Re: Data Dictionary, Draft 2

[Paul Robinson]

First the disclaimer: I've been watching xap and xpl stuff for a little
while. I intend to get involved at some point, probably a few months from
now, using and probably programming in one or both of these. So this comes
from somebody who hasn't yet got involved.

Seeing this dictionary, can I inject a word of caution. This may be
preaching to the converted, but the last time I was involved in a project
that tried to create a global dictionary like this, it ended up a complete
nightmare.

Common strings for common things is clearly a great idea. xpl is all about
interoperability and simplicity, so common strings are an obvious thing to
do. Where I hit trouble before was in those situations where there was
something similar already available, but not quite the same. So we'd
introduce a new string. Or some modules needed multiple strings similar to
a
pre-existing one, so we'd introduce new strings. Then you have to decide
whetehr to use the original one at all or just the new strings etc.

We made the mistake of trying to include *every* word in the dictionary.
Before long, we got to a point where different modules would apply a
different meaning to the same string, or a module didn't use a string you
would have it would simply because it had multiple similar strings that it
used instead.

In the xpl context, this would equate to the dictionary containing words
from every schema.

So my caution is not to try and include absolutely everything in the
dictionary - or it is in danger of becoming a monster.

Just my 2p.

Paul