How to R.E.A.D Steps for selecting the correct module. #PatchOrCustom, #justREAD
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Who You Are. • Site Builder • • Developer ! • • Decision Maker New to Drupal Want to re-enforce habits
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What’s it all about. How to quickly make smart, informed decisions.
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What we’ll cover. • Steps to decide between a contrib, patched or custom module. • Basics of patching. • Basics of writing a module.
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Michael Miles • Associate Director of PHP @ Genuine Interactive. • Drank the Drupal Kool-aid in 2008. (it’s grape flavored) ! • Twitter: @mikemiles86 • D.o: mikemiles86 @WeAreGenuine
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A lover of memes.
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How to R.E.A.D! (yay acronyms!) !
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R.E.A.D • Research what exists. • Evaluate the options. • Analyze the gap. • Determine amount of change. #justREAD
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Research what exists.
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Research what exists. • Isolate keywords about functionality. • Search for existing modules. • Use the community.
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Evaluate the options.
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Evaluate the options. • Read the module description. • Look at community adoption. • Look at maintainer activity.
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Analyze the gap.
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Analyze the gap. • Download and test the module. • Discover missing functionality. • Check issue queue for solutions.
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Patch not found.
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Determine amount of change.
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Determine amount of change. • Review the module code. • Estimate how much has to be changed. • Do changes extend or alter module?
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Let’s review. Like developers…
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…Flow Chart FTW! Use community solutions. YES Research.! Find modules? YES Evaluate.! find best fit? NO YES Analyze.! is there a gap? YES NO NO Community solutions exist? NO Use existing module. Build a custom module. YES Determine.! big change? NO Patch.
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…Flow Chart FTW! Use community solutions. YES Research.! Find modules? YES Evaluate.! find best fit? NO YES Analyze.! is there a gap? YES NO NO Community solutions exist? NO Use existing module. Build a custom module. YES Determine.! big change? NO Patch.
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Examples.
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Scenario #1.
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The Requirements. WHEN SAVING A FILE AND IT IS A JPEG IMAGE THEN THE EXIF META DATA NEEDS TO BE CAPTURED AND MAPPED TO CUSTOM FIELDS AND THESE MAPPINGS NEED TO BE EXPORTABLE USING FEATURES !
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Step 1 Research what exists.
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Research what exists. Isolate keywords about functionality. WHEN SAVING A FILE AND IT IS A JPEG IMAGE THEN THE EXIF META DATA NEEDS TO BE CAPTURED AND MAPPED TO CUSTOM FIELDS AND THESE MAPPINGS NEED TO BE EXPORTABLE USING FEATURES. !
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Research what exists. Search for existing modules.
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Research what exists. Talk to the community. IRC: #drupal, #drupal-support
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Research what exists. Find possible existing solutions • The Exif module • The Exif custom module
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Step 2 Evaluate the options.
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Evaluate the options Read the module description.
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Evaluate the options Look at community adoption. Exif Exif Custom
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Evaluate the options Look at maintainer activity.
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Evaluate the options Determine best fit.
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Step 3 Analyze the gap.
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Analyze the gap. Download and test the module.
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Analyze the gap. Discover missing functionality.
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Analyze the gap. Check issue queue for solutions.
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Step 4 Determine amount of change.
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Determine amount of change. Review the module code.
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Determine amount of change. Estimate how much has to be changed. • Requires little rewriting of code base. • Need to add new hooks and one new file.
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Determine amount of change. Will changes extend or alter the module?
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Which path to choose? • Patch Exif Custom module ! • Write own Exif module
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PATCH!
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What is a Patch? • drupal.org/patch • A structured list of changes to a file. • Used to re-create changes to a files. • Focus on a single change.
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How to create a Patch. • Clone module repository. • Create a new branch. • Make changes to code. • Test changes. • Generate the patch.
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Clone module repository. mm:~$ git clone —branch 7.x-1.x http://git.drupal.org/project/exif_custom.git
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Create a branch. mm:exif_custom$ git checkout -b patch/features_integration
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Make changes.
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Test changes.
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Create the patch file. mm:exif_custom$ git diff 7.x-1.x > exif_custom-features_integration.patch
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How to submit a Patch. • Create/Comment on an issue. • Attach the patch. • • [description]-[issue-number]-[comment-number].patch Revise based on testing/reviews.
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Create an issue.
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Attach the patch. [description]-[issue-number]-[comment-number].patch
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Contributing back to the community.
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Scenario #2.
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The Requirements. WHEN SITE USES WORKBENCH TO MODERATE CONTENT THEN CAN CREATE MULTIPLE TRANSITIONS BETWEEN STATES AND TRANSITIONS ARE EXPORTABLE USING FEATURES ! WHEN EDITNG A CONTENT REVISION THEN CAN SCHEDULE A TRANSITION AND CAN SELECT DATE FOR FIRST STATE AND CAN SELECT DATE FOR SECOND STATE
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Step 1 Research what exists.
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Research what exists. Isolate keywords about functionality. WHEN SITE USES WORKBENCH TO MODERATE CONTENT THEN CAN CREATE MULTIPLE TRANSITIONS BETWEEN STATES AND TRANSITIONS ARE EXPORTABLE USING FEATURES ! WHEN EDITNG A CONTENT REVISION THEN CAN SCHEDULE A TRANSITION AND CAN SELECT DATE FOR FIRST STATE AND CAN SELECT DATE FOR SECOND STATE
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Research what exists. Search for existing modules.
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Step 2 Evaluate the options.
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Evaluate the options Read the module description.
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Evaluate the options Look at community adoption.
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Evaluate the options Look at maintainer activity.
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Step 3 Analyze the gap.
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Analyze the gap. Download and test the module.
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Analyze the gap. Discover missing functionality. • Unable to create different transitions per type • Unable to select different transitions for revisions • No features integration.
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Step 4 Determine amount of change.
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Determine amount of change. Review the module code.
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Determine amount of change. Estimate how much has to be changed. • Will need to change how transitions are created. • Will need to change how schedules are stored. • Will need to add features integration.
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Determine amount of change. Will changes extend or alter the module?
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Which path to choose? • Patch Scheduler workbench module ! • Write own scheduler module
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CUSTOM MODULE!
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Module Writing Guidelines. • drupal.org/developing/modules • Follow Drupal coding standards. • Make use of hooks and APIs. • Test your code.
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Contributing a module. • Is it functionality other could use? • Name appropriately. • Provide accurate description. • Be an active maintainer.
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Name appropriately.
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Provide detailed description.
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Be an active maintainer.
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Free QA and improvements from community.
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How to R.E.A.D. • Research what exists. • Evaluate the options. • Analyze the gap. • Determine amount of change. #justREAD
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Thank You! @mikemiles86
