MACE-Dir-Groups Conference Call August 24, 2005

*Participants*
Gary Brown, U. Bristol (stand-in chair)
Brendan Bellina, USC
Linh Pham, USC
Steve Olshansky, Internet2
Jessica Bibbee, Internet2 (scribe)

New *Action Items*
[AI] {Group} will review documentation on the links that {Gary} sent out (23/24-Aug), and provide feedback before the next MACE-Dir-Groups call.

Carry-over *Action Items*
[AI] {Tom} will work on a brief question/answer introduction page for Grouper. (10-Aug-05)

[AI] {Minh} will prepare initial documentation for the Subject API. (10-Aug-05)

[AI] {Minh} will initiate discussion on the {grouper-dev} list regarding packaging options for the Grouper UI. (27-Jul-05)

*Discussion*
{Gary} briefly reviewed updates for the nearing release of Grouper v0.6. {Gary} has posted documentation for the Grouper UI (23-Aug) at <http://portal.bris.ac.uk/grouper-ui-docs/README.html>. For reference, the QuickStart version can be found at <https://www.bris.ac.uk/fluff/u/isgwb/uRjVzksRtxwwecy9Tu_cmAfn/>. He has added the Grouper-UI module in CVS, which can be found at <http://anoncvs.internet2.edu/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/grouper-ui/?cvsroot=I2MI>. Testing of the UI will be ongoing, if not overly systematic, in order to receive sufficient feedback. [AI] {Group} will review documentation on the links that {Gary} sent out (23/24-Aug), and provide feedback before the next MACE-Dir-Groups call.

On the topic of searching and browsing the groups hierarchy, {Gary} suggested that these should take place in the API, not the UI. By means of a relational database or LDAP, the results could then be returned in the correct order. If one knew which attribute would be searched for, it could be specified ahead of time. If a site has specific search requirements, it could identify a field to be searched in the database. This approach would provide a straightforward method of delegating any sorting to the repository of choice.

The next MACE-Dir-Groups call will be the last chance for the {Group} to make final preparations for the Fall 2005 Internet2 member meeting <http://events.internet2.edu/2005/fall-mm/>. Also to be discussed are packaging options for Grouper.

The next MACE-Dir-Groups conference call will be Wednesday, September 7, 2005 at 12pm ET.