datahub/library.html
Rufus Pollock a2df2955f7 [doc/example-quickstart,doc/library][m]: most of a quickstart example plus refactor library page to reflect this and our plans.
* example covers creating a dataset and displaying a grid
* refactor library page to remove examples (will be separate) and list a set of examples we hope to have (most not yet written)
2012-05-13 10:19:40 +01:00

162 lines
6.1 KiB
HTML

---
layout: default
title: Library - Home
---
<div class="container library">
<div class="page-header">
<h1>
Recline Library and Data Components
</h1>
</div>
<p>Building on <a href="http://backbonejs.com/">Backbone</a>, Recline
supplies components and structure to data-heavy applications by providing a
set of models (Dataset, Document/Row, Field) and views (Grid, Map, Graph
etc).</p>
<h2 id="examples">Examples</h2>
<div class="alert alert-success"><strong>Note:</strong> A quick read through of the <a href="#concepts">Concepts section</a> will
likely be useful in understanding the details of the examples.</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="span3 well">
<h4><a href="example-quickstart.html">Recline Quickstart Guide</a></h4>
</div>
<div class="span4 well">
<h4>Loading from difference sources: Google Docs, Local CSV, DataHub</h4>
</div>
<div class="span3 well">
<h4>Twitter Example</h4>
</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="span3 well">
<h4>Customing Display and Import using Fields</h4>
</div>
<div class="span4 well">
<h4>Listening to events</h4>
</div>
<div class="span3 well">
<h4>Setting and Getting State</h4>
</div>
</div>
<h3>Extending Recline</h3>
<div class="row">
<div class="span3 well">
<h4>Create a new View</h4>
</div>
<div class="span3 well">
<h4>Create a new Backend</h4>
</div>
<div class="span3 well">
<h4>Create a Custom Document Object</h4>
</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="span12">
<h2 id="concepts">Concepts and Structure</h2>
</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="span6">
<p>Recline has a simple structure layered on top of the basic Model/View
distinction inherent in Backbone.</p>
<h4>Models</h4>
<p>There are two main model objects:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="docs/model.html#dataset">Dataset</a>: represents the dataset.
Holds dataset info and a pointer to list of data items (Documents in our
terminology) which it can load from the relevant Backend.</li>
<li><a href="docs/model.html#document">Document</a>: an individual data item
(e.g. a row from a relational database or a spreadsheet, a document from from
a document DB like CouchDB or MongoDB).</li>
</ul>
<p>Additional, related models:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="docs/model.html#field">Field</a>: a field/column on a
dataset.</li>
<li><a href="docs/model.html#query">Query</a>: an object to encapsulate a
query to the backend (useful both for creating queries and for storing and
manipulating query state - e.g. from a query editor).</li>
<li><a href="docs/model.html#facte">Facet</a>: Object to store Facet
information, that is summary information (e.g. values and counts) about a
field obtained by some faceting method on the backend.</li>
</ul>
<p>More detail of how these work can be found in the <a
href="docs/model.html">Model source docs</a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="span6">
<h4>Backends</h4>
<p>Backends connect Dataset and Documents to data from a
specific 'Backend' data source. They provide methods for loading and saving
Datasets and individuals Documents as well as for bulk loading via a query API
and doing bulk transforms on the backend.</p>
<p>A template Base class can be found <a href="docs/backend/base.html">in the
Backend base module of the source docs</a>. It documents both the relevant
methods a Backend must have and (optionally) provides a base 'class' for
inheritance. You can also find detailed examples of backend implementations in
the source documentation below.</p>
<h4>Views</h4>
<p>Complementing the model are various Views (you can
also easily write your own). Each view holds a pointer to a Dataset:</p>
<ul>
<li>DataExplorer: the parent view which manages the overall app and sets up
sub views.</li>
<li>Grid: the data grid view.</li>
<li>Graph: a simple graphing view using <a
href="http://code.google.com/p/flot/">Flot</a>.</li>
<li>Map: a map view using <a href="http://leaflet.cloudmade.com/">Leaflet</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>There are additional views which do not display a whole dataset but which
are useful:</p>
<ul>
<li>QueryEditor: a query editor view</li>
<li>FacetViewer: display facets</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="span12">
<h2 id="docs-source">Source Docs (via Docco)</h2>
</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="span6">
<h4>Models and Views (Widgets)</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="docs/model.html">Models</a></li>
<li><a href="docs/view.html">DataExplorer View (plus common view code)</a></li>
<li><a href="docs/view-grid.html">(Data) Grid View</a></li>
<li><a href="docs/view-graph.html">Graph View (based on Flot)</a></li>
<li><a href="docs/view-map.html">Map View (based on Leaflet)</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="span6">
<h4>Backends</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="docs/backend/base.html">Backend: Base (base class providing a template for backends)</a></li>
<li><a href="docs/backend/memory.html">Backend: Memory (local data)</a></li>
<li><a href="docs/backend/elasticsearch.html">Backend: ElasticSearch</a></li>
<li><a href="docs/backend/dataproxy.html">Backend: DataProxy (CSV and XLS on the Web)</a></li>
<li><a href="docs/backend/gdocs.html">Backend: Google Docs (Spreadsheet)</a></li>
<li><a href="docs/backend/localcsv.html">Backend: Local CSV file</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div> <!-- / container -->