Talk:Question object types

Question object specification text

1. I think specification is not the same as (our) implementation.

   Olle: True. But the current implementation in LS3 lacks specification. There needs to be something written down that exactly specifies what's needed and why.

   Sam: Agree, the current implementation is just a refactoring of LS2 code (moving global functions to OO), it can and should be adapted to whatever requirements come up with.

2. Specifications should consist of interfaces (and optionally abstract classes) only.

   Olle: Question types will need to include CSS, Javascript, HTML, pictures etc. So only interfaces is not enough.

   Sam: It doesn't matter what they include, we just need to specify how it should interact. For example, for example how it tells us what javascript / css to publish to a publicly accessible directory. Note that I agree that we should give a "logically structured" example plugin, that should not be part of the contract in my opinion.

Use-cases

renderExportData || Way of exporting : data + "syntax of data" : SPSS/Stata/triple-S/etc ...

Is this necessary? The question could just export data with getStatisticsData, feed the data to an exporter which takes care of it. Given we have a way to represent data that all thinkable question types could deal with.

Olle (talk) 15:10, 25 April 2016 (CEST)

Unsure getStatisticsData have all needed information . Example with numeric vs integer in tripleS syntax for example.

DenisChenu (talk) 15:16, 25 April 2016 (CEST)

Current LS3 implementation

Note, this is the current state and some of these are mostly because it is a refactoring from LS2.

1. Uses an interface.

2. Defines what columns it needs via a fieldname => column type map.

3. Defines what EM expressions apply to it.

4. Defines a render functionality that renders the content.

5. Defines a list of classes that should be in the wrapping div.

1. Sam: Regarding the current minimum requirements with 6 render functions:

(11:44:52 AM) sammousa: @ollehar, I don't like the 5 render functions on the question interface

(11:45:34 AM) sammousa: 3 of them are for statistics, but instead there should be 1 "canonical" form for statistical information that LS can then properly render into different formats

(11:45:50 AM) sammousa: (I don't want to implement a new question type just to have it use a different kind of display for statistics)

(11:46:24 AM) sammousa: Also I don't think we should have renderEditForm, but instead we should provide some format where a question can define its settings.

(11:46:49 AM) sammousa: Having each question render HTML will make templating practically impossible; also when I develop a new type of question

(11:47:10 AM) sammousa: I don't want to think about HTML code for the settings, I just want to say: setting A is a boolean setting