Overview
WebQuestWriter was created to scratch an itch, to provide a quick and dirty means of organizing the composition of novels. I have broken the nature of content down into a simple, process theoretic, ontology, one composed of Actors, Relationships, States and Processes. To those categories, I have addedNotes, and Chapters. Each category is captured in a menu configured as a tree.
WebQuestWriter is a Java(tm) open source project and is available in a zip file here. It is licensed with the Jabber Open Source License (JOSL), which is included with the distribution. Source code is not included with the distribution but can be obtained by writing to me at "jackpark AT thinkalong.com" -- My preference is to wait until people break it and tell me what problems they have had. If enough interest is generated, I will create a support site similar to this one for WebQuestWriter.
The theory behind this project is based on the idea that it is Good Thing (tm) to keep track of all of the people, places, and things (actors), how they relate to each other, and the various states they can go through during the course of a story. Processes, which occur as events, bring about changes to Actors, Relations, and/or States. What I have built is just the simplest possible tool to allow me to do just that, to organize all the people, places, things, and events which inform and animate the story I wish to create.
WebQuestWriter will undergo many upgrades to both performance and functionality. I could add spell checking and rich text, but, for now, WebQuestWriter is the simplest possible project I could build that can write documents that can be imported into OpenOffice or other word processor where spell checking and rich text conversion can be performed. Recent changes include adding a Text menu to allow users to select Font Size and Font Type (plain or bold).
How To
Requirements
Java, at least Java 2, version 1.2 or higher. The latest Wintel and Linux Java platforms shipping are version 1.4. OS X (Macintosh) now ships with version 1.4. Older Macs (OS 9 and below) do not ship with a Java suitable for running WebQuestWriter.
If you already have a recent Java Runtime Environment installed as a plugin for your browser, just find it and use it (see Booting below).
Booting
Your mileage may vary. For Linux and OS X use, you will need to translate the Windows batch file into a script. You may also need to edit the script to point to your Java distribution. If you don't know how to do that, this document doesn't anticipate (anytime soon) adding a tutorial on how to do that other than this simple one:Right now, the batch file reads:
%JAVA_HOME%\bin\java.exe -classpath %JAVA_HOME%\lib\tools.jar;.\lib\xerces.jar;.\classes org.nex.wqw.Main
At issue for most people could be the nature of %JAVA_HOME% -- it may not be set in your operating system. If not, you must locate your Java installation. Let us suppose it is found in a directory, say c:\jdk1.3.1
With that, substitute c:\jdk1.3.1 in both places where %JAVA_HOME% is found.
Booting, then, means double clicking the batch file or invoking the shell script.
Creating a New Project
Use the File:New menu. This will open a dialog in which you type the name of the project.
Adding an Actor
Right click over the Actors menu item. This will open a popup menu which offers two options: New Node, and Rename Node.
Choose New Node and type the name of the new Actor.
Adding a Relation
Right click over the Relations menu item. This will open a popup menu which offers two options: New Node, and Rename Node.Choose New Node and type the name of the new Relation.
Adding a State
Right click over the States menu item. This will open a popup menu which offers two options: New Node, and Rename Node.Choose New Node and type the name of the new States.
Adding a Note
Right click over the Note menu item. This will open a popup menu which offers two options: New Node, and Rename Node.Choose New Node and type the name of the new Note.
Adding a Chapter
Right click over the Chapters menu item. This will open a popup menu which offers two options: New Node, and Rename Node.Choose New Node and type the name of the new Chapters.
Adding Content to any Node
Click on the appropriate node (e.g. some Actor, Relation, State, Note, or Chapter). If there is any content there, it will appear in the text area in the right panel. Add content as desired. Notice that a Save Node button will be active. Click that button when you are done. If you happen to move to another node and forget to click that button, WebQuestWriter automatically saves the contents of the previous node before moving to the newly selected node, but it's wise to be in the habit of clicking that button; if you Save the project with that button still active, chances are that your latest edits will not be included in the Saved project.
Content of each Chapter is saved to an independent text file named with the Chapter title followed by ".txt".
It is wise to create a new directory for each project. Save the project to that new directory.
Important Note: you must Save a new project prior to saving any Chapter content. Otherwise, the system will not know where to save the Chapter and it will be saved in the same directory as the program is installed. Or it will crash. Go figure...
Saving a Project
Select File:Save to save your project. WebQuestWriter defaults to a "Save As" behavior. If this is the first save, you will have to type ini a file name, e.g. MyProject.xml. If it is not the first time, select the file (chances are it will still show in the File Dialog) and save. You will not be warned of overwriting an existing file.Opening an Existing Project
Select File:Open and select the appropriate file.Changing the Name of any Node
Right click over any menu item. This will open a popup menu which offers two options: New Node, and Rename Node.Choose Rename Node and type the new name for the node.
Delete
Not implemented yet. For now, WebQuestWriter writes to a simple XML file which can be opened in any text editor and edited to suit.(c) Copyright 2003, Jack Park
Latest: 20030617