The design of WebWisdom emphasizes the following features:
- Use of JavaScript to get good (compared with a server based system) response
- Note the resultant main wisdom.html file has currently some 2500 lines of JavaScript which
could stress some systems.
- The information is assumed to lie on traditional filesystems and is NOT (like many NPAC
projects) stored in a relational database. This decision is not obviously correct but has some
obvious implementation advantages and disadvantages.
- The overall system information (what is stored where) is stored in "self-defining" Web Pages
which use the header of each document to define what it is and any child documents it refers to.
The technique used to "tell" WebWisdom what is going on is to call JavasScript functions stored
in main page from each sub page.
- There is an extensive set of PERL scripts which process "legacy" information ( Persuasion,
PowerPoint, Kodak PhotoSets) to both conventional HTML and the self defining JavaScript pages
Capabilities of WebWisdom
- Can handle a wide variety of Presentation formats (Persuasion, PowerPoint, Kodak PhotoSets,
Screendumps and raw HTML) in general locations
- Can handle RealAudio for both recording (where it logs where presentation page changes) and
playback
- Can handle (with Perl backend wwwfoil) general playlists where composite presentations are
made up by selecting from base presentations.
- Can handle several different parameter sets (defining fonts, colors, applets etc used) which
can be stored and read from server)
- Logging feature supports assesment and other such post presentation review.
- Is badly documented and has marginal user interface to tools
- Needs much work on choice of Graphics and interface to real people.