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.
1. General
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:
- Increase coverage to 100%.
- Fix all sagenb doctests and run them from Sage library.
- Meaningful statistics / benchmarks, e.g., %timeit for individual doctests.
- Build logs:
- Separate file for each spkg for parallel builds.
- Group by install, upgrade, or spkg install event.
- Remotely aggregate and display refreshed statistics.
- Porting:
VirtualBox Sage.
- andLinux Sage.
- Windows.
- Windows build farm.
- Sagelite for Windows.
- Binary distributions that don't use SSE3, etc.
- Automated notebook benchmarking and testing:
3. Development
Auto-reload / auto-build changed files - attach, paster serve --reload, CherryPy's AutoReload.
More convenient development workflow:
Code review tools - Rietveld.
- Automated, continuous builds and testing for new patches.
4. Documentation
- Document:
doc/en/sagenb for new notebook.
- Add modules to the reference manual.
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.
Settings: "everything," hidden analytics tags, geolocation (ClustrMaps).
- Manage user accounts, passwords, groups, privileges.
- Send email to all registered users.
- Install new / updated modules and spkgs.
- Registration:
- Users:
- Groups.
- Privileges.
- Email address as username.
- Secure tokens to reset passwords.
6. Notebook: Introspection
- Use Sphinx for sagenb.org docstrings.
Matrix B mentioned twice in B.solve_left?: B.solve_left(B, ...).
- Better error detection, e.g., for Maxima command completion.
- Completions link for mobiles.
- Live introspection cells.
- Introspection cross-links.
- Improve introspection / completion interface: floating div, RHS div.
New documentation browser. Send worksheet docstrings to this browser.
7. Notebook: "Modes"
- %timeit.
%cython mode, full and outside sage.
- Slideshow mode.
- interacts:
- Auto updates.
- Live published.
- Control over widget layout.
- Examples to include with Sage.
- Display nicely formatted docstrings (or captions).
- Simplify extension, via HTML templates or an API.
- More widgets: vertical sliders, spreadsheets, interactive plots, etc.
Graph editor - #1321.
- reST:
%rest cells (auto-hide, double-click to show) converted to HTML by Sphinx.
- Preparse in the browser: implicit multiplication, less work for server.
- Rich content, e.g., equations.
- Sage compute bot.
- Add to help page.
- Debugging:
- Prettier tracebacks for %modes.
Python debugger a la Pylons.
Draw - SVG-edit.
- Annotate output from matplotlib's SVG backend.
Code editor a la BeSpin
- Command-line history.
- Syntax highlighting.
- Context-sensitive completion.
- Browse worksheet directories like a file system.
8. Notebook: Under the hood
Implement base_url.
Deprecation message at top of old notebook .py files.
Move is_valid_username, etc., out of twist.py.
Updated jsMath image fonts spkg - #7229.
notebook():
- Allow default systems besides 'sage'.
- Allow a different sage command on a remote machine.
- Manage Jmol applet count / memory use.
Use Python's logging facility.
- Cythonize pexpect.
- Processes:
- Balance server pool loads.
- Run the worksheet process as another user.
- Reference implementation:
- Make ctrl-c quit.
- Don't put "data" link in all output cells.
- Upload worksheets without blocking the server.
- Remote worksheet processes.
Use fork, named pipes, and/or memory-mapped files for worksheet processes.
- Client-server and server-server interaction:
- TinyMCE problem.
Load JS / CSS components on demand - Ajile.
- Load browser-specific code only in the specific browser.
- Better handling of concurrent worksheet use.
- Server-to-server backups, possibly with authentication.
- Decouple secure transport from sage/dsage. Use OpenSSL.
Remote access API - Google Documents List Data API.
- (Non-)authenticated modes.
- Manipulate, share, publish worksheets at a given Sage(Forge) server.
- Python module, included with Sage.
- Storage:
- Use HTML format for worksheets.
Fix worksheet.autosave().
- Always retrieve worksheet content from disk on open.
- Use a revision control tool (e.g., Mercurial) for undo, history, snapshots, etc.
Deprecate the [unused] objects directory.
- File size limit - auto-delete and warn above threshold.
- Access a user's data directory securely, e.g., via an API.
- Handle permissions better for directories, history, output, conf files, etc.
- Filesystem or a database determines worksheet list, not an sobj.
Migrate to server / framework: Django, Pylons, Pyjamas, Tornado, etc.:
Switch from twisted.web2 to twisted.web.
9. Notebook: User Interaction
- Help:
- Reorganize help page:
- Search for commands.
- Linking to similar and related commands.
- Easy set up of shipped jsMath fonts.
- Automatic tips for keyboard shortcuts, editing features, etc. Opt out.
- Friendly bug buddy that emails reports, bundles session history, etc.
- Reorganize help page:
- Customization:
- Defaults: typeset, implicit multiplication, rename "Untitled" worksheets.
- Custom window close callback.
- Function to update worksheet titlebar.
- Easy backups, selective or complete.
Download zip files of multiple worksheets, even if accounts=True.
- Keys
- Restart worksheet shortcut.
- Splash-screen with common keys.
- Insert new cell after current cell shortcut.
Custom shortcuts, e.g., ctrl-bksp to delete previous word, not join cells - js-hotkeys.
- Cells:
- Auto-updating cells, e.g., interacts.
- Prevent text movement by a pixel on cell frame focus.
- Always show links for long output cells, regardless of length or interruption.
- Easily identify idle, queued, and running cells.
Select, delete, (un)group, move multiple cells.
Leading space input bug - #6729.
- 2D / 3D plots:
JavaScript animations.
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.
- Optional always visible menubar at top of worksheet.
- Make "Browse your computer" upload fields editable.
- Fix "undefined" bug on first save in Safari 4.0.3.
- Don't put "..." in default filename when saving.
- Don't list "Sage Users" when sharing.
- Rate worksheet title shows false error.
- Page through worksheet list.
- "Save as" option, e.g., for downloading, that prompts for a name.
- Toolbar with buttons to interrupt running code, save, attach files, etc.
Parens matching - #3646.
TinyMCE synchronization problem.
- Published worksheets:
- Delete them.
- RSS feeds.
- Live cells, e.g, interacts.
- Only to selected users or groups.
- Publishing should update "last changed" time, even for old worksheets.
- Notebook:
Tags.
- Suppress browser warning for Konquereor.
- Manage logins:
View recent account activity. Add last login to user.py.
- Invalidate other sessions' cookies.
- Unique cookies for logins from different browsers / computers.
Full-text search: SQLalchemy, Whoosh (codenode-devel).
Fix MoinMoin.
- External:
Embed live cells / worksheets - #6855.
- Live published worksheets.