Sage Tasks Outline

This is a general outline of targeted areas, including specific tasks, for improving the usability of Sage. The sources include the Sage Usability Improvements List and sagenb/todo.txt, but the scope here is wider. Feel free to make changes. To keep items succinct, please make links to group discussions, etc.

1. General

• Sagenb.org privacy policy.

• Y. Aner's notebook threat model (PDF).

• SageForge - semi-automated repository for contributions to Sage:

  • Scripts, worksheets, databases, and packages of [nearly] all sizes.
  • Supplementary documentation, including multimedia.
  • Optional reviews and ratings.
  • Live, ulimited cellular paste-bin.
  • RSS feeds.

2. Build / Test

• Tests:
  • Meaningful statistics / benchmarks, e.g., %timeit for individual doctests.

• Buildbot.

• Parallel inter/intra-spkg builds.
• Windows port.
• Fat binaries (no SSE3, etc.).
• Notebook functional tests - Extend Selenium tests to other browsers.

• Notebook load tests - The Grinder, FunkLoad, Pylot, Watir, Zope.testbrowser (now in SageNB).

3. Development

• Auto-reload changed modules - paster serve --reload, CherryPy's AutoReload.

• More convenient development workflow:

  • Code review tools - Rietveld.

  • Automated, continuous builds and testing for new patches.

• Static Python code analysis, pep8.

4. Documentation

• Document:
  • Add many more modules to the reference manual.

  • pexpect interface for users.

  • notebook port forwarding.

  • Notebook server technical overview.

  • Run notebook server as daemon.

5. Notebook: Admin

• Don't list all users' worksheets.

• Authentication - abstract interface:
  • LDAP.
  • UNIX accounts.
• Dashboard:
  • Real-time and cumulative statistics, aggregate and per user.
  • Backups: complete or selective.
  • Manage user accounts, passwords, groups, privileges.
  • Send email to all registered users.
  • Install new / updated modules and spkgs.

• Lots of options with sensible defaults:

  • Email address as username.
  • Secure tokens to reset passwords.
  • Moderated new account registration.

  • Custom analytics tags, geolocation (ClustrMaps).

6. Notebook: Introspection

• Better error detection, e.g., for Maxima command completion.

• Completions link for mobiles.

• Live introspection cells.
• Introspection cross-links.

• New documentation browser. Open worksheet docstrings in this browser.

7. Notebook: "Modes"

• %timeit.

• %cython mode, full and outside sage.

• Slideshow mode - #6342.

• interacts:
  • Auto updates.

  • Live published or remote - #6855.

  • Control over widget layout - #7379.

  • Examples to include with Sage.

  • Free-form workspace with pipelines.

  • Display nicely formatted docstrings (or captions).

  • Simplify extension, possibly with templates.

  • More widgets: circular slider ("angle" wheel), date picker, vertical sliders, spreadsheets, interactive plots, etc.

  • New architecture.

• LaTeX doc mode.

• reST - markItUp with server-side Sphinx.

• Chat - qwebirc, Web IRC.

• Debugging:
  • Prettier tracebacks for %modes.

  • Python debugger a la Pylons - #7509.

• Vector graphics - #6973.

  • Draw - SVG-edit.

  • Annotate output from matplotlib's SVG backend.

• Code editor - BeSpin, CodeMirror (#7501).

• Browse worksheet directories like a file system.

• Math input GUI plug-ins.

8. Notebook: Under the hood

• notebook():

  • Allow default systems besides 'sage'.
  • Allow a different sage command on a remote machine.

• Manage Jmol applet count / memory use - sage-notebook.

• Use Python's logging facility.

• Cythonize pexpect.
• Processes:
  • Balance server pool loads.
  • Don't block the server: making docbrowsers, etc.
  • Remote worksheet processes.

  • Use fork, named pipes, and/or memory-mapped files for worksheet processes.

• Client-server and server-server interaction:

  • Load JS / CSS components on demand - Ajile.

  • Server-to-server backups, possibly with authentication.
• Decouple secure transport from sage. Use OpenSSL(?)

• Remote access Python API - Google Documents List Data API

  • Manipulate, share, up/download, publish worksheets at a given Sage(Forge) server.
• Storage:

  • Fix worksheet.autosave().

  • Always retrieve worksheet content from disk on open.
  • Use a revision control tool (e.g., Mercurial) for undo, history, snapshots, etc.
  • File size limit - auto-delete and warn above threshold.

  • Access a user's data directory securely via the new storage API.

  • Handle permissions better for directories, history, output, conf files, etc.

• Migrate to server / framework: Django, Pylons, Pyjamas, Tornado, etc.:

  • Switch from twisted.web2 to twisted.web.

  • URL routes.

9. Notebook: User Interaction

• Help:
  • Reorganize help page:
    • Search for commands.
    • Linking to similar and related commands.

  • Easy set up of shipped jsMath fonts - MathJax.

  • Automatic tips for keyboard shortcuts, editing features, etc. Opt out.
• Customization:
  • Defaults: typeset, implicit multiplication, 3D viewer, rename "Untitled" worksheets.
  • Function to update worksheet titlebar.
  • Easy backups, selective or complete.
• Keys
  • New shortcuts, e.g., for restart worksheet.

  • Custom shortcuts, e.g., ctrl-bksp to delete previous word, not join cells - #7618.

• Cells:
  • Right-click menu.
  • Auto-updating cells, e.g., interacts.
  • Unify server and client-side resize algorithms.
  • Always show links for long output cells, regardless of length or interruption.

  • Select, delete, (un)group, move multiple cells.

• 2D / 3D plots:

  • JavaScript animations.

  • Pre3d-enabled `canvas3d` viewer.

  • Mouse-over for coordinates - matplotlib.

  • Interactively zoom, pan, annotate - canvas, SVG, Flot, Open Flash Chart.

• Worksheets:
  • Export screen with checkboxes for images, data, etc.

  • Use notebook as IDE for running sage instance - #7501.

  • Drag-and-drop file upload.

  • Don't list "Sage Users" when sharing.

  • Page through worksheet list, not all at once - tablesorter.

  • Toolbar with buttons to interrupt running code, save, attach files, etc.

  • Real-time concurrent editing - #7362.

• Published worksheets:
  • Delete them.
  • RSS feeds.

  • Live cells, e.g, interacts - #6855.

  • Only to selected users or groups.
• Notebook:

  • Tags / labels.

  • Manage logins:

    • View recent account activity. Add last login to user.py.

    • Invalidate other sessions' cookies.

  • Full-text search: SQLalchemy, Whoosh (codenode-devel).

• External:

  • Embed live cells / worksheets - #6855.

  • Wave gadgets and robots.

  • Live published worksheets.