[annotator-dev] Annotator and Meteor

Bryan btbonval at gmail.com
Thu Sep 11 18:01:40 UTC 2014 

Randall,

I'm not sure I understand how to compare the serialized data as you
suggest. The serialized data stores the location information as an
xpath-range, which is a highly specialized metric.

We have tried very hard to use the xpath and the offset of the serialized
data, without access to xpath-range, and we have not been able to to crack
the ordering egg without reimplementing xpath-range to compare the
internally stored position information.

Is there some other information in the serialized data we can use to
determine the on-page order besides the highly specific xpath-range
location?

On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 1:57 PM, Randall Leeds <tilgovi at hypothes.is> wrote:

> I just checked and see that xpath-range is not exported, it's only used
> internally in the LegacyRanges plugin.
>
> But that module doesn't have any API for comparing the ranges. If the
> purpose is to compare the annotation positions before they are anchored,
> you should be able to do what you want without access to xpath-ranges. You
> will want to compare the serialized data. Just do so.
>
> On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 10:17 AM, Bryan <btbonval at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> The real problem we're experiencing, as Ari pointed out later in the
>> thread, is being able to independently sort annotations in the order they
>> are presented in the contents of their page.
>>
>> Our assumption was that this must be handled through xpath range as we
>> could not find any better way to translate the annotation properties into
>> this ordering. One recommendation was made which we should look into using
>> compare document position. Sorry I'm typing on a phone, so put those last
>> three words together.
>>
>> I think we had tried something like that, but it only worked for
>> annotations in situ, not annotations as base objects not yet rendered. We
>> can take another look.
>>
>> The other option is simply to expose xpath range as noted in a few ways
>> to compare relative positions of annotations outside the context of a
>> rendered page.
>> On Sep 11, 2014 1:10 PM, "Randall Leeds" <tilgovi at hypothes.is> wrote:
>>
>>> We already build as a UMD in the output. One step ahead of you all :-D.
>>>
>>> I'm not sure what the problem is in this thread anymore.
>>>
>>> Is it that xpath-range isn't exported? We used to have Annotator.Range I
>>> think, before we split it out into a separate package. We can definitely
>>> assign it as a property of the Annotator global.
>>> On Sep 11, 2014 6:05 AM, "Benjamin Young" <bigbluehat at hypothes.is>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Looks a lot like UMD. :)
>>>>
>>>> Maybe give this post a look:
>>>>
>>>> http://dontkry.com/posts/code/browserify-and-the-universal-module-definition.html
>>>>
>>>> Apparently there are a good number of tools for browserify that can
>>>> work with other module types.
>>>>
>>>> This may just serve as surrounding educational material and not the
>>>> solution, but it looks promising all the same. :)
>>>> On Sep 11, 2014 4:34 AM, "Mitar" <mmitar at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi!
>>>>>
>>>>> One thing I noticed some project have is a GitHub hook which
>>>>> automatically compiles master branch into dist branch where you can
>>>>> then make a submodule and have files. I thing this would be very
>>>>> useful to have. Example:
>>>>>
>>>>> https://github.com/guardian/scribe/tree/dist
>>>>>
>>>>> And Annotator could also use Browserify, but not require it, wrapping
>>>>> the result in something like:
>>>>>
>>>>>  // AMD / RequireJS
>>>>>     if (typeof define !== 'undefined' && define.amd) {
>>>>>         define([], function () {
>>>>>             return Annotator;
>>>>>         });
>>>>>     }
>>>>>     // Node.js
>>>>>     else if (typeof module !== 'undefined' && module.exports) {
>>>>>         module.exports = Annotator;
>>>>>     }
>>>>>     // included directly via <script> tag
>>>>>     else {
>>>>>         root.Annotator = Annotator;
>>>>>     }
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Mitar
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, Sep 10, 2014 at 11:34 AM, Randall Leeds <tilgovi at hypothes.is>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> > You could grab the all the highlights and sort them using
>>>>> > document.compareDocumentPosition.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Annotator stores the annotations using jQuery.fn.data on the
>>>>> highlight
>>>>> > nodes. If you need help with that let me know.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > On Sep 9, 2014 11:24 AM, "Ari Entlich" <atrigent at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> Actually, I just had another idea. The actual reason we want access
>>>>> to
>>>>> >> xpath-range is so that we can consume the ranges that are stored in
>>>>> >> annotation objects (SerializedRanges, if I understand correctly)
>>>>> and compare
>>>>> >> two of them to determine their relative position in the annotated
>>>>> document.
>>>>> >> We would like to display a list of annotations in the order that
>>>>> they appear
>>>>> >> in the document. Perhaps it would make sense to simply add such a
>>>>> comparison
>>>>> >> function to annotator? Or maybe there's a better way of
>>>>> accomplishing the
>>>>> >> desired sorting that I'm unaware of?
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> Thanks.
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> Ari
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> On Tue, Sep 9, 2014 at 1:24 PM, Ari Entlich <atrigent at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> >>>
>>>>> >>> On Sat, Sep 6, 2014 at 9:58 PM, Randall Leeds <tilgovi at hypothes.is
>>>>> >
>>>>> >>> wrote:
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> I think whatever you do is a stopgap for now.
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> If it helps we can push (I think we already have?) a dev tag to
>>>>> npm.
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> Build a separate repo for the meteor package that depends on
>>>>> annotator
>>>>> >>>> and you should hopefully get the built files if we're doing our
>>>>> part to
>>>>> >>>> upload the build.
>>>>> >>>
>>>>> >>> On Sun, Sep 7, 2014 at 12:34 AM, Randall Leeds <
>>>>> tilgovi at hypothes.is>
>>>>> >>> wrote:
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> npm dependency for the meteor build. Then npm has the built
>>>>> sources.
>>>>> >>>> Meteor package doesn't know or care about browserify.
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> If any downstream consumer has to care that we use browserify
>>>>> we're
>>>>> >>>> doing it wrong.
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> The output is JavaScript.
>>>>> >>>
>>>>> >>> Ah ok, I do see that the annotator stuff uploaded to npm is just
>>>>> the
>>>>> >>> generated js files. That's probably good enough for most use
>>>>> cases, but
>>>>> >>> we've been thinking of customizing the browserify build to give us
>>>>> access to
>>>>> >>> the bundle's internal copy of xpath-range. To do this, I believe
>>>>> we would
>>>>> >>> need to care about the use of browserify. We could potentially
>>>>> create meteor
>>>>> >>> packages for both annotator and xpath-range and use both of them,
>>>>> but it
>>>>> >>> looks to me like the xpath-range in npm is NOT fully preprocessed
>>>>> - the
>>>>> >>> coffeescript step has been run, but the browserify step has not.
>>>>> In general
>>>>> >>> though, I do think it makes sense for us to just use the copy
>>>>> inside the
>>>>> >>> annotator bundle, since it's already there.
>>>>> >>>
>>>>> >>> Ari
>>>>> >>>
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> On Sep 6, 2014 11:47 AM, "Ari Entlich" <atrigent at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> >>>>>
>>>>> >>>>> Hey all. Sorry for not jumping in sooner.
>>>>> >>>>>
>>>>> >>>>> Mitar, I did discover your annotator package in peerlibrary while
>>>>> >>>>> looking through your work. However, Andrew and Bryan are correct
>>>>> that you're
>>>>> >>>>> using an older version than we are and that your approach
>>>>> unfortunately will
>>>>> >>>>> not work for us. I don't believe it is possible to just "ignore
>>>>> browserify",
>>>>> >>>>> because the most recent annotator code is making extensive use
>>>>> of the
>>>>> >>>>> CommonJS-like module system that browserify provides. As far as
>>>>> I know,
>>>>> >>>>> meteor would not serve as an adequate replacement for browserify
>>>>> in this
>>>>> >>>>> respect.
>>>>> >>>>>
>>>>> >>>>> Essentially what needs to happen is that we need to have meteor
>>>>> call
>>>>> >>>>> browserify during its build process. I've found
>>>>> >>>>> Plugin.registerSourceHandler, which allows you to make build
>>>>> plugins that
>>>>> >>>>> say "I can handle files with filenames matching some pattern".
>>>>> However, this
>>>>> >>>>> seems to be aimed primarily at registering generic handlers for
>>>>> file types -
>>>>> >>>>> coffescript, less, sass, etc files. What we need is a way to
>>>>> specify how to
>>>>> >>>>> build a specific package and to add the build artifacts from
>>>>> that build
>>>>> >>>>> process to the meteor app. I'm currently investigating whether
>>>>> it would be
>>>>> >>>>> possible to do it in the package definition section of the
>>>>> package.js file
>>>>> >>>>> (http://docs.meteor.com/#pack_onUse).
>>>>> >>>>>
>>>>> >>>>> If the above winds up working, we can easily tell browserify to
>>>>> expose
>>>>> >>>>> the annotator bundle's copy of xpath-range. I'd rather not make
>>>>> changes to
>>>>> >>>>> annotator itself in order to get this working.
>>>>> >>>>>
>>>>> >>>>> A possible alternative to using git submodules is to simply
>>>>> declare
>>>>> >>>>> annotator as an npm dependency of the meteor package. If that
>>>>> winds up
>>>>> >>>>> working, I think it would be the preferable approach.
>>>>> >>>>>
>>>>> >>>>> Ari
>>>>> >>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>
>>>>> >>>>> On Fri, Sep 5, 2014 at 9:13 PM, Mitar <mmitar at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> >>>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>> Hi!
>>>>> >>>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>> You can package xpath-range as additional package as well, if
>>>>> you
>>>>> >>>>>> want.
>>>>> >>>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>> If you want to add xpath-range, you can always just add it
>>>>> inside the
>>>>> >>>>>> Meteor package for Annotator as a field of top-level object. So
>>>>> you
>>>>> >>>>>> create one more file which you add at the end of all files from
>>>>> >>>>>> Annotator and do something like:
>>>>> >>>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>> Annotator['xpath-range'] = xpath-range;
>>>>> >>>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>> Please start a repository and then we can look into the real
>>>>> code you
>>>>> >>>>>> have. Now it is a bit too abstract which issues you and how to
>>>>> advise
>>>>> >>>>>> you.
>>>>> >>>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>> Mitar
>>>>> >>>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>> On Fri, Sep 5, 2014 at 12:24 PM, Bryan <btbonval at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> >>>>>> > Thanks Mitar, a git submodule might be a good approach for us.
>>>>> >>>>>> >
>>>>> >>>>>> > One of our issues is with respect to the encoding of
>>>>> Annotator xpath
>>>>> >>>>>> > offsets. We would rather not duplicate this code, but we do
>>>>> need
>>>>> >>>>>> > access to
>>>>> >>>>>> > xpath-range. As Annotator works now, it appears to include
>>>>> >>>>>> > xpath-range via
>>>>> >>>>>> > browserify, but browserify does not expose xpath-range to the
>>>>> >>>>>> > greater Meteor
>>>>> >>>>>> > application.
>>>>> >>>>>> > -Bryan
>>>>> >>>>>> >
>>>>> >>>>>> >
>>>>> >>>>>> > On Fri, Sep 5, 2014 at 3:13 PM, Mitar <mmitar at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> >>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> Hi!
>>>>> >>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> Yes, we are still using the old version, but I am not sure it
>>>>> >>>>>> >> matters.
>>>>> >>>>>> >> You can package it in the same way, I believe. So you add
>>>>> Annotator
>>>>> >>>>>> >> as
>>>>> >>>>>> >> a git submodule, you ignore browserify, and just add all
>>>>> >>>>>> >> CoffeeScript
>>>>> >>>>>> >> files to the package. Meteor will then convert them into
>>>>> JavaScript
>>>>> >>>>>> >> files and package them into one namespace automatically.
>>>>> Sometimes
>>>>> >>>>>> >> you
>>>>> >>>>>> >> have just to add one more file which exposes globally the
>>>>> symbols
>>>>> >>>>>> >> you
>>>>> >>>>>> >> want to have globally.
>>>>> >>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> I don't have time to do it myself now, but you can start
>>>>> with a
>>>>> >>>>>> >> GitHub
>>>>> >>>>>> >> repository for it now and let's see where you get stuck.
>>>>> >>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> Mitar
>>>>> >>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> On Fri, Sep 5, 2014 at 5:16 AM, Andrew - FinalsClub
>>>>> >>>>>> >> <andrew at finalsclub.org> wrote:
>>>>> >>>>>> >> > Thanks Mitar,
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >
>>>>> >>>>>> >> > I notice you are using an older version of Annotator
>>>>> (before
>>>>> >>>>>> >> > browserify
>>>>> >>>>>> >> > was added). Would the same thing be possible with
>>>>> Annotator 2.0?
>>>>> >>>>>> >> > We are
>>>>> >>>>>> >> > currently a bit stumped. Ari can share more details on our
>>>>> >>>>>> >> > efforts if you're
>>>>> >>>>>> >> > curious.
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >
>>>>> >>>>>> >> > Eventually, it would be useful to make a Meteor package so
>>>>> others
>>>>> >>>>>> >> > can
>>>>> >>>>>> >> > easily use Annotator in their meteor projects. If you have
>>>>> any
>>>>> >>>>>> >> > suggestions,
>>>>> >>>>>> >> > we would love guidance / help.
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >
>>>>> >>>>>> >> > Warmly,
>>>>> >>>>>> >> > Andrew
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >> On Sep 5, 2014, at 3:39 AM, Mitar <mmitar at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >> Hi!
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >> You can see here how we are bundling Annotator for Meteor:
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>
>>>>> https://github.com/peerlibrary/peerlibrary/tree/development/packages/annotator
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >> And here how we are using it:
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>
>>>>> https://github.com/peerlibrary/peerlibrary/tree/development/client/lib/annotator
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >> Mitar
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >> On Wed, Sep 3, 2014 at 7:04 AM, Andrew - FinalsClub
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >> <andrew at finalsclub.org> wrote:
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> Hey All,
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> Especially @Mitar. At FinalsClub, we have been working
>>>>> on a new
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> social
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> reading site built using Meteor (a newfangled JavaScript
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> framework). Meteor
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> is nice, because it offers isomorphic JavaScript - that
>>>>> is, the
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> same code to
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> run on the client and server. It also provides the magic
>>>>> of
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> reactive data
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> binding between clients and server.
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> We have gotten a basic working version of Annotator with
>>>>> a
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> meteor-specific store plugin. (I can share the code if
>>>>> anyone
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> is curious.).
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> However, there are some aspects of Annotator that we are
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> grappling with.
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> For instance, we were wondering how the XPath-Range
>>>>> plugin is
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> currently being used. Also, we want to include the
>>>>> coffeescript
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> (not
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> compiled JS) of Annotator in our project, but aren't
>>>>> sure how
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> to accomplish
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> that using Meteor's custom package system.
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> @Mitar, I've seen your handle on a few meteor github
>>>>> issues and
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> wonder
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> if could help us. I've cc'd Bryan and Ari from our team
>>>>> if they
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> have
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> anything to add.
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> Also, if anyone else is interested in helping, just say
>>>>> so.
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> We'd be
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> glad to put our work on the OpenAnnotation organization
>>>>> if
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> you'd like as
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> well.
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> Best,
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>> Andrew
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >> --
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >> http://mitar.tnode.com/
>>>>> >>>>>> >> >> https://twitter.com/mitar_m
>>>>> >>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>>>>> >> --
>>>>> >>>>>> >> http://mitar.tnode.com/
>>>>> >>>>>> >> https://twitter.com/mitar_m
>>>>> >>>>>> >
>>>>> >>>>>> >
>>>>> >>>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>> --
>>>>> >>>>>> http://mitar.tnode.com/
>>>>> >>>>>> https://twitter.com/mitar_m
>>>>> >>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>
>>>>> >>>>>
>>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> >>>>> annotator-dev mailing list
>>>>> >>>>> annotator-dev at lists.okfn.org
>>>>> >>>>> https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/annotator-dev
>>>>> >>>>> Unsubscribe:
>>>>> https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/annotator-dev
>>>>> >>>>>
>>>>> >>>
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >
>>>>> > _______________________________________________
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>>>>> >
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> http://mitar.tnode.com/
>>>>> https://twitter.com/mitar_m
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
>
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