From:  Dean Swan at MITEL on 10/11/99 04:09 PM

I would like to second support for the "magic folder" concept that David
suggests here.  I also cringed at the mention of "registry" in Dan's posting,
for the same reasons that David mentions.  Excellent suggestion (imho).

                         -Dean Swan
                         dean_swan at mitel.com






David Cramer <dacramer at videon.wave.ca> on 10/11/99 01:27:55 PM

Please respond to squeak at cs.uiuc.edu

To:   squeak at cs.uiuc.edu
cc:    (bcc: Dean Swan/Ogd/Mitel)

Subject:  Re: A Proposal for Project Layers




I am always concerned by "registration" proposals. Couldn't we employ a
"magic folder" approach instead? In the case of registration, some kind of
magic (base) file needs to be edited to contain the desired reference to an
added package AND the package has to be located wherever the reference says
it is. On the other hand, with magic folders, a package merely has to be
located in the magic folder. The base code doesn't contain specific
references to the packages, it just contains a protocol for dealing with
the permanently specified magic folder(s). The package protocol determines
the necessary form for the package to announce its requirements, whatever
they are.

Obviously, this can be seen as the difference between the Mac Extensions
folder on the one hand, and the Windows Registry on the other. (I have a
feeling Unix systems may also have registry-like features, but they're not
monolithically mandated?) Considering the constant frustrations with being
unable to remove programs from the Windows Registry and the frequency of
corruption and general hair-pulling, it would seem to be incredibly
preferable to build a Squeak package protocol based on a
permanently-registered folder system with simple rules for declaring code
requirements, instead of a file registry system with its attendant dangers.

(I sure hope this isn't a stupid idea!)

Regards,

David


David Cramer, Process Innovation Evangelist          87-1313 Border Street
PBSC Computer Training Centres (an IBM company)      Winnipeg MB R3H 0X4
Corporate Office Research & Development              Canada