nici /database

I don't have a name for this quite yet but....

Overview:

A web page where the user is asked to contribute a short amount of text about a relationship they have been in and then is presented a story built with the texts entered by previous users. This is accomplished by use of a database (mySQL) and server side (python) programming.

Use Case:

• User loads a web page: user is greeted by a text entry field, several radio buttons, and an explaination of what is requested.
  
• User enters text and selects buttons (hits submit): python grabs text and button states, analyzes the string for certain key words, creates an object (instance) of the class I’ve defined to hold the text, the status of the radio buttons, and the occurrences of the key words I wish to scan for and sends this info to the database putting appropriate fields from the object and putting them into appropriate cells of the table? This also triggers the compilation and display process.
  
• User opts to view another story: Re-triggers the compilation and display process.
  
• User opts to enter another: Reloads initial page.

Flow chart:

Intended User:

Anyone

Intent:

This art piece is a Dadaist style group story with a focus on relationships. Viewers are first asked to contribute a block of text from their own relationship. Various things are determined about the texts and they are stored in a database, this info is used to determine which texts from the database to display together so that the narrative is somewhat smooth. These variables will be things like the pronoun of the significant other, experience quality, and the occurrence of certain key words. The viewer gets no option as to what is displayed, the process will involve a good amount of randomness but consistency is desired.

The stages of implementation are:

1. Text Entry
2. Text Processing
3. Story Compilation
4. Story Display
5. Story Navigation

1) Text Entry:

2) Text Processing:

The text is analyzed for certain key words, the numbers of occurrences of each of these words are stored in variables associated with the text, as is the prompt identity, user input as to pronoun, and experience quality. The pronoun setting is also stored as a variable that will be used later. The text and its associated variables are added to the database.

3) Story Compilation

When this stage is triggered by the completion of the text processing stage a key word and experience quality setting are chosen at random. The pronoun setting is the same as in the text that the user entered as determined by the stored variable. The database is then quieried for 5 entries, one of each prompt type, that have the same pronoun setting, have the determined experience quality, and have an occurance of the key word. This chunk of five texts comprises the story.

4) Story Display

• Low Bar: The texts are strung together and displayed using basic html.
• High Bar: The texts are displayed using Macromedia Flash in an interactive environment. A black and white line drawing city scape is the setting, with the texts displayed on billboards that become evident as the users travels down the street.

5) Story Navigation

• Low Bar: Really the only two options would be a "Read More" button that would restart the Story Complitation process and a "Contribute More" button which would esentially take the user all the way back to the begining to start the process all over.
• Middle Bar: Navigation of the Flash movie would be done with simple move forward , move back instruction either through key board commands or buttons on the screen. These wouldn't be little incremental steps, they would be large jumps that would trigger an annimation that took you all the way from one billboard to the next. Forward and back would be the only navigation options.
• High Bar: Navigation extends to include left and right turns that would trigger the program getting a new story line, left could change the key word the texts have in common, right could change the experience quality. If this type of navigation is possible then the user would probably experience the navigation in small steps, not large jumps and the left and right options would only be available at certain positions.

Key Words

• Love
• Hate
• Highschool
• Wedding

Prompts

• One morning it finally dawned on me.
• Whether I wanted it or not.
• I wasn't expecting it to happen.
• I called that night.
• The inevitable happened.

Examples

• Example Entries
• Example Stories

Nuts and Bolts

• Python Code
• SQL Code
• Action Script