Hi to all

I need to select notes representing different objets and linked by a common attribute (as in a relational database).

On one hand I have "articles" with an attribute "Number" (of the article)
On the other hand I have "referees" that read the articles and they have an attribute "Number" which contains the number of the article they are refreeing.

I want to collect a pack of articles (with some agent) -for instance articles sent since two months, or corresponding to a same issue of the journal- and  list all the referees involved with these articles.

Simple ! Well, I am unable to find a solution to this (rather) simple query...

Rigas

Mark

thanks a lot  for the suggestion. Two agents: That I suscpected. The problem now is my coding skills in TB are nil.

I just created an example file as you suggest. Its really based on the same architecture of my file but its simplified (an d names corespond to nothing real ). The real file has more than 100 articles and about two hundred referees and more than 500 links ! Where can I send the example so you get a grasp of it?

Image below shows you :
- AUthors (upper left)
- Referees (called "Lecteurs" in our French jargon, lower left)
- Articles on the upper right which as you see in the example are gathered in containers correponding to the value of $Dossier (an attribute of the proto "article"). Then I have a series of agents to monitor the activity (called 'alertes').


Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch


- For each article I have a lot of attributes: NumArticle, name of the author (Auteur), the name of the referees, etc... One important attrbute is the $Dossier which gather articles to be published in teh same feature in the journal. "Varia" is the name for articles outside a Dossier.


Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch


- For referees I have names in the title of the note and some othe rattributes, but the only common info I have with tha articles is the number of the article.


Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch


The whole things works reasonably well, but I would like to have an output that lists a series of articles (whatever criteria) then the list of referees (or/and authors) which is linked either by links (although links are erratic, because you have to build them by hand each time and this i ssomething you never really control) or just because I have them listed somewhere else (in a cotainer called "Lecteurs") and I can find them by the $NumArticle.

I also created a set attribute $ArticleSet which will contain the numbers of the selected articles.

- Agent one is whatever criteria for the query that selects the articles. Where do I put the collect() in the agent? In the rule box? What is the syntaxis (I dont understand the manual...)  

- Agent two will collect the referees based on the $ArticleSet content ! Again what synatxis and where.

As to your question what do I do with a sole person being a referee for two or more articles, that never happens at the same time !!  

One we fine tune all this, I very gladly can post the whole exercise in the examples of uses if TBX !

Rigas

Agent2 as earlier proposed may not be possible due to limitations in the way a set may be queried. The only way to test a set is to use the AttributeName(pattern) operator. Agent 2 needs to be able to do something like:

  ($Lectuer1=ArticleSet(agent)) | ($Lecteur2=$ArticleSet(agent)) (NOT VALID SYNTAX!)

I'll have to think on this.

Agent 1 simply shows the power of Tinderbox.  Use as many parameters as you need

As you asked about syntx, to follow best practice, I'd add (red) a '$' before 'EnAttente'. White space before/after &, |, (, or ) doesn't matter and is down to clarity/personal tase:

$Dossier="Ressources biologiques" & $Prototype="article" & $ArticleFini=false & $EnAttente=false & $EvaluationEnCours=true & $EnRevisionAuteur=false & ($AvisLecteur1="manque" | $AvisLecteur2="manque"| $AvisInterne="manque")

Can Agent 1 collect $NumArticle? Yes - I was just guessing at titles. However you will need a new Set-type user attribute to hold the result of the collect(). The collect(), collect_if(), links() [url=]create data in set form[/url]so when using these the left side must always be a set attribute. This is fine:

Rule:   $ArticleSet=collect(child,$NumArticle)

The above is either the $Rule in Agent 1, populating the agent's $ArticleSet, or, ... it with the syntax below and placed in the agent's $AgentAction it could populate $ArticleSet for note 'Some note' like so:

AgentAction:   $ArticleSet(SomeNote)=collect(child,$NumArticle)

Where do agents need to need placed? It doesn't matter. An agent's children are the result of it's query and will be the same wherever the agent is placed.  Answering another implied qurestion, collect() can target a group (collect syntax) based on a different note. So note X can collect from note Y's context:

Rule in Note X:   $ArticleSet=collect(child(Y),$NumArticle)

All of which is fine but there's no way to
Quote:


Or rather, we've gone about this the wrong way! As is so often the case with TB, when thinking how to explain why the route I'd tried doesn't work, the answer becomes clear.  OK, Agent 1 lists all the articles that are relevant. Each article note has the name of its readers ($Lecteur1 & $Lecteur2). So, agent 1 actually has the info we need. Make a new Set-type attribute 'LesLecteurs' (if my schoolboy French is correct!). Re configure Agent 1 like so:

Agent's Query:   $Dossier="Ressources biologiques" & $Prototype="article" & $ArticleFini=false & $EnAttente=false & $EvaluationEnCours=true & $EnRevisionAuteur=false & ($AvisLecteur1="manque" | $AvisLecteur2="manque"| $AvisInterne="manque")

Agent's Action:     $LesLecteurs(agent)=$LesLecteurs(agent)+$Lecteur1;$LesLecteurs(agent)=$LesLecteu
rs(agent)+$Lecteur2;

The set $LesLecteurs of Agent 1 now holds a list of all the readers (lecteurs) who have read the the articles found by the query. As well as showing a result this thread shows how there's more than one way to a solution and if something like a desired syntax (set querying) isn't available there's usually another way around. Also, it doesn't matter where Agent 1 lives and the query/action code doesn't mind what you actually call 'Agent 1' - I suspect something in your native tongue might make more sense, e.g. 'Agent: liste de lecteurs'.

To make it easy to view the list of readers and if you don't already use the text of agent 1 for anything, you could add this rule:

Rule:  $Text=format($ArticleSet,"Les lectuers pour ces articles:\n","","\n","");

This gives you the heading "Les lectuers pour ces articles:" ending in a line break and then each reader's name on a new line.  Being a rule, as $ArticleSet changes, the $Text is updated.  It does mean the you can' easily mix this output with other general text in the same note/agent.

For more, see format().

Surely, if you're collecting articles missing reviewers, there will be...no reviewers. However, I believe you're looking for reviews where there is only one lecteur when there should be two?

No obvious reason why the code's not working, espeaically as you can correctly get a list of articles via the same code method.  The first think I'd check is to expand the agent and view the aliases inside. Open each of these in turn and check if there is a value for $Lecteur1 or $Lecteur2. Any values for these attributes, should be the the list in the agent's $Text.

For an agent called "manque avis", in the $AgentAction, these codes are equivalent:

$LesLecteurs(manque avis) = ...
$LesLecteurs(agent) = ...

as both refer to the same agent. If you copied the code into an agent called "manque lecteur" the first code would fail as it refers to a particular agent whereas the second would still work as it referes generically to the current agent in use by the code.

I think your ArticleSet data is a 'false positive' The collect should go in the agent's rule.  Delete this from the end of the agent action:

$ArticleSet=collect(child,$NumArticle)

Add the code to the front of the agent's Rule, because the child is meaningless in the context of the action.  In the rule it means child of this rule. The Rule now looks like:

$ArticleSet=collect(child,$NumArticle);$Text=format($LesLecteurs,"Les lecteurs pour ces articles:\n","","\n",""); $Text=$Text+format($ArticleSet,"Les  articles:\n","","\n","");

...which simplifies to...

$Text=format($LesLecteurs,"Les lecteurs pour ces articles:\n","","\n",""); $Text=$Text+format(collect(child,$NumArticle),"Les  articles:\n","","\n","");

Still looking at the other problem of the $LesLecteurs data...

Ah! So syntaxis was the problem.

IT WORKS ! Yipee !!

I get an attribute $LesLecteurs Okay now, which contains the list of values of the attributes $Lecteur1, $Lecteur2, $LecteurInterne.

BUT, the collect() function eliminates all characters such as "/" or commas. If there is a comma in the value of the attribute such as for example "Arvanitis, Rigas" it retains the first word (Arvanitis) and discards the comma and what trails after the comma (the ", Rigas").

The other attribute, $ArticleSet contains the value of $NumArticle (mind you in your response up here you didnt write $NumArticle but just $Article, which produces the set to contain only one value "$Article" --...)

Very useful Mark, you did it again. Congrats !

(BTW the posted example is unreadable...)