addedValues Plugin

Photo DB

Manila handles many objects. Of these, pictures are one type, considered as a sub-set of messages.

You keep hearing people who want to upload a bunch of images and make slides shows. Manila offers no simple way to do that. Metdata offered the navigator macro, but that required to create a story for each image; like two messages for the single use...

Well here is an interesting case where you can simplify matters tremendously.

You really only have to do the following:

1. Create at least one indexed variable that will have values that describe the photograph - say photoCategory. Using predefined values is a matter best decided by you...
2. Create a form that will be used to edit a picture. Make sure you include the subject, body and photoCategory variables in your layout.
3. Create a report that will present to picture to an end-user - say photoLayout. Let your imagination roam... templates ? other variables & their values ? search forms ?
4. Make sure that somehow the body of the picture you are editing includes the page macro that should look something like this {addedValueMacros.page("photoLayout")}

Some variants:

• You want to make it a slide show for all the pictures that have the same index for photoCategory ? Add to your report the nextIndexValueLink macro to view the previous or next picture with the same value. Yes, Margaret, that's all there is to it...
• You don't want to bother to edit every picture by pasting in the page macro ? Fine. Just put this at the head of your form: [[ body hidden("{addedValueMacros.page(\"photoLayout")}")]]. The next time you edit the picture (you may have to to assign its value for photoCategory) it'll run on its own.
• You really want Google to pump your photographs, index the alt tag and make them easy to find ? Right. For the time being Google will have to feed itself the page macro call... We're working on it, but it's low on the priority list. I'm sure David would enjoy getting paid to solve this for you, fast.

Expanded thinking...
Hmmm... does this mean you can create 8 variables and assign them to picture messages ? Edit them ? And search them ? Generate hit lists ? Produce reports ?

No one is going to stop you...