============================ Fenfire Loom, an RDF browser ============================ Loom is a focus+context RDF graph browser. RDF is the Resource Description Framework developed by W3C, . Focus+context means that there is always one 'focused' node, shown in the middle of the window, and that the nodes connected to the focused node are shown around it, as the 'context.' Loom is a part of the Fenfire project, which is building a RDF-based desktop environment where anything can be connected to anything else. However, Loom can also be used on its own; when the first release is complete, we will move it into an independent project at Savannah.nongnu.org. Currently Loom is only a browser, but we're working on making it a full RDF editor. License ======= Fenfire Loom is released under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL). For details, see file LICENSE. How to install ============== To compile Loom, you will need a Java VM and Apache Ant installed. You will need to check out both the ``fenfire`` and the ``fenfire-depends`` CVS module in the same directory:: cvs -d:pserver:anoncvs@subversions.gnu.org:/cvsroot/fenfire login cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anoncvs@subversions.gnu.org:/cvsroot/fenfire co fenfire cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anoncvs@subversions.gnu.org:/cvsroot/fenfire co fenfire-depends To compile and run the test suite, just cd into the ``fenfire/`` directory and type ``ant``. To compile only, use ``ant compile``; to only run the tests, use ``ant test``. How to run ========== At this time, you need to provide the RDF file to browse on the command line. To browse the file ``foo.rdf``, type:: ant run -Drdffile=foo.rdf A menubar with a "File/Open..." item is on the TODO list for the 0.1 release. When you started Loom, you'll be taken to a random node in the RDF graph. The nodes connected to it will be shown left and right from it. Above each connected node, the property through which the nodes are connected is shown. You may have to resize your window, the nodes are quite large at the moment. To quit the browser, close the window or hit ``Ctrl-Q``. The wheel view -------------- You can choose between the connected nodes using the Up/Down cursor keys and move to a connected node using the Left/Right keys. You cannot move onto literals (shown as rectangles). There are two views, the 'simple' and the 'wheel' view, which you can switch between using the PgUp/PgDown keys. In the wheel view, using Up/Down can be confusing when moving to the left, since Up seems to move down and Down seems to move up (try it; it's because when the nodes right of the cursor go up, the nodes left of the cursor go down on the wheel). Therefore, we provide a second set of 'cursor' keys which work equally well in both views: - ``j`` moves left. - ``l`` moves right. - ``u`` goes up left from the cursor. - ``n`` or ``m`` goes down left from the cursor. - ``o`` goes up right from the cursor. - ``.`` goes down right from the cursor. These may seem strange at first, but seem to work really well. (We'll continue to experiment, though.) Directory structure =================== - ``org.fenfire.loom`` contains all Loom classes and tests. - ``org.fenfire.test`` contains the test framework (Jython-based). Homepage and mailing lists ========================== Loom is currently developed as part of the Fenfire project at . The mailing list is [gzz-dev]: http://mail.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gzz-dev and CVS commit messages are sent to [gzz-commits]: http://mail.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gzz-commits This is because Fenfire evolved out of an earlier project called Gzz and we haven't fully made the move yet. Please send bug reports as well as any comments to [gzz-dev].