Introduction
The layout of the pages in the cookie should be "intuitive", but if more
than thirty years in information technology science has taught me anything,
it's the sad fact that what seems self-evident to someone well versed in
a subject, is often clear as mud to others! So this short burst is intended
to outline what you are looking at and how to find your way around it.
The Layout
Like the
Model Engine News web site,
the Cookie uses what we call a "Master/Detail" layout. The strip on the left
is the
Master. It provides a set of links into the display on the right
which, by process of elimination, must be the
Detail. Various buttons and
links on either side change what is displayed as Master and corresponding
Detail.
The upper section of the Master display shows the cover of
the "current" cookie raisin and lists the content pages that are available
for that specific item. This list comprises links that focus the
Detail frame on the scanned image of a specific page.
Of course, you can always use the slide bar on the right hand panel to
scroll through the pages manually.
Getting Around
Mostly, master and detail views track each other, but not always.
For instance, when the Cookie first loads, the right panel shows a matrix
of issue covers, while the navigation frame on the left shows the earliest
issue of the collection (the one in the top left corner of the main frame).
The section between the two horizontal lines on the navigation panel provides
indexes into the collection—and a link to this help page,
which you've obviously found!
The buttons with the arrows in them on the right and left of the section
between the lines will navigate to the next or previous sequential issue
(by date) of the collection.
The "TOC" button in the middle will load a sort-of Table of Contents
that shows thumb-nail images of the covers of all issues in the Cookie,
sorted left-right, top-bottom, in ascending date order and labelled with their
Volume and Issue number. Clicking on any of these will load that issue into
the right frame, and the corresponding index into the left.
Note that when the TOC view is selected, the Master side will not
change until a specific issue is selected.
Under these buttons are links to a more conventional index.
There are two index links, but they are essentially the same. One is sorted and
arranged by article title, while the other groups the articles by their author.
Clicking any line of an index loads the master and detail frames,
scrolling the detail to the first page in the issue of the selected item.
Series Links
Some issues contain stand-alone articles, others parts of a multi-issue series.
Links to the next and previous parts of series will appear under the last
scanned page (detail side) of these. The index, both by author, and title,
will warn that an entry is a series. As expected (I hope!), the link buttons
will reload to first page of the next or previous part of the series.
Glitches
While forward series navigation has been part of the Cookie since Day One,
backwards links are a relatively new feature, first added in November of 2007.
I think they are all present and correct, but testing requires visual
inspection and as there are nearly 8,000 separate links (yes, Thousand!)
in the cookie, I may have missed one, or even three!
I have automated tasks to build the cookie "pages" and to check that
the links go someplace valid, but whether that place is also the right place
is another matter entirely.
If you spot an error, or missing back link, please let me know so I can fix it.
The series presented are mostly complete, but they depend on my library
which is not complete. I know that the Mastiff
chops out two thirds of the way through (Volume 140 is missing), and that
the Gnome looks a bit unfinished too, but
that may just be the way the series ended. But in other cases, I've tracked
down all the bits and pieces and where I can find them, any follow-on
correspondence in the "Letters" that pertain to a design. You'll have
to consult the title index for these; they are not specifically linked
to their parent article.
Sometimes, the Back button of your browser will not seem to take you
back to where you thought it would. That is because some links cause two
page loads (to left and right frames). This is easily fixed by pressing "Back"
twice. For example, clicking either link in the previous paragraph will
instantly take you to the named article, But to get back here, you will
need to press "Back" twice. The cure is too complex to contemplate, so
deal with it!
This Damned Thing Does Not Work!
As Douglas Adams taught us, Don't Panic! The tracking between master and
detail views requires that scripting code execute in your Browser.
You may have heard the name "Javascript" bandied around, frequently
accompanied by Dire Warnings for the Unwary, provided by The Ignorant.
Actually, the correct name is
ECMA Script (don't start me...)
and the bit about the warning is not totally without foundation,
but is more of an information protection issue than a "wipe your disk" danger.
But as a consequence, some people intentionally disable execution of
web page scripting language code for quite valid security reasons. And
Microsoft's Internet Explorer may decide unilaterally to disable it for
a specific page. In the latter case, a not that obvious line, generally
with a pale yellow background, will appear inviting you to click it
for options that include enabling scripting for that page. Trust me
(I will be a doctor if I ever finish that thesis), nothing bad will
happen if you enable scripting for Model Engine News provided pages.
Even if you don't, you will still be able to navigate around, sort of.
It will just be the master/detail tracking that does not work.
Conclusion and Updates
The material in the Cookie is on the borderline of the "fair use"
provision in International Copyright regulations for academic research.
I can legitimately argue that as a niche focus, it provides references
for specific, targeted research which is permissible so long as the entire
resource is not reproduced, and none are!
But it could also be argued the other way and
would come down to who could afford the most lawyers. I somehow suspect
that this would not be me. So, please, please, keep this material for
your own use. Don't make copies for others, and especially don't put any of it
on-line in any way. If we keep our heads down, it can continue to grow
and you benefit. For this reason, and the not so obvious complexity of
building the navigation links, I can't supply download updates to the Cookie.
Besides, it's just too big.
But the latest version is always included with new DVDs and registered
Model Engine News Members can always get a new disk for a nominal fee
to cover media, reproduction, and shipping.
Enjoy...