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Pull in values from another data-type's dcrs?

lj1958

(TeamSite 6.5.X/Windows)

I'm working with a request to create a home page where the Template generation will loop through the info contained in another set of DCRs (different data-type) in the same workarea and category.

The idea is to avoid generating individual includes, and handle it all in one home page TPL that could be generated every day by an editor or administrator. Authors would create and edit the individual DCRs for items in the (as an example) "highlights" section.

So, the data-type "home_page" would be the actual home page, and the data-type "highlights" would be used for the individual items in the highlights section.

"home_page" is located at:
y:/default/main/branch1/WORKAREA/branch1/templatedata/common_indexT/home_page

"highlights" is located at:
y:/default/main/branch1/WORKAREA/branch1/templatedata/common_indexT/highlights

So, in the TPL file for "home_page" I am trying to set up iterating through the "highlights" DCRs and, in this simple example, trying to print out the title and text for each highlight (eventually I'll be doing a lot of other things, but if I can get this simple example, I think I can figure out the rest).

The examples I have seen tend to look like they are parsing through DCRs in the same data-type, and that's where I think I am getting confused.

I've done some similar things with PERL, javascript, XSLT, but I'm getting confused on how to pull in and iterate the DCRs from the other data folder.

Here's what I have right now.

my $path="y:/default/main/branch1/WORKAREA/branch1/templatedata/common_indexT/highlights";

--- or maybe that should be y:/default/main/branch1/WORKAREA/branch1/templatedata/common_indexT/highlights/data ? --

my $group = (iwpt_dcr_list($path));
foreach my $article (iwpt_load_dcr('dcr', $group, 't'))
{
my $title = iwpt_dcr_value(dcr.highlight.hiTitle);

--- or would that be iwpt_dcr_value(($article).highlight.hiTitle)) ? --
--- "highlight" is the root-container in the DCR and "hiTitle" is the item that contains the title text ---

iwpt_output( " $title " );
iwpt_output ( "\n" );

my $text = iwpt_dcr_value ((dcr.highlight.hiText));
iwpt_output (" $text " );
iwpt_output ( "\n\n" );
}

I'm still missing something here, can anyone give me some suggestions?

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Comments

ISCBorisB

I've illustrated some of this stuff here, perhaps it may help.

lj1958

Thanks, that may help. I can see where I might have missed building an array of the dcrs, but I still can't figure out where the path would come in.

Adam Stoller

...
Here's what I have right now.

my $path="y:/default/main/branch1/WORKAREA/branch1/templatedata/common_indexT/highlights";

--- or maybe that should be y:/default/main/branch1/WORKAREA/branch1/templatedata/common_indexT/highlights/data ? --

I believe the answer to that question is "yes" to the second one.

my $group = (iwpt_dcr_list($path));

This line doesn't make any sense - iwpt_dcr_list() retrieves a list of nodes from a DCR - $path is, right now, a path to a directory - instead I think you need to:

You have some of the loop part right, but you're not looping on anything that is intelligible.

ISCBorisB

Thanks, that may help. I can see where I might have missed building an array of the dcrs, but I still can't figure out where the path would come in.

You do not build an array of parsed DCRs directly. "iwpt_load_dcr" will take care of that.

In sample's Scenario2 a list of full DCR Paths goes into @full_dcr_names Array -
whatever collection of DCRs this particular template has to parse.

lj1958

iwpt_dcr_list() retrieves a list of nodes from a DCR

OK...got it. I had thought it retrieved a list of DCRs, not the nodes within a single DCR.

I'll go back and review the samples again. I think I may know what I am doing wrong now - looks like I need to go back and put in the missing PERL to go through the directory and find the DCRs.

Thanks much for the feedback, everyone.

lj1958

OK, I have reviewed the samples, and looked at the reference materials for the PT tags. I've dug through PERL info/perldocs on the net to try and understand things I haven't used before.

I have simplified the code to try to pull only one item/value in off the DCRs for testing purposes.

I am still getting a preview and generate error - could not process template

Here's what's in my iw_perl code inside the presentation template, and my notes:

my $path= "y:/default/main/branch1/WORKAREA/branch1/templatedata/common_indexT/highlights/data/";
opendir(DIR, $path);
my @full_dcr_names = readdir(DIR); # creates an array of the file names from reading through the directory?
my @dcr_names = iwpt_get_dcr_name(); # am I declaring an empty array to fill later?

foreach my $nextdcr (@full_dcr_names) {
# the loop should go through and pick up each file name from the full_dcr_names array
my $lookup = $nextdcr;
$lookup =~ s|\\|/|g; # regex to filter
$lookup =~ s|.*/([^/]+)$|$1|; # regex to filter
# I think the two regex above filter out the "." and ".." for higher level directories as entries in the array
push (@dcr_names, $lookup); # add the current lookup value into the dcr_names array
iwpt_load_dcr($nextdcr, 'dcrlocal', 't'); # not sure why this is contained in this loop but not doing anything with it, shouldn't I be trying to output the values after this instead of creating a new loop?
}

my @dcr_list = iwpt_dcr_list('dcr'); # not sure what 'dcr' indicates here, this appears to be creating an array of iwpt_dcr_list, but shouldn't this be looking at the dcr_names array for that info?
if (@dcr_list) { # if there are items in the dcr list
foreach my $current_dcr (@dcr_list) {
#looping through the dcrs
my $current_dcr_name = shift @dcr_names;
#switch to the next dcr's name?
my $title = iwpt_dcr_value('current_dcr.highlight.hiTitle');
# pull in the value from the current dcr with root-container "highlight" and item "hiTitle"
iwpt_output (" $title "); # output the value of $title
}

lj1958

I'm not sure I understand why this below isn't working. It's nice and simple, and is looping through the file names themselves, but isn't loading anything but the first dcr's values.


my $path = "y:/default/main/branch1/WORKAREA/branch1/templatedata/common_indexT/highlights/data/";
opendir(DIR, $path);
my @full_dcr_names = readdir(DIR);
closedir(DIR); 


my @dcr_names = iwpt_get_dcr_name(); 
foreach my $nextdcr (@full_dcr_names) {
next if ($nextdcr =~ /^\.\.?$/);
iwpt_output (" $nextdcr
\n");
iwpt_load_dcr($nextdcr, 'dcrlocal', 't');
my $title = iwpt_dcr_value('dcr.highlight.hiTitle');
iwpt_output (" $title
\n"); 
}

Results:

101310_sdi
SDI Weather Trends
101310_pan1
SDI Weather Trends
101310_livestock
SDI Weather Trends

1) Removes "." and ".." for upper level folders from array (good)
2) Correctly loops through outputs dcr names using $nextdcr (good)
3) But doesn't load next dcr itself in the loop, thereby repeating the first dcr's title (bad)

nipper

You are loading the DCR correctly but you are referencing the original DCR in this statement:

iwpt_dcr_value('dcr.highlight.hiTitle');

reread the load_dcr page and see how the data is referenced

lj1958

I finally got the example working, with one little bug still to figure out.


my $path = "y:/default/main/branch1/WORKAREA/branch1/templatedata/common_indexT/highlights/data/";
opendir(DIR, $path);
my @full_dcr_names = readdir(DIR);
closedir(DIR); 

my @dcr_names = iwpt_get_dcr_name(); 
foreach my $nextdcr (@full_dcr_names) {
next if ($nextdcr =~ /^\./);
my $lookup = $nextdcr;
iwpt_output (" $lookup
\n");
push (@dcr_names, $lookup);
iwpt_load_dcr($lookup, 'dcrlocal', 't');
}

my @dcr_list = iwpt_dcr_list('dcr'); 
if (@dcr_list) {
foreach my $current_dcr (@dcr_list) {
my $current_dcr_name = shift @dcr_names;
my $title = iwpt_dcr_value('current_dcr.highlight.hiTitle');
iwpt_output (" $title
\n"); 
}
}

produces the following output:
101310_sdi
101310_pan1
101310_livestock
First DCR Title
First DCR Title
Second DCR Title
Second DCR Title

So, somewhere in that second loop there's a weird repeat going on with just the first iteration.

nipper

Try commenting out the line: push(@dcr_names, $lookup);

lj1958

I stil get a repeated title...

Second DCR Title
First DCR Title
Second DCR Title
Third Dcr TItle

lj1958

OK, remember that my original concept was to pull in this information into another data-type in the same category? So that the "home page" could pull in the "highlights" dcrs?

Well, when I used this code in the highlights folder, the duplicate entry was from the opened dcr where I tried to generate the template (even though I wasn't parsing down through the open dcr's content).

When I pasted this code into the "home page" tpl, and tried to run it, I got the following error:

Could not load dcr: Y:\default\main\branch1\WORKAREA\branch1\templatedata\common_indexT\common_index\data/101310_sdi

(I did try changing the backslashes to forward slashes, then it gave me a "could not process template" error).

I'm going to try coding the "highlights" tpl in as an iw_include on the "home page" tpl.

lj1958

Odd....this is working correctly in the highlights tpl, so I will try using this as an include...I broke out of the PERL and used regular iw tags, then closed the loop in the PERL.

[html]

 my $path = "y:/default/main/branch1/WORKAREA/branch1/templatedata/common_indexT/highlights/data/"; opendir(DIR, $path); my @full_dcr_names = readdir(DIR); closedir(DIR); my @dcr_names = iwpt_get_dcr_name(); foreach my $nextdcr (@full_dcr_names) { next if ($nextdcr =~ /^\./); my $lookup = $nextdcr; 

<h2></h2>
 } 

[/html]

I even expanded it with additional values from each highlights DCR file and it works fine. No duplicates.

ISCBorisB

When you run this stuff through PT on Generate/Preview you have to make sure that
you do not create duplicates. Remember, one parsed DCR is already loaded - the one
you've clicked "Generate/Preview" on.

It is your(the Developer) responsibility to make sure that you do not load this
DCR (or any other DCR for that matter) more than once, iwpt_load_dcr will happily
create duplicates

lj1958

Yes...

Coding it the way I did last time makes it more difficult to figure out how to sort the dcrs by date or by some value, so I've got to keep working on it.

lj1958

OK, here is the latest...I have noticed that when trying to use a .tpl as an include, that the combination of "mode" used in both the included .tpl and the main .tpl seem to be an issue.

Right now this works correctly when included in the common_index tpl as ptlocal mode:

[html]
 my $path = "y:/default/main/branch1/WORKAREA/branch1/templatedata/common_indexT/highlights/data/"; opendir(DIR, $path); my @full_dcr_names = readdir(DIR); closedir(DIR); my @dcr_names = iwpt_get_dcr_name(); foreach my $nextdcr (@full_dcr_names) { next if ($nextdcr =~ /^\./); my $lookup = $nextdcr; # iwpt_output (" $lookup \n"); # push (@dcr_names, $lookup); #iwpt_load_dcr($lookup, 'dcrlocal', 't'); 

<h2></h2> published 
(<a href="read more)

This item is: ]]> The item is: The item is targeted for:
 } 
[/html]

but, this version of the include doesn't work no matter which mode is set, or how I adapt the path

[html]
 my $path = "y:/default/main/branch1/WORKAREA/branch1/templatedata/common_indexT/highlights/data/"; opendir(DIR, $path); my @full_dcr_names = readdir(DIR); closedir(DIR); my @dcr_names = iwpt_get_dcr_name(); foreach my $nextdcr (@full_dcr_names) { next if ($nextdcr =~ /^\./); my $lookup = $nextdcr; # iwpt_output ("$lookup"); push (@dcr_names, $lookup); my $dcrx = iwpt_load_dcr($lookup, 'ptlocal', 't'); } my @dcr_list = iwpt_dcr_list($dcrx); if (@dcr_list) { foreach my $current_dcr (@dcr_list) { my $current_dcr_name = shift @dcr_names; my $title = iwpt_dcr_value('current_dcr.highlight.hiTitle'); my $date = iwpt_dcr_value('current_dcr.highlight.hiDate'); my $text = iwpt_dcr_value('current_dcr.highlight.hiText'); my $readMore = iwpt_dcr_value('current_dcr.highlight.readMoreLink'); my $priority = iwpt_dcr_value ('current_dcr.highlight.priorityLevel'); my $status = iwpt_dcr_value('current_dcr.highlight.hiStatus'); iwpt_output (" <h2>$title</h2>\n"); iwpt_output ("$date \n"); iwpt_output ("$text"); iwpt_output ("<a href=\"$readMore\">read more</a>\n"); iwpt_output ("This item is: $priority \n"); iwpt_output ("The item is: $status \n"); } } 

[/html]

I either get 1) the html code with empty iw values or 2) a Preview and Generate Error - Could not load dcr: y:/default/main/branch1/WORKAREA/branch1/templatedata/common_indexT/highlights/presentation/101310_sdi

lj1958

I think I've found the solution, so I'll be posting later what I found.

lj1958

OK...this is a sample from my now-working highlights.tpl file, which is included in the home page tpl as an iw_include. This pulls in a bunch of dcrs from the highlights data directory...then sorts them by date (descending, i.e. most recent first). Everything else I need to do is simply a matter of looping and iw_if or iw_ifcase, so I should be good.

Thanks to those who attempted to point me in the right direction. I don't work in PERL very often, so I tend to know what I want to do conceptually but then "think" in JavaScript or Java...so I have to go back and look up a lot of syntax issues.

[html]

 my $path = "y:/default/main/branch1/WORKAREA/branch1/templatedata/common_indexT/highlights/data/"; opendir(DIR, $path); my @full_dcr_names = readdir(DIR); closedir(DIR); my %dcrHash = (); foreach my $nextdcr (@full_dcr_names) { next if ($nextdcr =~ /^\./); my $lookup = $nextdcr; $dcrpath = $path . $lookup; my $lastmod = (stat($dcrpath))[9]; $dcrHash{$lookup} = $lastmod; } foreach my $key (reverse sort keys %dcrHash) { # iwpt_output ("$key = $dcrHash{$key} \n"); # the above is a testing line to use to make sure that we have correct output 

<h2></h2> published 
(<a href="">read more</a>.)

 } } </iw_perl> [/html

Adam Stoller

I don't believe the code you posted does what you say you want it to do.
Your decision to use a hash is good - but the way you use it is, I believe, incorrect for your needs.

You are using the dcrname's for the keys and sorting on those, instead of the date information you said you wanted to use.

You should probably use something like this:

...
my %dcrHash;
foreach my $nextdcr (@full_dcr_names) {
    my $dcrpath = "$path$nextdcr";
    my $lastmod = -M "$dcrpath";
    push(@{$dcrHash{$lastmod}}, $nextdcr);
}

foreach my $key (sort keys %dcrHash) {
    foreach my $dcrfile (sort @{$dcrHash{$key}}) {
        #... $dcrfile is what you want to load
    }
}

The structure above creates a hash of references to arrays - using the age of the file (a floating-point number in days) as the key and the array is in case you happen to have more than one file with the exact same age (highly unlikely unless the files are programmatically touched).
The lower two nested loops then sort through the keys of the hash (the newest will be the smallest number and thus a forward instead of reverse sort) and then sorts the list of entries for that date alphabetically (in case there happen to be more than one entry there).