Semanticmediawiki: Category display format and sub-objects

[jcostello1]

I recently upgraded to SMW 2.3.1 and SRF 2.3 from a pre-2.2 version. I noticed today that the grouping behavior of the query output when format=category changed. Yes I've read the notes at https://www.semantic-mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Category_format but the issue I'm seeing isn't covered.

I have a page that creates subobjects on people's burial information and I have other pages that list relevant names in a category format depending on the query parameters. Previously this worked well and the page grouped the results under the letter heading corresponding to the first letter of the surname property of the results. Since the upgrade, all results are grouped under a single letter heading, the one that corresponds to the first letter of the page title of the page that contains all of the subobjects.

My wiki isn't public so I can't provide a live example but an example of my query is:

{{#ask: [[Isgraverecord::+]] [[Era::1920s]]
|?Surname#
|?Givennames#
|?Init#
|mainlabel=-
|template=GravesListdisplaytemplate
|format=category
|sort=Surname,Init
}}

Is this an intentional change or a bug created during the rework of the Category format for the 2.2 release?

[mwjames]

Is this an intentional change or a bug created during the rework of the Category format for the 2.2 release?

I think #699 should be a good read with other discussions in #783, #1383, and #1010.

My wiki isn't public so I can't provide a live example

Feel free to use http://sandbox.semantic-mediawiki.org.

Related integration tests to category or category format include:

• https://github.com/SemanticMediaWiki/SemanticMediaWiki/blob/master/tests/phpunit/Integration/ByJsonScript/Fixtures/f-0203.json
• https://github.com/SemanticMediaWiki/SemanticMediaWiki/blob/master/tests/phpunit/Integration/ByJsonScript/Fixtures/f-0301.json
• https://github.com/SemanticMediaWiki/SemanticMediaWiki/blob/master/tests/phpunit/Integration/ByJsonScript/Fixtures/f-0302.json
• https://github.com/SemanticMediaWiki/SemanticMediaWiki/blob/master/tests/phpunit/Integration/ByJsonScript/Fixtures/p-0301.json

@kghbln @jaideraf It would be nice if someone could lead the investigation/discussion (I'm a bit preoccupied with multilingual stuff) on:

• Whether we missed something or not
• Whether this is a bug or feature, and if it is a bug then as to why and can it be reproduced
• Example that demonstrates the issue clearly and can be modelled to be an integration test (so we don't have the same discussion in future)

[jcostello1]

Thanks @mwjames for looking at this. I had read the discussions you mentioned but they are on sort order and not on the 'grouping'. Thinking about it now, perhaps the title I chose is misleading....

In my example, the results are sorted exactly as I would expect/desire them but the issue is they all appear under a single "letter" section on the category formatted page instead of the expected grouping by Surname.

I've requested a sandbox login (Jcostello1) so I can attempt to recreate the issue.

[jcostello1]

Issue has been recreated in the sandbox.

Category-formatted results: http://sandbox.semantic-mediawiki.org/wiki/Gravesofthe1920s
Sourcedata: http://sandbox.semantic-mediawiki.org/wiki/Gravedataset

You'll see that all the results are sorted correctly by surname then initials (see Baker in list) but that they all appear in "G", the first letter of the Gravedataset pagename where the sub-objects are found. Desired/expected behavior would be for "A", "B", "G", "H", "J", "S" and "T" sections.

[jaideraf]

Hi @jcostello1
You have to use |@sortkey={{{Surname|}}}, {{{Init}}} in your subobject declaration in the GraveSubObject template. See here for more details.

[jcostello1]

Hi @jaideraf
Thanks for the pointer. How would the |@sortkey affect the subobjects when they're used in multiple ways? I use the same data for many queries and some have a different sort order. For example, on one page using a different output template I query all known burials and build a table sorted by Country, Region, Cemetery, Grave. Would the |@sortkey have any effect in those cases? Does it override the |sort parameter of the query itself?

As this worked without |@sortkey in pre-2.2 versions of SMW, do you know how/where the category-formatted pages produced the proper sorting before?

[mwjames]

Whether this is a bug or feature, and if it is a bug then as to why and can it be reproduced

It is a regression that has been introduced in 2.2 but since no one noticed it and we didn't have any test for it this scenario went unrecognized.

You have to use |@sortkey={{{Surname|}}}, {{{Init}}} in your subobject declaration in the

Works as well.

As this worked without |@sortkey in pre-2.2 versions of SMW, do you know how/where the category-formatted pages produced the proper sorting before?

I had a look at it #1461 and based on the examples, I tweak the printer to restore pre 2.2 behaviour for subobjects.

Now, https://github.com/SemanticMediaWiki/SemanticMediaWiki/blob/bug-1459/tests/phpunit/Integration/ByJsonScript/Fixtures/f-0303.json contains extra tests to cover the mentioned scenario (including sobj template setup, with/without sortkey, with explicit DEFAULSORT etc.).

[jcostello1]

Fantastic @mwjames and much appreciated! This community never ceases to amaze me with it's level of support.

[mwjames]

1461 was merged and should be available by Sunday on the sandbox. Happy testing!

[jcostello1]

Works perfectly! Thanks again @mwjames.