On 6/16/07, Paul A Bristow <pbristow@hetp.u-net.com> wrote:
I've never understood why this kind of syntax is a good idea. program_options uses it and I think it just confuses new users.
What's the advantage over individual function calls as Phil and others have suggested?
Using the .axis_width().axis_color saves typing (and makes it is more compact and perhaps clearer by grouping things together).
It is entirely optional - novice users can (should?) just use
myplot.axis_width(); myplot.axis_color(); ...
Paul
Exactly.. I would also organize the documentation to have an "Advanced User" section where I would include this, so users looking at the docs see only the traditional way, for lack of a better term. Users that take the time to go through the documentation (or see themselves as advanced users) would find this out, and people who are just looking through the rest of the documentation would see method calls being used without chaining, which wouldn't frighten them. Jake