Re: Z39.50 character encoding

> Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 09:40:28 -0500
> From: "Johan Zeeman" <joe.zeeman@tlcdelivers.com>
>
> I think we need to stop crafting perfect solutions that end up being
> so complex that only the most dedicated few will be prepared to
> implement them (witness Explain, GRS, attribute architecture).

[Sound of me getting my handbag out.]

Joe, I agree 100% with your general sentiment, but the Attribute
Architecture absolutely con't be classed alongside Explain here.  I
always smile quietly to myself when people talk about "implementing
the attribute architecture", because there is actually nothing to
implement: no new mechanism, no new ASN structures, no nude Texans.
It's just a shift in thinking.  Any version-3 server can understand
attribute-architecture searches with zero implementation effort.

Case in point: I bet that half of the people who've implemented Zthes
server (or clients) have pretty much not even _noticed_ that its
searching is done under the auspices of the architecture.

What the architecture brings to the party is really just a mental
shift from thinking that everything has to be in one monolithic
attribute set (BIB-1) to recognising the value of separating different
application-domain efforts.  What a fine piece of work.

 _/|_	 _______________________________________________________________
/o ) \/  Mike Taylor   <mike@miketaylor.org.uk>   www.miketaylor.org.uk
)_v__/\  "I'm originally from Iowa.  It took a long time for me to
	 realize we were free to go" -- Jake Johannsen.

Received on Tuesday, 26 February 2002 10:59:32 UTC