[OPEN-ILS-DEV] Org tree sorting and the Android app (was Re: Beta App Feedback)
Ken Cox
kenstir at gmail.com
Tue Dec 1 20:38:29 EST 2015
*Executive Summary*
The current app allows choosing an OU in a spinner (drop-down). It sorts
this list lexicographically. This sorting doesn't work well for NTLC,
where the top-level OU "NTLC" does not appear first.
I made a change to use the sorting based on
/osrf-gateway-v1?service=open-ils.actor&method=open-ils.actor.org_tree.retrieve
and display the orgs in a left-justified indented list. This works well
for NTLC, but not for CW/MARS, which according to Kathy uses custom org
unit trees.
I am missing the forest for the trees and am not sure what to do next.
Details below.
*NTLC*
For NTLC, with 21 org units, the change to display the orgs as an indented
list works well. I end up with a spinner that looks like this:
North Texas Library Consortium
Central Area
[Boyce Ditto Public Library]
John Ed Keeter Saginaw Public Library
Justin Community Library
Note that I included [Boyce Ditto Public Library] above, but it doesn't
show up because it's marked opac_visible=false.
*CW/MARS*
For CW/MARS, with 250 org units this works poorly. My spinner looks like
this (showing non-visible levels):
All C/W MARS Libraries
[Central Region]
[Anna Maria College]
AMC Mondor-Eagen Library
[Ashburnham]
Ashburnham Stevens Memorial Library
...
[Non-Members]
[Commonwealth Catalog]
Commonwealth Catalog Library
...
[Western Region]
[Adams]
Adams Free Library
With all the visible=false intermediate hierarchy levels removed, this list
is basically unusable:
All C/W MARS Libraries
AMC Mondor-Eagen Library
Ashburnham Stevens Memorial Library
...
Commonwealth Catalog Library
...
Adams Free Library
As Kathy said, this is quite different from what shows up in the TPAC,
which is:
All C/W MARS Libraries
Childrens Catalog
Academic Libraries
Young Adult
Adams Free Library
...
*Where to go from here?*
I am considering these paths forward:
1. Display as an indented list if <= 25 OUs. Display as a sorted flat list
(with top-level OU on top) if > 25.
2. Look for some way to get the custom org trees into the app.
3. Add something to the libraries directory
<https://evergreen-ils.org/directory/libraries.json> indicating how to
display the org tree.
4. Give up and look for paid work.
Ideas appreciated!
Ken
On Mon, Nov 30, 2015 at 10:28 AM, Kathy Lussier <klussier at masslnc.org>
wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I think that utilizing the same sorting for OUs as the TPAC does would be
>> ideal for the app as well. As far as I can tell that is by OU-level, then
>> by alpha within a level.
>>
>
> There is actually another bit of complexity to OU sorting in TPAC. By
> default, the OU's do sort as Geoff and Justin described. However, Evergreen
> also has something called custom org unit trees that allow sites to change
> the sort order of the library selector if the default sort doesn't exactly
> fit their needs. As an example of a simple reason sites might want to use
> it, if the main library in a multi-branch library system doesn't sort first
> alphabetically, you can use the custom org tree to force the main library
> to sort above the other branches.
>
> In the case of C/W MARS, if the app were to use the default OU-level sort
> order, it would show an additional level in the org hierarchy that you
> don't see in TPAC because they are using the custom org unit tree to
> control the sort order. Using the default sort, users would see something
> like:
>
> - All C/W MARS Libraries
> -- Central Region
> ---Alphabetical list of systems
> ----Alphabetical list of branches
> -- Western Region
> ---Alphabetical list of systems
> ----Alphabetical list of branches
>
> Having said that, the default sort would accommodate the needs of a
> majority of Evergreen sites. I just wanted to point out that there is a bit
> more complexity in the tpac org unit sorting. The library selector there
> also includes publicly-visible copy location groups. I'm not sure if it's
> important to include those in the app or not, but those are what are used
> to configure the academic, children's and ya scopes in the catalogs for two
> of MassLNC's Evergreen sites.
>
> Thanks for all of your work on this Ken!
>
> Kathy
>
>
>
> On 11/27/2015 02:16 PM, Geoff Sams wrote:
>
>> Now that I've had a chance to really use the app, I figured I post some
>> feedback here as well.
>>
>> First off, wow! The app look and feel are really nice. Each interface
>> is snappy and seems to work pretty smoothly. From a design stand point, I
>> think this is pretty solid.
>>
>> A possible bug: Jacket Images do not seem to appear for me when there are
>> available images in the catalog. It doesn't appear that either images
>> entered into the system manually, or OpenLibrary.org images are appearing.
>>
>> A visual preference: When there is no image, the space for the image
>> shows up white, which is at odds with the rest of the app's design elements
>> and is a little jarring. This is more opinion than anything else, take it
>> or leave it, won't bother me a bit. I'm not even sure if this one is
>> possible to change in any case without changing the blank image that is
>> used everywhere.
>>
>> I think that utilizing the same sorting for OUs as the TPAC does would be
>> ideal for the app as well. As far as I can tell that is by OU-level, then
>> by alpha within a level. Currently in the app, the consortium level is at
>> the top, then everything else is below that in alpha for my consortium. We
>> have 3 levels in our group: Consortium, Geographic Area, Library. So all
>> of the Geographic Areas are in the list with the Libraries and is likely
>> going to be a source of confusion if it remains that way.
>>
>> Everything else I feel works how I would expect it to work, and I can't
>> really think of anything that I'd make a change to right off. I'm going to
>> keep toying around with things in any case.
>>
>> As for Justin's comments, I tend to agree with his assessment for the
>> most part. -7 in particular would be great to have. Some of our libraries
>> have features specific to their subdomain that would be great to see
>> included for their patrons. I'm not sure what all bleeds through to the
>> app, but if anything does they'd want to keep it available. Electronic
>> Resources are definitely a must, series/subject headings being links would
>> be fantastic, and yes please to barcode searching.
>>
>> Overall, I like the app, and I'm looking forward to being able to show it
>> off to the rest of my consortium. I really appreciate all of the work that
>> you have put into this app, and I look forward to continue helping test it.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Geoff Sams
>> Library Manager
>> Roanoke Public Library
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Open-ils-dev [mailto:open-ils-dev-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org]
>> On Behalf Of Justin Hopkins ??
>> Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2015 7:40 PM
>> To: Evergreen Development Discussion List <
>> open-ils-dev at list.georgialibraries.org>
>> Subject: [OPEN-ILS-DEV] Beta App Feedback
>>
>> Ken,
>>
>> So awesome. It feels cool just to log in and use the app. I know I speak
>> for everyone when I say how much we appreciate your hard work on this.
>>
>> From my limited experience so far I'd offer the following:
>>
>> [-7]: Perhaps we could use another, or expand on the .json file so that
>> we could include all libraries in a given consortium/system for a more fine
>> grained GPS based library suggestion
>> [-6]: Add the consortium level as an option for search scope
>> [-5]: Along the same lines, make user preferences already stored in
>> Evergreen accessible/applicable (default locations, etc) or store new
>> preferences for the app
>> [-4]: Show some indication of consortium/system/branch levels in location
>> dropdowns. It's not clear what is a system and what is a branch, and could
>> make it too easy to set a system as the pickup location. I'm not sure how
>> that would resolve.
>> [-3]: Electronic resources don't display their 856 links
>> [-2]: Subject and series information on the record pages could be links
>> [-1]: A common feature among library apps, or apps where searching for
>> books is a likely operation, is a barcode search - I think that would be a
>> nice addition.
>>
>> Thanks again! I'm looking forward to playing around with this and putting
>> it more to use.
>>
>> --
>> Regards,
>> Justin
>>
>
> --
> Kathy Lussier
> Project Coordinator
> Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative
> (508) 343-0128
> klussier at masslnc.org
> Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier
>
>
--
-Ken
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