Clipboards + Meaning

Eric W. Biederman ebiederm+eric@npwt.net
09 Dec 1997 19:50:04 -0600


>>>>> "Jano" == Jano John Akim Franke <j.j.a.franke@t-online.de> writes:

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Jano> I would say that storing by meaning the right way but important is this:

Jano> << The storage of data by its meaning makes the data useful
Jano> _everywhere_that_understands_the_meaning, instead of anywhere that
Jano> understands the form (format). >>

Jano> This understanding should not be hardcoded, instead a form should be found
Jano> for storing this information that enables similar systems to "understand"
Jano> the meaning by providing as much information as needed to have a link
Jano> between the information stored and the using system.

So when you have a type of data you understand.  Say a picture.  You
develop an API for manipulating pictures.  For each type of picture
you develop a shared library implementing the picture API.  Then when
you put the picture in the clipboard you put a pointer to the shared
library that implements the picture API in the clipboard also.  Then
anyone who can deal with pictures can deal with it.

Or more simply you make a system wide object system available.  Make
lots of standard and semistandard object types.  Then you can
communicate more clearly, by passing both the message/object, and how
to understand the message (it's type).

Right?

Eric