From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,47bc849aad30d586 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2002-05-30 23:46:21 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.icl.net!news.algonet.se!algonet!news000.worldonline.se!news010.worldonline.se!not-for-mail Message-ID: <3CF71B95.96234987@mida.se> From: Mats Karlssohn Organization: MIDA Systemutveckling AB X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.78 [en] (X11; U; Linux 2.4.10-4GB i586) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: A standard package for config files is needed References: <4519e058.0205291059.737616ec@posting.google.com> <4519e058.0205300952.192e8274@posting.google.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 08:43:33 +0200 NNTP-Posting-Host: 213.204.144.11 X-Trace: news010.worldonline.se 1022827265 213.204.144.11 (Fri, 31 May 2002 08:41:05 MET DST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 08:41:05 MET DST Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:25055 Date: 2002-05-31T08:43:33+02:00 List-Id: Ted Dennison wrote: > > "Marin David Condic" wrote in message news:... %< > > build the structure to suit that. If you want a tree-like structure, it > > might be viewed as a Map of Maps. My idea was that if you had Maps > > Hmmmm. I suppose it could at that. yes, I think that a config file maps nicely onto a map of maps... Sorry, I couldn't resist the [pf]un :-) %< > You are absolutely right that this opens a big can of worms as to what > the proper format should be. That's why I'm most interested in if its > possible to reach some kind of consensus on what the format should be. Do we really need consensus regarding the storage format ? I'm thinking on the lines of a nice abstract interface with multiple possible implementations where the user may pick the one that fits best with his/her current requirements. And yes, I realize that this will probably mean some more generic instasiation (spl ?) that may seem silly for novice users, however that may be owercome by providing preinstansiated packages for the common case. On windows there should be an implementation that maps to the registry API. On all systems plain text files should be possibly, probably in different flavours: windows .ini file, maybe the format windows regedit imports/exports, XML in some form(s ?). Other more esoteric implementations could use a database, the Application Configuration Access Protocol (RFC 2244), LDAP and so on. I think what we need is consensus on a general abstract interface for configuration data access, that can have multiple different implementations (possibly in the same program, think of a "configuration file converter). Marin's suggestion of accessing the configuration data as a map of maps is IMHO quite nice. -- Mats Karlssohn, developer mailto:mats@mida.se Mida Systemutveckling AB http://www.mida.se Box 64, S-732 22 ARBOGA, SWEDEN Phone: +46-(0)589-89808 Fax: +46-(0)589-89809