Week 1, Day 4: Thursday, July 14, 2022
Synopsis
XQuery in XML databases. Day four reimagines the edition in a research-driven way within a digital environment. In the morning, we guide participants through installing an application into eXist-db and exploring its indexes. In the afternoon, participants practice these new skills by developing their own XQuery to be implemented later in an eXist-db application framework. Next, we begin writing the controller, which stitches together the data, the models, and eventually, the views. The final session of the day will focus on collation.
Outcome goals
- Understand the benefits and limitations of XML databases.
- Become familiar with the different types of indexes one can use in an XML database.
- Understand indexes by running queries with and without indexed data.
- Gain experience writing code aligned with research goals.
- Use MVC framework to output model data.
- Prepare to write your own controller.
- Understand controller writing syntax.
Legend
- Presentation: by instructors
- Discussion: instructors and participants
- Talk lab: participants discuss or plan in small groups
- Code lab: participants code alone or in small groups
9:00–10:30: XML databases and indexes
Edition repo stages for session
| Time | Topic | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | Databases have at minimum data and a method of querying that data. Indexes enable direct and fast retrieval for querying the data. | Presentation |
| 30 min | Indexing and profiling. Examine indexes and profiles in Monex. | Code lab |
| 30 min | Using Lucene indexes. What are facets and fields? | Code lab |
10:30–11:00: Coffee break
11:00–12:30: Developing the model to support a feature
Edition repo stages for session
| Time | Topic | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | Building a title list with XQuery: Create the view: transform the model to HTML. | Code lab |
| 60 min | Participants work together on preliminary code that they would like to develop into a feature. | Code lab |
12:30–2:00: Lunch
2:00–3:30: The controller
Edition repo stages for session
| Time | Topic | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 20 min | Where are we in the project? Planning for the next step? | Talk lab |
| 15 min | What is a controller? Why do we need it? What factors determine controller design? | Discussion |
| 15 min | Explore how the out-of-the-box controller works, along with what it can and cannot do. | Presentation |
| 10 min | URL rewriting: configure the controller to return the combined model plus view (title-list query). | Code lab |
| 10 min | Configure controller to return just the model (title-list query). | Code lab |
| 20 min | The full controller pipeline: returning the view (title-list query). | Code lab |
3:30–4:00: Coffee break
4:00–5:30: Collation
| Time | Topic | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 45 min | Collation. | Presentation |
| 45 min | Participant project presentations. | Discussion |
We’ll end each day with a request for feedback, based on a general version of the day’s outcome goals, and we’ll try to adapt on the fly to your responses. Links to the feedback forms are in our Slack workspace in the #daily-feedback channel (posting from Mason on Mon, July 11).