Re: [binarycloud-dev] Er, what is the Entity Manager going to do?

[Alex B. <en...@tu...>]

>> It is not clear, understandably, just what the Entity
>> Manager is going to do.  The words in the documentation
>> make sense, but specifically,
>> 
>> 1.  Will we be able to define a data structure with it
>> like, externally in XML, and then refer to this
>> as what we want to pass around in certain places?
> 
> The entities are defined in XML, yes. The 'make' process "compiles" those XML
> structures into PHP data structures, so the run-time cost is not incurred.
> 
> What do you mean "pass around"? The EntityManager manages operations having to
> do with entities, namely Add(), Set(), Get(), GetList(), and Delete(). If you
> need a populated entity object, then the Get() method will return it based on
> the primary key.
> 
>> 2.  Or, will data structures have to be defined in each
>> program "by hand"?
> 
> I don't follow. What data structures are you talking about?

To clarify:

an entity is a hierarchical definition of a set of data, with names and
rules associated with each 'field' in that hierarchy.

They are byu their nature 'central' in the system, i.e. accessible to all.
Entities can be stored anywhere in the sourc tree, but they will end up in

binarycloud/build/{lang}/user/ent/

>> 3.  Are "easy" declarations even going to be a part of
>> the Entity Manager.
> 
> Don't follow this either. The EntityManager is a framework. Your application
> will probably extend it based on your needs. binarycloud will provide a base
> set of functionality based on the EntityManager, namely a lister, an editor, a
> picker. We don't currently have the notion of a pager, that I'm aware of;
> That's part of the lister.

I think xml declarations are as "easy" as we can expect given the
capabilities offered by EntityManager.


>> 4.  Many other questions...
>> 
>> I just don't know what this animal is going to offer.
>> For certain, what I feel a need for is a facility that
>> "fixes" somehow, certain data structures, makes them
>> easy to declare, and fill, and allow us to have a "standard"
>> set of them, so I can tell, say, Jason, to write this
>> or that module and make sure you use the FOOBAT
>> data structure as the formal argument to

That is exactly correct.

> It's pretty broad in scope. In our application, the EntityManager is _the_
> connection between application logic and data management, storage and
> retrieval. 

yep :)


>> PS:  And when is a first cut of Entity Manager likely????
> 
> This has yet to be determined. There is a significant amount of effort
> involved
> here and it is a really bad time for the three of us who wrote it to work on
> the binarycloud "port". Also, the EntityManager depends on the QueryManager,
> and some other significant components.

So, I'm working on other things, namely external package integration, and a
couple minor enhancements to page.

This will happen, all, but it's a buch of really complex code that we need
to sort through and integrate properly - and that will take time :)

_alex




--
alex black, ceo
en...@tu...

the turing studio, inc.
http://www.turingstudio.com

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