On 11/28/2010 07:38 AM, Robert Ramey wrote:
or you could save a lot of trouble and just use the serialization library.
If you are just referring to getting an application configuration stored and loaded by the same software, you may be right. But given the OP list of features, are you sure you would save a lot of trouble? I think there must be a number of those features that are not really supported well by serialization. I assume you are referring to use an XML archive as it shall be simple to edit. An XML schema could provide defaults, options, and validation rules, but the serialization library does not dive that deep into the XML world, does it? Sure, some of these things can probably be tweaked using custom validation code, and so forth, but what trouble is that saving. Configuration files like the OP addresses is something that most often are hand-tweaked through simple tools like a text editor. So in a sense it is a Human Machine Interface (HMI). I am not opposed to using XML for program configurations, but I am concerned it is too big and complex of an of an hammer in most cases. XML may make a lot of sense if the configurations require a lot of structure, support for extensibility, and you are addicted to the syntax. Personally I am somewhat allergic to XML as HMI. I think XML belong to the domain of machines talking to machines. This is this the domain I also think serialization is designed for and not what I think the OP is addressing. Configuration is really an activity when a system is instantiated, like when you install software on a host. Configuration is used to override hard-coded source code values. Some of these values are impossible to assume useful defaults for in source or detect during installation. Such values typically become required configuration values. Serialization typically comes to this game a step later when the deployed system is running. Configured values can then again be overridden by system, user, or document preferences and made persistent through use of serialization. If the same serialization code is used as part of an installer or configuration tool providing a good HMI, then serialization may be a good choice for storing the configuration. So this all flows somewhat together in some cases while they remain very separate activities in other cases. -- Bjørn