[etoys-dev] remove the free-standing .gif?

[kharness at illinois.edu]

Hello, 
EtoysIllinois is not a swiki but rather a site designed so I/we could tag and add projects easily. Michael McKelvey, at MSTE/UIUC, designed the site and he can tell you much more. 

If the only reason for this proposed change is that some children some times select the .gif instead of the .pr, I would not spend any more time on this and would not make any change. Children learn quickly that a .gif is a picture and .pr is a lot more fun.
Kathleen


---- Original message ----
>Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 15:45:57 -0700
>From: Scott Wallace <scott.wallace at squeakland.org>  
>Subject: Re: [etoys-dev] remove the free-standing .gif?  
>To: etoys dev <etoys-dev at squeakland.org>
>
>On Aug 31, 2009, at 7:52 AM, Timothy Falconer wrote:
>> On Aug 28, 2009, at 11:26 AM, K. K. Subramaniam wrote:
>> On Friday 28 Aug 2009 4:18:17 am Scott Wallace wrote:
>>>> So... do people think the time has now come (in advance of final
>>>> shipment of this summer's release) to remove the .gif?
>>> +1.
>>>
>>> In file managers with preview, children often confuse the .gif file  
>>> for the
>>> project.
>>
>> +1 ... when uploading projects to the website using a web browser  
>> (which will become much more common), this can happen as well.
>
>
>A sticking point here continues to be the possibility that existing  
>superswiki, superswiki2, and perhaps other project servers, might rely  
>on the presence of the .gif, and might misbehave if they can't find it.
>
>
>The JIRA ticket for this issue is http://jira.immuexa.com/browse/SQ-315.
>
>A fileout recently uploaded to that ticket has the comment: "...  
>succeeds in stopping creation of the gif, and also no longer sends the  
>superSwikiServer (if any) the filename of that gif file that used to  
>be created. SuperSwikiServers and other project servers will now need  
>to start using the .png thumbnail embedded in the outer .pr file.  
>Unfortunately, I don't know how to test the consequences this change  
>would have for existing superSwikiServers, etc., so I look to others  
>to help here."
>
>
>So, this is a call for help.  Who among our readership uses, or knows  
>about, superswikis?
>
>(1)  It's important to check how existing superswikis contend with  
>projects saved to them using an image that has the ticket's fileout  
>loaded (thus *not* creating a .gif).  Is there anyone out there who  
>uses an active superswiki and who can test this?  (What about the  
>Etoys/Illinois mechanism for putting projects on their site -- do  
>*they* rely on the .gif?)
>
>(2)  At some point, someone needs to undertake modifications to  
>superswiki code so that the thumbnail is extracted from the  
>embedded .png file.  I'm not certain how many different superswiki- 
>like systems are in current use, nor who is the current maintainer of  
>each.  So please speak up, anyone who can clarify, test, code, or  
>otherwise contribute.
>
>
>Without at least some testing for consequences with existing  
>superswikis, I think we can't in good conscience stop creating  
>the .gif thumbnail just yet...
>
>   -- Scott
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