https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=6455
--- Comment #147 from Daniel Friesen <[email protected]> 2011-12-31 06:10:07 UTC --- This Newick format and that genealogy stuff look like a perfect example of what string functions will NOT solve. String functions are for simple text replacements and tests. What are you going to do, write a whole Newick parser in string functions? If, and that's a big if given that we don't have variables inside WikiText, you can manage to implement Newick parsing inside of a template. That template is going to be insanely complex, trying to make minor tweaks to the template which would be sane in a normal programming language are going to become so hard it's nearly impossible. And to top it off that template is going to be so heavy that it slows down parsing for every page you use it on (multiplied by how much you use it and how much data you input). If we have a use for it, then what it sounds like we could use, if we actually have a use for it, would be a real Newick parser. Just as for whatever other formats there are for things that are in fact useful to Wikipedia. Yes there are hundreds of formats, but when we talk about Wikipedia and implementation we only care about the ones that will output things we want on Wikipedia, and within that only the few formats we actually need. We don't have to implement parsing for dozens of formats that do the same thing when there's one format most people can use that'll work. But I would also like to make the point that what I see as the output of those genealogy I can't consider acceptable. It's horrible, absolutely disgusting. A complete abuse of html tables in a presentational way. I don't want to see a new template that outputs the same garbage. Not only do those need a better system of inputting the information, they need a better output. Something you can't do in templates because it likely involves building a .svg or something. >From what I see of Newick and your example your argument also falls short. Newick seams to describe trees that only branch outwards. But that genealogy tree appears to re-connect at various points. In other words, it looks like your example tree actually CAN'T be expressed in Newick. Frankly, it looks like you could use DOT. Wonder what happened to graphviz in all this. -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are the assignee for the bug. You are on the CC list for the bug. _______________________________________________ Wikibugs-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikibugs-l
