Technical Overview of CourseWork 3.0

1. Technical OverviewofCourseWork 3.0 January 2004

2. System Requirements • Solaris or Linux operating system (recommended) • Java 1.4.1 or later • Java Servlet Container • Oracle 8i or later • Apache Web Server (recommended) OracleDB JDBC Servlet Container

3. Version History Major releases each Fall, minor maintenance updates in Winter and Spring: • Version 1.0 released Fall 2001. • Version 1.1 released January 2002. • Version 1.2 released March 2002. • Version 2.0 released September 2002. • Version 2.1 released January 2003. • Version 2.1 open source released in Nov 2003. • Version 2.2 released March 2003. • Version 2.5 released May 2003. • Version 2.5 open source released June 2003. • Version 2.7 released July 2003. • Version 3.0 released September 2003. • Version 3.1 released January 2004. • Version 3.0 open source released January 2003.

4. Java Web Application • Installs as a Web Application Archive (WAR) file. • Runs in a Java Servlet Container • Coursework v3.0 uses Tomcat 4.1.24 • We used Tomcat 3.2.3 for all previous versions • Java Servlet Specification • Coursework v3.0 uses servlet 2.3 API • We used servlet 2.2 API for all previous versions • Uses only servlets, no JSPs. • We use Apache Web Server/Tomcat combination (mod_jk) • Coursework v3.0 uses Apache 2.x • We used Apache 1.3.x for all previous versions

5. Oracle Database • Oracle 8i (8.1.7) • Coursework v3.0 and previous version uses Oracle 8.1.7 • We uses Oracle 9i for v3.1 versions • Oracle 8i JDBC drivers (classes12.zip) • Thin Driver or OCI-8 driver. • OCI-8 requires installation of Oracle client on app server. • Oracle 8i Connection Pool implementation • Single user schema

6. CourseWork Web Application • Core packages • edu.stanford.coursework.core • edu.stanford.coursework.common • Tool packages • edu.stanford.coursework.coursehome • edu.stanford.coursework.announcements • Etc • Dynamic Templating Language (DTL) • edu.stanford.coursework.dtl • Servlets • DTL Templates

7. Tool Person Nexus Content Core Objects • Person, Nexus, Tool, Content

8. Core Objects (continued) • Person Object • Represents a user in CourseWork • Nexus Object • Represents a course, a section, a department, etc. • Grouping of people, tools, and content. • Definable NexusTypes. • Tool Object • A tool that shows up in the navigation bar • Allows tools to be turned on/off for each Nexus • Content Object • A single piece of content that is used in a Nexus. • Referenced by URL and/or filepath.

9. Person Object (example object model) • Person.java • fields map to database fields • get and set methods for each field • toDTLObject method • PersonController.java • Methods to get, create, save, remove object in DB • Other static methods to use/manipulate object • PersonSQL.java • SQL query strings used in preparedStatements to interact with the database

10. Dynamic Templating Language (DTL) • Developed at Highwire Press, Stanford University • Installs as a JAR file • Parsed HTML Templates with rich variable replacement capabilities • Also provides date/time display functionality and configuration file parsing functionality for CourseWork • Simple Examples: [[VARDEF $COLOR]]#CCCCCC[[/VARDEF]] This font color is <FONT COLOR=[[$COLOR]]>grey</FONT>. Or in Java Code: DTLObject mainDTL = new DTLObject(); mainDTL.put(“COLOR”, “#CCCCCC”);

11. Tool Model • Two servlets – student view and admin view • Eg, Announcements.java and AdminAnnouncements.java • edu.stanford.coursework.<toolname> package. • Uses same object model as core object • DTL Templates • Database tables

12. CourseWork Documentation Site http://coursework-dev.stanford.edu/docs • Javadocs • Database Schemas • DTL Javadocs and instructions • 3rd party packages used by CourseWork (oreilly, etc)