[Freeciv-Dev] Re: info in savegames

[Christian Knoke <chrisk@xxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, Feb 03, 2003 at 08:24:33PM -0500, Ross Wetmore wrote:
> Jason Dorje Short wrote:
> >>>>>On Sat, 1 Feb 2003, Christian Knoke wrote:
> >>>>>>- Use XML for savegames (and probably everything else). You can keep
> >>>>>>the map save format intact with XML.

> >Yes, I'm familiar with XML.  What I don't see is how XML will make it 
> >easier to store the data in a 'better' way.
> 
> XML will ...
> 1)  make everything bigger, bulkier and less readable

I think it's more readable as current format, no matter how we implement it.

> 2)  allow one to write a trivial HTML viewer to display the unreadable
>     savegame files
> 3)  require an extra resource intensive processing module and resource
>     files such as a DTD to drive it

We should have a DTD, but we need not to process it on load/save.

> 4)  allow one to completely define the data through attributes specified
>     by the (versionned?) DTD (i.e. the grammar rules for savegame files)
> 5)  tend to happily ignore data its DTD and associated document processing
>     code doesn't understand, thus allowing one to read new savegames into
>     older games with only the understood data being mapped into memory,
>     or vice versa (i.e. substitute DOM robustness/blindnesss for that of
>     current code)

It's a piece of cake to include ruleset data then. It's good for scenarios.

> 6)  allow you to "customize" savegame data as it is read in or by various
>     "stylesheet" transformations (for tags that are deemed to be user
>     customizable).
> 7)  solve every data transmission problem imaginable till the end-of-time
>     allowing Freeciv savegames to be universally shipped and understood by
>     any platform or program that wants them.

8)  We can support various *readable* attributes for the agents.

9)  It's easy to edit savegames.

10) We can do every kind of savegame evaluation, like game reports,
    analysis, and present it in HTML.

> Some might be intriguing and worthwhile, some are just the current fad,
> i.e. a way to mumble something avant garde without understanding what you
> are saying.
> 
> I suspect it just isn't worth it in this case.
> 
> 
> Cheers,
> RossW
> =====

Christian

-- 
Christian Knoke     * * *      http://www.enter.de/~c.knoke/
* * * * * * * * *  Ceterum censeo Microsoft esse dividendum.