SasView Tutorials: The Next Generation - Author Instructions

Click here to jump straight to the current list of Tutorials.

Software

You will need to install ​LibreOffice Writer if you do not already have it installed.

LibreOffice is what used to be Open Office and is free to download and use! We have also chosen this program because it offers an 'open' document format that our version control system can recognise, and because it allows us to generate several different types of document format from this (eg, PDF, etc).

Tutorial Template

Click ​here to download a Tutorial template for LibreOffice Writer.

Contributing a NEW Tutorial

Here are some simple steps to contributing a new Tutorial:

• Download the Tutorial template above

• Rename the template to something descriptive of the Tutorial you are about to write (but keep the filename manageable!)
  • filenames must be lowercase
  • separate words in filenames by underscores, nothing else please!
  • keep the file extension as .fodt

• Open your Tutorial file in LibreOffice Writer
  • on Page 1: give your Tutorial a title
  • on Page 2: add your name and email address to the list of contributors
  • on Page 3: state the Objective of the Tutorial

• Write your Tutorial!
  • Remember, a Tutorial is self-paced instruction that provides a step-by-step approach to some learning unit. Keep your Tutorial readable and goal-driven. Include screenshots, and provide some form of feedback or test of learning (such as through question-answer exercises and/or providing access to comparative results).

• Save your Tutorial

What you do next depends on whether you think you will need to edit your Tutorial (or any other Tutorials) in the future:

• I do not want to edit Tutorials:
  • simply email the Tutorial to tutorials@… - if it is a rather large file it might be an idea to zip it first!

• I do want to edit Tutorials:
  • if you do not already have one, create yourself a ​GitHub account
  • login to GitHub
  • in the search box at the top of the window type 'SasView/tutorials' (without the quotes!) and press return
    • you should now be looking at the Tutorials repository; there will be a file called README.md and a green button above it which says 'Clone or download'
  • click on the button marked 'Upload files' to the left of the green button
  • drag-over or choose the Tutorial file you want to upload
  • in the narrow box under the heading 'Commit changes' add a short title for your upload; eg, 'Added tutorial on X'
  • (optional) if you want you can add a more detailed description of what you are uploading in the bigger box
  • click the green button marked 'Commit changes' to add your Tutorial file to the repository

Editing an EXISTING Tutorial

IMPORTANT! Once a Tutorial file is in the repository it is available for anyone to work on and make changes. Provided all authors pull a copy of a file from the repository, make their changes, and then push the changed file back to the repository, Git will ensure that one authors changes are not compromised by another authors changes.

• To pull a Tutorial file from the repository:
  • login to GitHub
  • navigate to the 'SasView/tutorials' repository
  • click on the Tutorial file you wish to edit
    • the document contents will be displayed; in the case of a Tutorial file this will be a lot of XML!
  • click the button on the right marked 'Raw'
  • right-click anywhere on the page and choose 'Save as…'
  • save the Tutorial file (as type 'OpenDocument Text', nothing else please!)

Warning: Unless you really are a ​steely-eyed missile man/woman we do not advise that you edit the XML directly!!!

• Edit the Tutorial in LibreOffice Writer!

• Save the Tutorial!

• To push the Tutorial file back to the repository:
  • login to GitHub
  • navigate to the 'SasView/tutorials' repository
  • click on the button marked 'Upload files' to the left of the green button
  • drag-over or choose the Tutorial file you want to upload
  • in the narrow box under the heading 'Commit changes' add a short title for your upload; eg, 'Changed/added X to the tutorial on Y'
  • (optional) if you want you can add a more detailed description of what you have changed in the bigger box
  • click the green button marked 'Commit changes' to add your Tutorial file to the repository

Tutorials & Authors

The following table lists required and requested tutorials, their authors, and production status:

Tutorial	Type	Author	Status	Comment
Getting Started	required	Steve	Done
Simple 1D Fitting	required	Steve	Done
Simultaneous 1D Fitting	required	Steve	Done
Batch & Chain 1D Fitting	required			Should include Combined Batch Fitting
Using Constraints	required
Working with Polydispersity Functions	required
2D Fitting	required
Fitting Magnetic SANS	required
Fitting SESANS	required
P® Analysis	required
Invariant Analysis	required
Correlation Function Analysis	required	Steve
Writing a Simple Plug-in Model	required			Using the Plug-in Model Editor
Writing an Advanced Plug-in Model	required			Using Python, etc
Working with Image Data	required			Using the Image Viewer Tool
Simulating 2D SANS Data	required			Using the Generic Scattering Calculator Tool
Understanding Orientation Angles	required
etc