I can imagine other users doing just what I did: sitting in Eclipse,
typing @Ind and then autocompleting, seeing the two options and
wondering "what's the difference?" He heads over to the JPOX
annotations page only to find that they are the same, one
interchangeable for the other. The user scratches his head for a
moment, asking himself, "which one do I like better?", "am an
'Indexes' kind of guy, or an 'Indices' man?" Perhaps he checks the
dictionary, like yours truly, to determine proper usage. He
determines 'Indices' is clearly superior, and moves on.
Meanwhile, down the hall, his fellow programmer engages in the same
exercise, ultimately deciding that 'Indexes' is the way to go.
They've both spent some pretty unproductive time and worse, the
application does the same thing in different ways, all in the name of
accommodating users' personal spelling preferences.
I suggest that the spec ought to be... specific on such matters.
At any rate, its hardly the end of the world if these both stick
around, but I brought it up so it's at least a conscious decision for
the group. My vote is that we choose one, thus reducing the number
of things users have to learn and understand.
Thanks!
- Chris
On Aug 5, 2007, at 9:33 AM, Craig L Russell wrote:
Hi Chris,
Where would the confusion be in having both?
Craig
On Aug 5, 2007, at 4:32 AM, cbeams wrote:
19.20 specifies @Indexes
19.21 specifies @Indices
They appear to be identical in intent, serving as containers when
more than @Index annotation is required. JPOX treats them as the
same annotation, differing only in name.
It seems redundant and potentially confusing to include both of
these; I suggest we choose one.
While the dictionary (New Oxford American) treats both 'indexes'
and 'indices' as valid plural forms of 'index', it notes that
'indices' is favored "especially in technical contexts". Perhaps
we can let that be the deciding vote?
- Chris Beams
Craig Russell
Architect, Sun Java Enterprise System http://java.sun.com/products/jdo
408 276-5638 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
P.S. A good JDO? O, Gasp!
