<chapter id="intro-history" xreflabel="History">

    <title>History</title>

    <para>

        The CentOS Artwork Repository started during a discussion

        about how to automate the slide images of Anaconda, at CentOS

        Developers mailing list (

        url="mailto:centos-devel@centos.org">centos-devel@centos.org</ulink>)

        around 2008.  In such discussion, Ralph Angenendt rose up his

        hand to ask —Do you have something to show?—.

    </para>

    <para>

        To answer the question, Alain Reguera Delgado suggested a bash

        script which combined SVG and SED files in order to produce

        PNG images in different languages —in conjunction with

        the proposition of creating a Subversion repository where

        translations and image production could be distributed inside

        The CentOS Community—.

    </para>

    <para>

        Karanbirn Sighn considered the idea intresting and provided

        the infrastructure necessary to support the effort. This way

        the 

        url="https://projects.centos.org/trac/artwork/">CentOS Artwork

        SIG</ulink> and the 

        url="https://projects.centos.org/svn/artwork/">CentOS Artwork

        Repository</ulink> were officially created.

    </para>

    <para>

        Once the CentOS Artwork Repository was available, Alain

        Reguera Delgado uploaded the bash script for rendering

        Anaconda slides; Ralph Angenendt documented it very well; and

        people started to download working copies of CentOS Artwork

        Repository to produce slide images in their own languages.

    </para>

    <sect1>

    <title>2009's</title>

     <para>

        Around 2009, the rendition script was at a very rustic state

        where only slide images could be produced, so it was

        redesigned to extend the image production to other areas,

        different from slide images.  In this configuration, one SVG

        file was used as input to produce a translated instance of it

        which, in turn, was used to produce one translated PNG image

        as output. The SVG translated instance was created through SED

        replacement commands. The translated PNG image was created

        from the SVG translated instance using Inkscape command-line

        interface.

    </para>

    <para>

        The repository directory structure was prepared to receive the

        rendition script using design templates and translation files

        in the same location. There was one directory structure for

        each artwork that needed to be produced. In this

        configuration, if you would want to produce the same artwork

        with a different visual style or structure, it was needed to

        create a new directory structure for it because both the image

        structure and the image visual style were together in the

        design template.

    </para>

    <para>

        The rendition script was moved to a common place and linked

        from different directory structures. There was no need to have

        the same code in different directory structures if it could be

        in just one place and then be linked from different locations.

    </para>

    <para>

        Corporate identity concepts began to be considered. As

        referece, it was used the book "Corporate Identity" by Wally

        Olins (1989) and 

        url="http://en.wikipedia.org/Corporate_identity">Wikipedia</ulink>

        related links. This way, the rendition script main's goal

        becomes into: <emphasis>automating production of a monolithic corporate

        visual identity structure, based on the mission and the

        release schema of The CentOS Project</emphasis>.

    </para>

    <para>

        The repository directory structures began to be documented by

        mean of flat text files. Later, documentation in flat text

        files was moved onto LaTeX format and this way the "The CentOS

        Artwork Repository" documentation manual is initiated.

    </para>

    </sect1>

    <sect1>

    <title>2010's</title>

    <para>

        Around 2010, the rendition script changed its name from

        <command>render.sh</command> to

        <command>centos-art.sh</command> and became a collection of

        functionalities where rendition was just one among others

        (e.g., documentation and localization).

    </para>

    <para>

        The <command>centos-art.sh</command> was initially conceived

        to automate frequent tasks inside the repository based in the

        idea of Unix toolbox: to create small and specialized tools

        that do one thing well.  This way, functionalities inside

        <command>centos-art.sh</command> began to be identified and

        separated one another. For example, when images were rendered,

        there was no need to load functionalities related to

        documentation manual. This layout moved us onto <quote>common

        functionalities</quote> and <quote>specific

        functionalities</quote> inside

        <command>centos-art.sh</command> script. Common

        functionalities are loaded when

        <command>centos-art.sh</command> script is initiated and are

        available to specific functionalities.

    </para>

    <para>

        Suddenly, no need was found to keep all the links spreaded

        around the repository in order to execute the

        <command>centos-art.sh</command> script from different

        locations.  The centos-art command-line interface was used

        instead. The centos-art command-line interface is a symbolic

        link stored inside the 

        class="directory">~/bin</filename> directory that point to

        <command>centos-art.sh</command> script. As default

        configuration, inside The CentOS Distribution, the path to

        <filename class="directory">~/bin</filename> is included in

        the search path for commands (see PATH environment variable).

        This way, using the centos-art command-line interface, it is

        possible for us to execute the

        <command>centos-art.sh</command> script from virtually

        anywhere inside the workstation, just as we frequently do with

        regular commands.

    </para>

    <para>

        Start using GNU getopt as default option parser inside the

        <command>centos-art.sh</command> script.

    </para>

    <para>

        The repository directory structure was updated to improve the

        implementation of corporate visual identity concepts.

        Specially in the area related to themes. Having both structure

        and style in the same file introduced content duplication when

        producing art works.  Because of this reason, they were

        divided out to separate directory structures: the design

        models and artistic motifs directory structures.  From this

        point on, the <command>centos-art.sh</command> is able to

        produce themes as result of arbitrary combinations between

        design models (structures) and artistic motifs (visual

        styles).

    </para>

    <para>

        In the documentation area, the documents in LaTeX format were

        migrated to Texinfo format. In this configuration, each

        directory structure in the repository has a documentation

        entry associated in a Texinfo structure which can be read,

        edited and administered (e.g., renamed, deleted and copied)

        interactively through <command>centos-art.sh</command> script.

        Additionally, the texi2html program was used to produced

        customized XHTML output in conjunction with CSS from The

        CentOS Webenv.

    </para>

    </sect1>

    <sect1>

    <title>2011's</title>

    <para>

        Around 2011, the <command>centos-art.sh</command> script was

        redesigned to start translating XML-based files (e.g., SVG and

        Docbook files) through <command>xml2po</command> program and

        shell scripts (e.g., Bash scripts) through GNU gettext tools.

        This configuration provided a stronger localization interface

        for graphic designers, translators and programmers. The SED

        replacement files are no longer used to handle localization.

    </para>

    <para>

        The render, help and

        locale functionalities were consolidated as the

        most frequent tasks performed inside the repository.

        Additionally, the prepare and tuneup functionalities are also

        maintained as useful tasks.

    </para>

    <para> 

        In the documentation area, support for producing localized

        transformations of DocBook XML DTD instances was added through

        the render and locale functionalities. The

        render functionality uses the xsltproc

        command-line XSLT parser in conjunction

        with the styles provided by the

        <package>docbook-style-xsl</package> package, both of them

        included inside The CentOS Distribution.  The locale

        functionality creates the localized portable object

        (PO) the render functionality

        needs to produce localized transformations of DocBook XML DTD

        instances.  

    </para> 

    <para>

        To build DocBook documentation, it was considered the idea of

        using concepts behind repository directory structure as base,

        not the opposite (as I've been doing with Texinfo backend, so

        far).

    </para>

    <para>

        Producing documentation through DocBook XML as default

        documentation backend consolidates render and

        locale even more.  In this configuration, once

        the DocBook files are written, we use locale

        functionality to localize the DocBook files in your prefered

        language and later, using render functionality,

        we produce the XTHML and PDF outputs as specified in the XSLT

        customization driver we can define.

    </para>

    </sect1>

</chapter>