schedule_controller.rb</tt>. Also, if you use $ bundle show scheduled_resource to locate the installed source you can browse example classes <tt>lib/z_time_*.rb</tt> and the controller helper methods in <tt>lib/scheduled_resource/helper.rb</tt> ## Testing This gem also provides for a basic test application using angularjs to display a minimal but functional schedule showing just the day and hour headers in two different timezones (US Pacific and Eastern). Proceed as follows, starting with a fresh Rails app: $ rails new test_sr As above, add the gem to the Gemfile, then $ cd test_sr $ bundle $ schedulize . Add lines such as these to <tt>config/routes.rb</tt> get "/schedule/index" => "schedule#index" get "/schedule" => "schedule#schedule" Copy / merge these files from the gem source into the test app: $SR_SRC/app/views/layouts/application.html.erb $SR_SRC/app/views/schedule/index.html.erb $SR_SRC/app/assets/javascripts/{angular.js,script.js,controllers.js} and add <tt>//= require angular</tt> to application.js just below the entries for <tt>jquery</tt>. After you run the server and browse to http://0.0.0.0:3000/schedule/index you should see the four time-header rows specified by the sample config file. ## More Examples A better place to see the use of this gem is at [tv4](https://github.com/emeyekayee/tv4). Specifically, models <tt>app/models/event.rb</tt> and <tt>app/models/station.rb</tt> give better examples of implementing the ScheduledResource protocol and adapting to a db schema organized along somewhat different lines. ## Contributing 1. Fork it ( https://github.com/emeyekayee/scheduled_resource/fork ) 2. Create your feature branch (`git checkout -b my-new-feature`) 3. Commit your changes (`git commit -am 'Add some feature'`) 4. Push to the branch (`git push origin my-new-feature`) 5. Create a new Pull Request