Re: re: modification to DirectoryResource.java

At 7:52 AM +1000 3/12/96, Jeff Sickel wrote:
>On Mon, 2 Dec 1996, Les Stockton wrote:
>>I read what Jeff Sickell did with DirectoryResource.java, and I like it.
>>I was wondering if an attribute should be added to DirectoryResource,
>>so that you have two formats available.  The two formats would be
>>plainJane (the current format in <PRE>) and then pretty (the <TABLE>
>>format that Jeff is using).
>>This way, you have the choice of either, and it all remains a part of the
>>generic DirectoryResource that everyone can use.
>>I wonder what Anselm thinks about this idea?
>>
>
>Actually, I was just thinking along those lines.
>
>And I was also just testing these patches a little more, and realized that
>when there is no (or very little) text in the third column, a browser may
>make
>the layout a little awkward, ie. too spaced on the page.
>
>Anyway, an attribute for the DirectoryResource would be beneficial for
>further customization...  And a couple of error checks to make sure the
>table
>layout is truly 'pretty'.... and consistent.
>

Why do you want to change the original DirectoryResource? What stops you
from subclassing it (or copying) in a different class. Then you can modify
WWW template to use your directory resource instead of generic one. This
way, you can have your cake and eat it too. :-}

Another reason why it should be a different class is because there are many
possible representations for a directory content (tables, MCF, VRML, Java,
etc) and it would be nice to be able to handle them all, but that would be
a bloat on a class code and too many logic switches to care about every
time a request comes in. Making them different classes would let people
choose representations they want.


You could even put that in public domain and let people use it and remember
your name.

Regards,
     Alex.

alex@access.com.au

Received on Monday, 2 December 1996 17:25:53 UTC