Meeting 6 - Chat Session

Session Start (porsche.webchat.org:#dbVis): Mon Nov 11 19:32:59 2002
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*** Users on #dbVis: soniaka brians @Ross_Sid abhaysathe jianmei SandraFaust
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<soniaka> hello everybody
<jianmei> hello
<SandraFaust> hello, hello!
<abhaysathe> hi
<brians> hi sonia
<Ross_Sid> Aight. No more hellos!
<Ross_Sid> status call
<jianmei> two minutes left
<Ross_Sid> jianmei whatcha do this week
<jianmei> this coming week?
<Ross_Sid> (everyone else prepare..I'm askin you next)
<Ross_Sid> nope, this past week
<Ross_Sid> (sid, is much friendlier than I am)
<jianmei> i did some update glossary
<Ross_Sid> but he's busy eating kung pow
<jianmei> i try to find out the whole picture here
*** _Dave_ (dhampshi@=Uo3Vund118.tnt3.boise.id.da.uu.net) has joined channel #dbVis
<SandraFaust> everybody's here!
<_Dave_> sorry I'm late I was waiting for all of you at #join
<_Dave_> whoops
<Ross_Sid> Brian, what did you get done?
<SandraFaust> :))
<brians> the use case model has been updated and abhay wrote up nine use cases in rup format
<Ross_Sid> awsome
<brians> and i, excuse me
<Ross_Sid> good job
<brians> abhay and i
<abhaysathe> but i didn't prioritize them
<abhaysathe> yet
<brians> thats ok we're just getting written down first
<Ross_Sid> My turn! Hopefully you all got the coding standards I sent out. Anyone who writes code needs to memorize and follow them
<Ross_Sid> I also did a nasty chunk of the software architecture doc
<abhaysathe> Hey good job ross
<Ross_Sid> Thank ya
<SandraFaust> Yes, I just found them, I'll post them on the site tongiht
<Ross_Sid> Sid was a slacker, but I'm cracking the whip on him
<SandraFaust> poor sid
<Ross_Sid> Sonia, were you working on anything this past week?
<soniaka> i was not given any work..and i asked u what to do ? it seems my mails are never replied to
<Ross_Sid> sorry bout that
<Ross_Sid> dave what were you up to?
<_Dave_> the schema package is mostly done
<_Dave_> i sent some code to your query_by_example e-mail to see if it is what you wanted
<_Dave_> I just have a couple questions for you Ross.
<Ross_Sid> I saw your code, but it won't compile. It's a good start, but there are some flaws
<_Dave_> I wasn't able to get to the iteration plans
<_Dave_> I'll be working on those the first of this week
<abhaysathe> so ros'ss hiding all the code...
<Ross_Sid> nope!
<abhaysathe> in cvs ?
<Ross_Sid> none of the code is actually working yet so I'm hiding nothing
<_Dave_> I'll be writing the test driver and test cases early this week for the schema package.
<abhaysathe> I was blocked a bit on what the importer should return to the schema..
<Ross_Sid> the importer should make a schema
<Ross_Sid> instantiate it
<brians> table structures, foreign key relationships
<abhaysathe> like Schema importer.getSchema() ?
<abhaysathe> I also want add a factory for importers ..
<Ross_Sid> The importer is the schema factory
<abhaysathe> ok I need to see the architecture doc. If there is some code in cvs it'll help too. (doesn't have to compile)
<Ross_Sid> if you look at our UML, you'll see a function in the ImportRegistry that calls the ImportDefinition.import()
<Ross_Sid> that's not ok
<Ross_Sid> NEVER put code in cvs that doesn't compile
<Ross_Sid> share over e-mail if you have to
<_Dave_> ...or code that isn't tested
<Ross_Sid> aight. Side note:
<Ross_Sid> Web people. The web page looks nice but it's kinda tough to use
<SandraFaust> suggestions?
<Ross_Sid> could you put explicit links to the uml we're using?
<SandraFaust> sure
<Ross_Sid> also, if you look at sid's old webpage, there are links to each doc
<Ross_Sid> that would help too
<brians> we need to get the documentation organized into the diff phases
<SandraFaust> yes, I was supposed to do that amd I didn't
<Ross_Sid> handin keyboard over to sid...signin off
<brians> do we have a working iteration plan so we know how to break up the docs
<Ross_Sid> Hey all. Sid here...
<SandraFaust> that's what was confusing me
<SandraFaust> hi, how is it going?
<_Dave_> Hi Sid!
<abhaysathe> hi sid
<_Dave_> I haven't completed the current iteration plan yet.
<jianmei> hello, nice to see you
<Ross_Sid> Alright... Re: Docs into phases...
<Ross_Sid> The problem with that idea is that we continuously work on many of the documents
<Ross_Sid> For instance, the Software Development Plan will be worked on all the way until Construction.
<Ross_Sid> (and part of the way through)
<Ross_Sid> I don't mind how you organize the docs, Brian/Sandra. They just need some sort of organization scheme.
<brians> should we not link the phases with docs
<Ross_Sid> We can do that. Just keep in mind that you're going to have multiple links pointing to the same docs.
<brians> just link use cases then vision statement then soft dev plan, etc....
<Ross_Sid> so elaboration and construction will have links to the SDP.
<brians> double links is not efficient
<Ross_Sid> =) Well, you're the webmasters, so come up with a scheme.
<brians> we'll think of something
<SandraFaust> are we? ;)
<Ross_Sid> Yep. =)
<SandraFaust> yes, sir. :)
<brians> next topic, sandra and i can discuss offline
<Ross_Sid> Alright... We do need that iteration plan.
<Ross_Sid> I can probably come up with something this weekend.
<Ross_Sid> (I'll actually move in by then)
<_Dave_> Do we want the schema package or the iteration plan first?
<Ross_Sid> Yes.
<_Dave_> I had signed up for both last week.
<Ross_Sid> Yea, and I think you should concentrate on the schema package.
<_Dave_> I'm hoping to have the schema package done by Wednesday...
<Ross_Sid> Well, you (and everyone else that wrote up code) needs to make sure their code follows the Coding Standards.
<_Dave_> and I could have the iteration plan well underway (hopefully done) by Sat.
<Ross_Sid> It's more tedious than difficult. But the doc is big, so it'll take time just to memorize it all.
<Ross_Sid> doc=coding standards doc
<Ross_Sid> Ok Dave?
<_Dave_> Did you want to take ownership of the iter plan?
<_Dave_> OK
<Ross_Sid> yea
<Ross_Sid> Sandra... You were working on designing the SQLFile importer stuff?
<SandraFaust> did you get my email, ross?
<Ross_Sid> Ross doesn't think so...
<SandraFaust> I found that Parser generator, that generates parser for use given a grammar
<Ross_Sid> *checks*
<Ross_Sid> *reads*
<SandraFaust> it's called javacc, it's free, it's written in java, and it generates pure java
<Ross_Sid> Well, try to keep in mind how much time you'd spend learning how to use the thing
<Ross_Sid> and how much time it'd take to write from scratch.
<Ross_Sid> Does it take a standard form for SQL?
<Ross_Sid> grammar...
<SandraFaust> well, we'll need to definte grammar, which we need to do anyway
<Ross_Sid> We don't need to. It's been defined for us: SQL92.
<Ross_Sid> Whether it's in the syntax/form that javacc likes is a different matter.
<SandraFaust> the format it takes is based on BNF
<Ross_Sid> Based on?
<SandraFaust> becus notation form (is that the term?)
<abhaysathe> sandra, did you generate code from it yet ?
<abhaysathe> baccu noir form
<SandraFaust> not for SQL, I did for a math expression
<SandraFaust> thanks
<Ross_Sid> I'd say spend just a couple days playing with it with SQL. Not much more.
<Ross_Sid> Figure out if it can be used easily for what we need.
<SandraFaust> the thing is I need to have a clue what should be our output
<Ross_Sid> remember that we have the schema objects that are our "final" internal datastructures.
<_Dave_> Sandra,
<_Dave_> I'll e-mail you what I have so far
<SandraFaust> good, thanks
<Ross_Sid> well, your stuff won't compile, Dave
<_Dave_> It does now.
<SandraFaust> :))
<Ross_Sid> Did you send Ross an older version?
<_Dave_> I sent him what I had last Wednesday.
<Ross_Sid> Ok.
<abhaysathe> wait, you guys need to use the importer interface to talk to db. right ?
<SandraFaust> anyway, the tool looks promising
<Ross_Sid> We aren't talking to a database. We're only doing SQL file parsing.
<brians> for now
<abhaysathe> it should still be the same..
<Ross_Sid> Ok, Sandra. Just evaluate how much effort it'd be, and how much effort it'd take to write what we need (we don't need a full-fledged SQL parser)_
<Ross_Sid> But yes, Abhay was correct in saying that the importer interface/abstract class will be the starting point for the importer.
<SandraFaust> i intend to scale down the SQL portion we are parsing, after all we only care about subset of create table and alter
<Ross_Sid> Ok. Just make sure it's easier than doing it ourselves before you commit a lot of time to it.
<jianmei> i was supposed to work with saudra on this too.
<SandraFaust> don't worry, it's my time we are talking about :)
<Ross_Sid> (and Jianmei's evidently =D )
<SandraFaust> :)
<jianmei> :)
<Ross_Sid> Ok, Sandra, keep working on the importer. However you think is the best way.
<SandraFaust> ok
<Ross_Sid> Design design design! =)
<Ross_Sid> So we covered everyones' status, right?
<abhaysathe> mine ?
<abhaysathe> i've questions..
<Ross_Sid> Guess not. So whatchya do this week, Abhay? Brian said you worked with him on the use cases, right?
<abhaysathe> yes, and i got the imporeter interface defined
<abhaysathe> and added a couple implementations: SqlFile and Oracle (represent he sources)
<Ross_Sid> Implementations?
<abhaysathe> importer is only an interface, so we need concrete classes that implement it, right ?
<Ross_Sid> Yes. For this class, we've decided to only implement one kind of importer, and that's what Sandra's working on.
<jianmei> is that SQL parser do?
<SandraFaust> yes
<jianmei> yes
<abhaysathe> so sandra needs to see the interface definition ?
<SandraFaust> where is the document with the interface definition?
<abhaysathe> sent it to ross, sid, brain
<SandraFaust> yes, it would be really helpful. :)
<abhaysathe> and it is empty of methods right now..
<Ross_Sid> Well, the actual importer needs to extend the abstract class (not interface) ImportDefinition
<SandraFaust> it's our job to fill them in :)
<Ross_Sid> ImportRegistry is NOT an abstract class.
<jianmei> is that where we got SQL file?
<Ross_Sid> The Importregistry will track all the different concrete importers in the system (which will be just 1 for this class)
<Ross_Sid> So somehow (maybe by listing them in a text configuration file) the ImportRegistry knows about the different ways we can import schemas
<abhaysathe> sonds ok.
<Ross_Sid> the one way we'll have is by importing SQL files, which is what Sandra is designing.
<Ross_Sid> the registry allows us the flexibility of adding different importers in the future.
<Ross_Sid> Comprende?
<abhaysathe> do you have the regitry defined, sid?
<Ross_Sid> We have the class diagram for it.
<Ross_Sid> You get to implement it, Abhay.
<Ross_Sid> =D
<SandraFaust> speaking of which...we should leave the system to be open to other types of text importers as well, other than SQL
<abhaysathe> shouldn't have asked :)
<Ross_Sid> Yea, it will be.
<SandraFaust> Progress 4GL for creating tables, etc...
<Ross_Sid> The importregistry doesn't care how its importers work, just that they implement a few functions that the registry can call to start the schema-import process.
<SandraFaust> ok
<abhaysathe> wow, look at the time. action items ?
<Ross_Sid> Everyone, read and memorize the coding standards.
<Ross_Sid> Everyone who's written code: make sure your code follows the coding standards.
<Ross_Sid> And refer to Ross's message about package usage and directories.
<SandraFaust> including generated code ;)
<abhaysathe> me too.
<Ross_Sid> Every package line should be of the form: package edu.uiuc.jdbv.xyz
<Ross_Sid> where xyz is like "schema" or "import"....
<abhaysathe> ross could you add the pacakge tree ?
<SandraFaust> isn't the project name dbviz?
<Ross_Sid> Re: package tree - he says "sure"
<Ross_Sid> Eh, sure... Nothing's in CVS now anyway.
<Ross_Sid> So make that: edu.uiuc.dbviz.xyz
<Ross_Sid> So the directory structure would be jdbv/code/edu/uiuc/dbviz/xyz
<abhaysathe> that's a lot of changes t the web page too.
<Ross_Sid> Ross needs help on the Software architecture document (it's a big ugly monstrous document)
<soniaka> can i help ?
<SandraFaust> what kind of help?
<Ross_Sid> Particularly the use cases.
<jianmei> i can help too
<Ross_Sid> Sure, Sonia, Jianmei. Ross'll get in contact with you two.
<soniaka> ok
<jianmei> sure
<Ross_Sid> Abhay, can you also prioritize those use cases in addition to working on the import package?
<abhaysathe> yes
<Ross_Sid> Brian... You have Swing experience? (I've prolly asked this already)
<brians> no, but what do you need, i can learn i guess
<Ross_Sid> You do have Java experience tho?
<brians> yep some
<Ross_Sid> Alright, we need some (sorta formal) research into different diagramming packages.
<Ross_Sid> I've done some informal research when I found... that one I found. =)
<Ross_Sid> (one sec)
<brians> ok, are these part of the api
<Ross_Sid> (well, I can't find the name... it was on my now-wet computer...)
<Ross_Sid> You'll need to learn some Swing, so go through the Java Swing tutorials.
<Ross_Sid> I sent out links on them.
<brians> ok, it'll be fun to learn anyway
<Ross_Sid> And then run a search on SourceForge for a "free java diagram" package
<Ross_Sid> And maybe some other places.
<brians> we got lots of resources at work.
<Ross_Sid> Basically we want a list of what diagramming packages are available, pros/cons and which we'll use.
<Ross_Sid> Well, we're open source, so that's usually a barrier against using commercial libraries.
<Ross_Sid> Ok, Brian?
<brians> yep
<Ross_Sid> So everyone have something to do?
<Ross_Sid> (say 'yes' if ya do)
<_Dave_> yes
<abhaysathe> ya
<SandraFaust> yup
<brians> i do have to run, but I have my agenda. dave, send the minutes and log. thanks everyone
<brians> exit
*** Signoff: brians (QUIT: User exited)
<soniaka> ya if i am helping on doc with ross
<abhaysathe> expect emails from me ..
<Ross_Sid> You are, so 'yes'
<jianmei> I will work with saudra and ross
<jianmei> yes
<_Dave_> Sonia do you want to do the minutes and the log?
<Ross_Sid> Good 'nuff. Thanks for coming everyone. Hopefully I'll have a computer by the next meeting... *crosses fingers*
<_Dave_> Ross_Sid can I ask you a few questions?
<soniaka> ya i will dont worry
<Ross_Sid> Meeting's adjourned.
<Ross_Sid> sure, Dave