[Pmwiki-users] Problem with tree searches (was: can pmwiki handle hiearchical...)

chr@home.se chr
Tue Oct 19 15:14:36 CDT 2004


On Mon, 18 Oct 2004, Robert P. J. Day wrote:

> comments on the following?  it's not done yet, but i'm wondering if
> there are any major flaws.  i'm just about to write the "drawbacks"
> part.
> 
> http://www.pmwiki.org/wiki/PmWiki/MultiLevelGroups

I think the major flaw with any scheme based on tree searches (or big
search paths) for resolving a link, is that it is not robust with respect 
to insertion (or deletion) of pages.  

Let me illustrate with an example:

Initally the tree (group and page tree if you like) looks like this:

   /
   |-- A
   |   '-- b
   |       '-- 1	<-- current page
   '-- B
       '-- c
           '-- 2	<-- destination of [[B/c/2]] on page /A/b/1
	
The current page is A/b/1, and in it we have the link [[B/c/2]] which 
points to /B/c/2 as intended.

Now some author, unaware of how different levels of groups should be
named, adds the page /A/B/c/2 leaving us with this tree:

   /
   |-- A
   |   |-- b
   |   |   '-- 1	<-- current page
   |   '-- B
   |       '-- c
   |           '-- 2	<-- new destination of [[B/c/2]] on page /A/b/1
   '-- B
       '-- c
           '-- 2

The link [[B/c/2]] now points to another page, and the problem to me here
is that a normal author can inadvertenly break links in more or less
unrelated pages.

/Christian

-- 
Christian Ridderstr?m, +46-8-768 39 44               http://www.md.kth.se/~chr






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