Re: Unique ids in MusicXML 3.1 and beyond

"...we will need a standard way to convert between string and integer..." -
I don't think this should be part of any standard. Developers should
implement ids according to xml:id as defined in the standard you
referenced. I don't think we need to redefine what an ID is because the
concept is already well known to developers. If we want to redefine / limit
the semantics of IDs, then we should have a very strong use case to make it
part of a standard.

That being said, a convention may be useful. I could see this being useful
for human readability and debugging. However, I persona;;y don't understand
a use case where one program would want to read another program's IDs other
than for the use of cross-referencing elements. For example, if a file is
created in a desktop editor, then exported to a web editor, the web editor
can use the IDs already in the file for handling events without needing to
create its own. Are there other use cases that you can think of for this?

On Fri, Sep 8, 2017 at 5:01 AM, James Sutton <jsutton@dolphin-com.co.uk>
wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> The sample MusicXML files use ids for cross-referencing items in the file
> - eg parts "P1" and instruments "P1-I3".
>
> In my application I am labelling every editable item in the file (notes,
> notations, directions etc) with a globally unique integer id so that file
> edits can be recorded and replayed, allowing users to share musical
> annotations
>
> If we are looking for interoperability such that one program can read
> another program's integer ids we will need a standard way to convert
> between string and integer (ie defining a prefix and integer base), bearing
> in mind that it is mandated by the standard for (
> https://www.w3.org/TR/xml-id/) that the xml:id must start with a
> non-numeric character.  I propose the prefix "uid" followed by a hex
> integer eg "uid9ab".
>
> It is not immediately obvious that 2 programs developed in isolation will
> need to access each other's uids in most cases, but it is not unimaginable
> that certain applications will find a use for this interoperation.
>
> Does the group have any view on this?
>
> with best regards
> James Sutton
> Dolphin Computing
> http://www.dolphin-com.co.uk
> http://www.seescore.co.uk <http://www.dolphin-com.co.uk>
> http://www.playscore.co <http://www.dolphin-com.co.uk>
>
>