Re: Creating API pages

Thanks to everyone who particpated on the call today to discuss the
proposal and the apis architecture. Ahead of meeting notes, I'd like to
review some of the main points and revisit the issues that were not fully
resolved at the end of the call. It's rather imperative that we be able to
move forward with the documenting the APIs, and I think we've resolved
enough of the issues to be able to move forward without having to do too
much revising or reorganizing of our docs down the road.

Could everyone please take a moment to read this and respond? Thanks!

*apis architecture*

We decided to remove the "intermediate" pages (objects, events, methods,
and properties) from the namespace to keep the URLs shorter and eliminate
the need to fill these pages with queries or redirects. The new api
namespace architecture is as follows:

apis
apis/<apilist>
apis/<apilist>/<apiObject>/<foo-event>
apis/<apilist>/<apiObject>/<bar-method>
apis/<apilist>/<apiObject>/<baz-property>

Note: further discussion about the <apilist> namespace identifier is
further on, but assumed here to be maintained.

I will begin rewriting the proposal for this and reorganizing the webrtc
docs.

*constants*

We discussed the possibility of providing for constants (enumerations) that
are shared across several methods within an object. I spoke with our own
Dimitri Glazkov about this. Turns out that an API may provide for the case
where a property could use only part of the enumeration (values 1 and 2,
but not 3) while another property would use all values (1, 2, and 3) of a
given enumeration. Constants are defined for the object, so this scenario
is quite common.

Now the challenge is how to represent the valid constants for a particular
property. We need a way to specify constants 1 and 2 (but not 3) for
property A, and specify constants 1, 2, and 3 for property B. Probably the
best way is to follow the same approach we take with events, methods, and
properties pages and the "Applies to" field.

So, each constant would have its own page, i.e.
apis/<apilist>/<apiObject>/<FOO-constant> and the properties page would
have a summary table listing each of the valid constants. The trick here
would be to provide each <FOO-constant> page with multiple "Applies to"
fields so that these could be shared.

This needs some thought and design expertise. For now, let's just move
forward with constants listed per property.

*exceptions*

We need to describe the exceptions for a method. Same re-use scenario as
with constants. So apis/<apilist>/<apiObject>/<Bar-exception> and the
ability to "Applies to" to different methods. Note that often API methods
use DOM exceptions, so this template needs to work for both dom and apis.
Could get kind of hairy with multiple "Applies to" fields.

Needs some thought and design expertise, too. For now, let's just move
forward with exceptions listed per method.

*Move all apis under dom*

It was suggested that all of the api pages could be moved under the dom
namespace.

Early on we decided to keep the dom namespace separate from the apis
namespace. The "non-dom" apis are more clearly defined on their own, and
fitting them within the dom does not add any value. While it is true that
most of the time an API is accessed within the context of a dom object,
i.e. navigator.getUserMedia() or  window.indexedDB.open(), usually this
context is only necessary to create the initial object, i.e. a
LocalMediaStream object or an IDBOpenDBRequest object. That much is
adequately covered in the documentation and needn't be spelled out in the
URLs. And, as was pointed out in the call, our purpose is not to mimic the
document object model in our URLs, but to provide for location and
navigation. Furthermore, nesting everything under a DOM object page makes
the URL longer.

*API Listing pages*

It was suggested that we remove the API Listing pages from the apis
namespace. I strongly urge us not to do so.

The API listing pages describe the API by its common names - the names by
which users search for information about the API. It provides
for find-ability where an API has multiple "listing names" - as is the case
with the WebRTC API which is further sub-divided into the MediaStream,
PeerConnection, and DataChannel APIs. These need to be included as
sub-headings in the listing page to fully describe the API.

The API listing pages provide an overview of how to use the API objects
included in the specification. The best place to do this is within the apis
namespace, rather than a "concepts" or "guides" or other namespace.

The API listing pages provide for disambiguation between like-named API
objects. Consider two objects:

   - The MediaStreamAudioSourceNode object from the Web Audio API
   - The MediaStream object from the WebRTC API

In fact, both of these are the same thing, as creating a
MediaStreamAudioSourceNode is simply passing to that object an object of
type MediaStream:

MediaStreamAudioSourceNode createMediaStreamSource ( MediaStream
mediaStream );

If our URLs read, apis/MediaStreamAudioSourceNode and /apis/MediaStream
without any context to differentiate them, users are likely to get confused.

*Action Item: Proving out the apis architecture*

I'm concerned that there may have been a miscommunication about the action
item captured at the end of the meeting. This happened while the meeting
was adjourning, and may have been misconstrued. Here's the snippet from the
IRC channel:

9:57 AM <sierra_> TASK: someone sanity-check how actual APIs would work
9:59 AM <sierra_> in apis/<apilist>/objects/<apiObject>/properties , go to
apis/APIobject/properties
10:00 AM <sierra_> sorry, apis/APIobject

What I heard was that the action item is to review the apis namespace to
see if there would be collisions between api objects without the
intervening <apilist> object. First, it is unlikely that within our very
limited apis namespace that this will happen (we currently have some 8 or 9
APIs, not counting DOM APIs); second, we can never fully prove the lack of
collisions because we don't have time to review the entire set of standard
APIs - and we certainly can't vet the ones that haven't been created yet.

Perhaps someone could fill in here why this exercise is necessary and what
it hopes to prove?

Would it not be more efficacious to simply proceed with maintaining the
<apilist> namespace identifier - as in apis/<apilist>/<apiObject>/<etc.>?

Thanks for helping out here!

+Scott




On Tue, Nov 13, 2012 at 12:23 PM, PhistucK <phistuck@gmail.com> wrote:

> I am planning on adding fields for constants within the API Object
> template/form. It might take a few days, though. I hope to work on it on
> Friday or Saturday.
>
> ☆*PhistucK*
>
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 13, 2012 at 9:06 PM, David Gash <dgash@google.com> wrote:
>
>> Scott,
>> For tomorrow's call, apart from the basic issue of the API content
>> architecture, let's discuss the web audio list before I set off creating
>> ~150 pages. Also, I have a few questions about certain parts of the
>> interface that you (or someone else) may be able to answer, below. The
>> numbers refer to the W3C spec<https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/audio/raw-file/tip/webaudio/specification.html>,
>> and are linked to the specific sections for easy reference.
>>
>> 4.3<https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/audio/raw-file/tip/webaudio/specification.html#AudioSourceNode>
>>  AudioSourceNode
>> Listed as an "abstract" interface, has no documented properties or
>> methods.
>>
>> 4.11<https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/audio/raw-file/tip/webaudio/specification.html#MediaElementAudioSourceNode>
>>  MediaElementAudioSourceNode
>> Created in an Audiocontext, has no documented properties or methods.
>>
>> 4.14.1<https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/audio/raw-file/tip/webaudio/specification.html#PannerNode-sub>PannerNode Constants
>> There's no API structure/path for constants.
>>
>> 4.18<https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/audio/raw-file/tip/webaudio/specification.html#ChannelSplitterNode>ChannelSplitterNode and
>> 4.19<https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/audio/raw-file/tip/webaudio/specification.html#ChannelMergerNode>ChannelMergerNode
>> Also have no documented properties or methods.
>>
>> 4.24<https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/audio/raw-file/tip/webaudio/specification.html#WaveTable>WaveTable and
>> 4.25<https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/audio/raw-file/tip/webaudio/specification.html#MediaStreamAudioSourceNode>
>>  MediaStreamAudioSourceNode
>> Also have no documented properties or methods.
>>
>> I'm not sure whether to create pages for the objects with no properties
>> or methods, and whether to document the PannerNode constants as properties
>> or... something else. Any input appreciated.
>>
>> Dave
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Nov 12, 2012 at 12:06 PM, Scott Rowe <scottrowe@google.com>wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks Dave! Be sure to share any issues you encounter on this thread.
>>> +Scott
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Nov 12, 2012 at 11:16 AM, David Gash <dgash@google.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Scott / all,
>>>>
>>>> I'm starting to document the web audio API. Based on Scott's proposal
>>>> doc and the W3C specs, the first few topics' URLs will be structured
>>>> thus:
>>>>
>>>> apis/webaudio
>>>>
>>>> apis/webaudio/objects/AudioContext/properties/destination
>>>> apis/webaudio/objects/AudioContext/properties/sampleRate
>>>> apis/webaudio/objects/AudioContext/properties/currentTime
>>>> apis/webaudio/objects/AudioContext/properties/listener
>>>> apis/webaudio/objects/AudioContext/properties/activeSourceCount
>>>> apis/webaudio/objects/AudioContext/methods/createBuffer
>>>> apis/webaudio/objects/AudioContext/methods/decodeAudioData
>>>> apis/webaudio/objects/AudioContext/methods/createBufferSource
>>>> apis/webaudio/objects/AudioContext/methods/. . . etc.
>>>>
>>>> apis/webaudio/objects/AudioNode/properties/context
>>>> apis/webaudio/objects/AudioNode/properties/numberOfInputs
>>>> apis/webaudio/objects/AudioNode/properties/numberOfOutputs
>>>> apis/webaudio/objects/AudioNode/methods/connect
>>>> apis/webaudio/objects/AudioNode/methods/disconnect
>>>>
>>>> apis/webaudio/objects/. . . etc.
>>>>
>>>> There are a lot more objects, properties, and methods in this API, of
>>>> course, but Scott has reviewed this plan and, barring any objections,
>>>> that's the path structure I'll be following.
>>>>
>>>> I plan to outline the entire set before creating any pages, then create
>>>> all the stubs, then go back and fill in.
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>> Dave
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Nov 8, 2012 at 12:03 PM, Scott Rowe <scottrowe@google.com>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> When I sat down to document the process for creating API pages, using
>>>>> the WebRTC documentation as the poster child, I found more questions than
>>>>> answers. I realized that we did not have a good story here, so I did my
>>>>> best to fill in the holes with a methodology that attempts to solve the
>>>>> problems I found.
>>>>>
>>>>> You find this methodology described in WPD:Creating_API_pages<http://docs.webplatform.org/wiki/WPD:Creating_API_pages>
>>>>> .
>>>>>
>>>>> Note that it started out as a how-to for contributors, but quickly
>>>>> became a proposal. So parts of it will read either way. Don't be alarmed.
>>>>> The purpose of the document is to provide you with a methodology to try on
>>>>> as you do what I did - test it out with your own API pages.
>>>>>
>>>>> As you do, please don't update the methodology in that page - let's
>>>>> discuss it first. We can use this thread for the discussion.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks for your help!
>>>>>
>>>>> +Scott
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>