Re: Config_Files proposal

[Stephen Leake <stephen.a.leake.1@gsfc.nasa.gov>]

Darren New <dnew@san.rr.com> writes:

> Stephen Leake wrote:
> > Since we need to settle on one file format, and we've had about a
> > month of discussion on it, what more needs to be done to pick a file
> > format?
> 
> This is like asking "Well, since we've been arguing for a month about
> whether we'll drive or fly on our vacation, what's wrong with picking a
> vehicle and then deciding where to go?"
> 
> The file format cannot be independent of the API. 

Well, ok, that's a definite change. Nobody has said that before, but I
have said the opposite many times.

> You just have some very loose and informal ideas of what the API
> ought to support, but without making them concrete, solidifying the
> file format is premature.

I guess I did not make an explicit requirement on the web page that
the API be independent of the file format, but I thought that was an
accepted principle.

Can we agree that the choice of file format is between Java properties
and XML? Given that, I believe the two example implementations I've
done show that the API is independent of the file format.

Granted the API is not finished, but the things we are still talking
about have no impact on the file format. Or am I wrong about that?

-- 
-- Stephe