[Modus-devs] YesNo field, WAS: Collections of content objects and performance

[Nathan D. <na...@ch...>]

Sean asks:
>
> >   <field
> >    name="featured"
> >    label="Featured?"
> >    type="org.bacfug.modus.fields.yesno"
> >    default="no">
>
> Ugh! We have a perfectly good boolean type in the language and you want
> to invent a new one? :)

Well, once again the nature of "field" is the issue here.  The yesno field
exists because to just say "this is a boolean" value does not seem to have
any advantage of just defining a column in a table in a database.  The yesno
field, in this case, knows how to render itself into a yes/no radio button.
This is why there is probably a more philosophical discussion to be had
before moving forward -- what is a "field" in Modus?  I had not envisioned a
field as merely a data type, but as a functional unit that can do useful
things for someone who wants to make HTML-based applications in CFML.

This brings up another question I have: should fields be rule aware?  That
is, should a "yesno" field automatically run a boolean rule check, or should
the developer need to specify that separately in the descriptor?

 - n