[GSoC Project Proposal]: Update ERDDAP™ page rendering to use a template framework

[ChrisJohnNOAA]

Project Description

Currently ERDDAP™ pages are rendered using StringBuilder to concatenate the HTML. This is done for all of the pages ERDDAP™ renders. The project is to migrate existing ERDDAP™ pages to use a templating framework. The plan is for ERDDAP™ developers to select the framework and migrate an example page to the framework before the project starts.

Once the existing pages are migrated, new features can be built including things like:
Personal "hyperwall"
Improved graphics/graphing

Expected Outcomes

Adopting a templating framework for the HTML generation will help by allowing easier shared components across pages, standardizing headers and footers, and more. It will also make it easier to update and maintain the existing pages.

Skills Required

Java, HTML, CSS, JavaScript

Additional Background/Issues

The main ERDDAP™ repo is here.

Mentor(s)

Chris John (@ChrisJohnNOAA)

Expected Project Size

175 hours

Project Difficulty

Intermediate

[MathewBiddle]

You're probably not looking for adding dependencies, but I have become quite enamored with the Python template engine Jinja https://jinja.palletsprojects.com/en/stable/. It makes quick work of html pages. Just sharing an option.

[ChrisJohnNOAA]

Since the pages are rendered from Java currently, I'm planning to use something (TBD what, there are a number of options) that will integrate into Java well (or be Java native).