Re: [Gnumed-devel] Open Office templates

[Karsten Hilbert]

On Sun, Aug 31, 2008 at 04:07:40PM +0200, Jerzy Luszawski wrote:

> I would prefer storing a list of needed placeholders with
> template. This way the procedure requesting a template would
> know what placeholders it must supply, and it would be easy
> to get the data from backend and feed it to the placeholder
> handler.

The template itself IS the list of needed placeholders. The
template is parsed by the placeholder replacer and when it
encounters a placeholder it requests the data for that
placeholder from the client.

> Example: I write operation report, and I just want to
> click "print" button to print exactly this one report.
Why, sure, how else ?

> All I need is a template and a way to pass data to
> placeholder handler.
This is what GNUmed does so I am not sure what you mean ?

However, the placeholder handler requests the data it needs
from other parts of the client which may or may not include
interacting with the user.

> The amount of data is fixed and it can be fetched as one database query.
No and no.

> Even better,an SQL query with parameters can be stored
> with template in the backend (similar to the string in
> _cmd_fetch_payload for EMR items).
This would be way to inflexible.

> > The good news is that recently I found some Python code on the web which 
> > will
> > enable us to have way more user-friendly placeholders in the OOo templates. 
> Could you post a link?

Sure:

        
http://lucasmanual.com/mywiki/OpenOffice#head-a6f86c6beea8170c083cd3f45438066e6f20760f

Given the name Lukasz might be a fellow countryman of yours ?

> > One 
> > would then literally write in OOo:
> > 
> > --------------------------------
> > 
> > Dear $Title$ $Lastname$,
> > 

> I don't find current method using OO fields too difficult
> or inconvenient,
Oh, OK, that's nice.

> and it is certainly more foolproof than plain text placeholders.
I certainly have to agree with that.

> You do not create templates every day, do you?

While true it provides argument either way: It doesn't
matter too much if it's slightly involved to create a
template because that's a rare, one-off affair. But it
should be straightforward or else ordinary Joe User won't do
it because most people neither want to learn nor look up for
a rare, one-off affair.

Of course, that's one possible business model around GNUmed.

Even when the above "poor man's placeholders" are
implemented the "Right Way" placeholders will not go
away...

Karsten
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