[Xastir-Dev] Thoughts on converting config to XML

[Jack Twilley]

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

I set my attribution in my headers and in my posts as "Jack", and I'd
appreciate if you'd do the same.  Thanks.

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

Jeff> Extra work for what benefits? Raising the bar on who CAN run
Jeff> Xastir?  Will Xastir be able to parse a verbose descriptive XML
Jeff> configuration file faster and more efficiently than it does the
Jeff> current format, or is the benefit just that it adheres to a
Jeff> published "standard"?

I don't care about buzzwords, I care about functionality.  Parsing may
not be faster, but many errors and typos will be more easily caught.

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

Jeff> Should XML be adopted, AND the tools to deal with XML be put
Jeff> into Xastir, the developer SHOULDN'T have to remember the tricky
Jeff> bits...  They'll simply have to select reasonable defaults for
Jeff> when their special tags aren't found in the file, and call the
Jeff> XML update functions with their new tags when it is time to save
Jeff> the configuration.

I can see this happening as a result.

Jeff> Any reasonable library for manipulating the configuration file
Jeff> should have no problem dealing with a non-existing file on
Jeff> read... B-)

Sounds good to me.  

Jeff> However, we're expecting NON-developers to get interested in
Jeff> Xastir, aren't we? Having an easily-tweaked configuration would
Jeff> be a big benefit here, something programs like Mac/WinAPRS
Jeff> lack. (I once suggested WinAPRS move to Windows INI format, but
Jeff> that was shot down because the tools for manipulating INI files
Jeff> didn't exist on the Mac.  Therefore, they use a binary format
Jeff> that makes it difficult to migrate an old configuration file to
Jeff> a newer version of the program)

We're not expecting non-developers to write code.  Having an
easily-tweaked configuration file is a double-edged sword -- lots of
code needs to be written to check different entries and verify values
are within certain limits.  XML can make this sort of thing much
easier for Xastir.  I think having an easily-tweaked configuration is
a huge win -- whether an editor internal or external to Xastir is used
or whether vi is used is irrelevant to me.  Mileage varies.

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

Jeff> The default values as comments, OK. I would suggest that, if a
Jeff> field is set to the program's default value, it not even be
Jeff> stored in the configuration file... just the comment of WHAT the
Jeff> default value is, and how to change it (i.e., syntax of the
Jeff> <tag>value</tag> to use).

That's also a good idea.  We can always include a full default
configuration file with the documentation, so the curious can see
exactly how to format everything.

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

Jeff> I'm not a masochist, either - and I've got several paying
Jeff> projects I'm behind on right now... Besides, a good XML editor
Jeff> should be written in Java, and I hate Java! B-)

Bah Java.  Focus on the same stuff already used for Xastir's
development and minimize introduction of dependencies.

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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