Tags were used as unique identifiers back in the 1990s, before we migrated to MySQL. They are pretty much obsolete now, we just need to update the software not to use them any more.
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Does this bug cover expunging all uses of pub_tag? Since your comment seems to imply they are not really useful in the big picture of things I have went ahead and started making some moves to expunge other uses of pub_tag--preparing to slowly piece by piece whittle away at all uses of such.
So far, I think I have removed all parts of the code that call into pl.cgi with a pub_tag argument in favor of a pub_id. I also recently undocumented the use of pub_tag in cloning content, in preparation for ripping such support out.
I have also been doing some wiki work in prep for changing to using pub_ids to link pub comments in the "Publication:" namespace. So far I have just been going through and cleaning them all up with {{PubHeader}} templates, etc. but I plan to start moving all the articles from Publication:<pub_tag> to Publication:<pub_id>. Clients will follow the redirect initially and then the code and be switched to linking with pub_id--hopefully there will not be many new comments during the interim.
As for image uploads, I wanted to solicit feedback. What do you think should be done here? I was thinking of using the pub_id of course but since it is just a raw number I thought it might eventually collide with some other image naming scheme so some sort of affix would be in order. My initially thought was to use "Pub/<pub_id>" in the Image namespace, etc. (though I am not sure Images are in a namespace exactly as methinks that might be handled specially for MediaWiki).
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What is the point of the tags if they are not unique?
Tags were used as unique identifiers back in the 1990s, before we migrated to MySQL. They are pretty much obsolete now, we just need to update the software not to use them any more.
FYI: I checked in work on this. I am not sure I got everything but I am sure I got a lot.
Does this bug cover expunging all uses of pub_tag? Since your comment seems to imply they are not really useful in the big picture of things I have went ahead and started making some moves to expunge other uses of pub_tag--preparing to slowly piece by piece whittle away at all uses of such.
So far, I think I have removed all parts of the code that call into pl.cgi with a pub_tag argument in favor of a pub_id. I also recently undocumented the use of pub_tag in cloning content, in preparation for ripping such support out.
I have also been doing some wiki work in prep for changing to using pub_ids to link pub comments in the "Publication:" namespace. So far I have just been going through and cleaning them all up with {{PubHeader}} templates, etc. but I plan to start moving all the articles from Publication:<pub_tag> to Publication:<pub_id>. Clients will follow the redirect initially and then the code and be switched to linking with pub_id--hopefully there will not be many new comments during the interim.
As for image uploads, I wanted to solicit feedback. What do you think should be done here? I was thinking of using the pub_id of course but since it is just a raw number I thought it might eventually collide with some other image naming scheme so some sort of affix would be in order. My initially thought was to use "Pub/<pub_id>" in the Image namespace, etc. (though I am not sure Images are in a namespace exactly as methinks that might be handled specially for MediaWiki).
The following scripts were installed as part of 2011-10:
* biblio/biblio.py 1.10
* biblio/diffselect.py 1.7
* biblio/fc.py 1.15
* biblio/index.py 1.9
* biblio/publisheryear.py 1.5
* biblio/title.py 1.30
* edit/deletetitle.py 1.4
* edit/exportcontent.py 1.5
* edit/importcontent.py 1.5
* edit/pa_search.py 1.13
* edit/pp_search.py 1.13
As far as the question of uploading images goes, I haven't experimented with pub ids. We may want to ask Marty, who knows more about MediaWiki.
I shall consider engaging him on that. Thanks, again.
Changing from Bug to Feature Request.
Changed from FR to Support Request.