From: Manfred Doudar (manfred.doudar_at_[hidden])
Date: 2005-11-25 01:27:20
Robert Ramey wrote:
> Manfred Doudar wrote:
>
>
>>>The main point is - do enhancement for special cases have to be
>>>incorporated into the the core code so that everybody else
>>>is obligated to use it? What are the advantages and
>>>disadvantages of doing so?
>>
>>Umm, I don't follow - how are others going to be obligated to use
>>those special cases that don't necessarily apply to them?
>
>
> The design of the original submission changed binary_archive
> so that everyone would benefit from the enhancement whether
> they asked for it or not. The library has been designed to
> avoid exactly that situation.
I'm with you now.
>
>
[snip]
>
>>>>If there is to be any possibility of targetting an archive to this
>>>>format, then array support is crucial.
>>>
>>>
>>>Then just make an archive which does it- what's stopping you?
>
>
>>True - but the suggestion is that it's common enough to want as part
>>of the core library.
>
>
> Ahhh - perhaps this is the source of the confusion. When I use the word
> "core library" I'm refering to the common set of facilities that ALL
> archives use. For example, xml is not part o the core library - though
> its widely used. xml_archives have been build on top of the "core"
> and are in fact a use case for the library. Of course, users who
> don't build archives themselves may not be aware of of and see
> xml_archives are part of the "core library" because its included
> in the package and they just use it. The library is really an
> archive construction kit. As part of the package it includes
> 5 pre-made archives which
>
> a) can be used as is
> b) can serve as examples for making one's own archives
> c) can be used as base classes for making variations and extentions
> d) can be composed with archive adaptors to create variations
> of existing archives - e.g. polymophic archives.
>
> The current situation is where one user feels he needs to to something
> that none of the other archive creators have had to do - alter the
> construction kit itself. This violates the factoring which has permited
> the library to be used to make all these different archives from the same
> core layer. This same factoring has permitted the implementation
> of polymorphic versions of all the above 5 archives and will
> permit any new archive to be made polymorphic by composition
> with existing code.
>
> ******************************************************
> *So for the Nth time. This is not about whether or not archive
> *XDR, CDR, MPI, or XYZ should be made. Anyone is free to make it.
> *Its about how to do it so that it doesn't impact anyone else's efforts.
> ******************************************************
>
Excellent! -Now that's an answer I think a lot of us have been looking
for - hopefully it should clear things up for others too.
Thanks,
-- Manfred Doudar MetOcean Engineers www.metoceanengineers.com