[Xastir-Dev] Thoughts on converting config to XML

[Jack Twilley]

>>>>> "Jeff" == Jeff Brenton <KA9VNV <ka9vnv at dididahdahdidit.com>> writes:

Jack> I find that the added syntactical sugar actually makes things
Jack> easier to understand.

Jeff> The problem is that XML introduces a LOT of chances for
Jeff> error. Not only do you have to have the correct NAME for
Jeff> something, you have to have the correct NESTING and correct
Jeff> CLOSURE. These are things that are easily done by a machine;
Jeff> doing it by hand sucks.

The price for the benefits is extra work.  This often happens. :-)
In my humble opinion, the extra work is worth the benefits.

Jack> What is the best choice, in your opinion? I've worked with worse
Jack> formats and better formats. The type-checking feature of XML
Jack> works very well with the complex data types the Xastir
Jack> configuration file contains. I prefer to work with raw HTML
Jack> files than with editors and tools, and I don't have any real
Jack> problems with negotiating the tags.

Jeff> Again, it depends what the intention is. If no human is going to
Jeff> HAVE to manipulate the options by hand, XML or anything else
Jeff> that the machine handles well, is fine. If a tool for editing
Jeff> the file outside of Xastir is cobbled together, which will do
Jeff> all the tag balancing, etc., XML is a fine choice.

Your only issue appears to be a human stuck with vi trying to make
sense of a bunch of angle brackets without the faintest clue about how
markup works.  I like to think that the typical Xastir developer
is above this level of functionality, and it's the developers who will
be dealing with the trickiest bits -- adding new tags.

Here's a very useful bit:  storing the default values with the tag.
This way, a user who's tweaking things can quickly go back to a known
good value if things break.

Jeff> The important part is to document the hell out of it. If XML is
Jeff> chosen, the editing tool should have the flexibility to allow
Jeff> you to add tags not defined in the original spec, so that people
Jeff> experimenting with add-ons can make use of the common format
Jeff> immediately.

Oh, sure.  I write HTML with Emacs so it handles the tags for me.  I'd
quickly make an xastir-mode or something for modifying the
configuration file.  I'm not a masochist.

Oh, and since you're so interested in making sure the editor is sane,
maybe you could write that part? :-)

Jack.
-- 
Jack Twilley
jmt at twilley dot org
http colon slash slash www dot twilley dot org slash tilde jmt slash
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