[MOAB-dev] iMesh vs. MOAB format for string options

[Jason Kraftcheck]

Tim Tautges wrote:
> As I discussed earlier with Jason, I'm on the fence about this.  Always
> putting a delimiter at the front of the string looks goofy for
> single-option strings.  

It is also somewhat error-prone as it is easy to forget the leading
separator in that case.

> Handling options differently between MOAB and
> iMesh is error-prone.  The question boils down to: be consistent with
> (what we view as) a flawed standard, or be inconsistent and risk
> (somewhat infrequent) errors that result from that inconsistency.
> 
> And, phrasing the question in this way, I guess I feel that it's better
> to be consistent, even though the resulting code looks goofy. 
> Opinions?  Note, this would require changes to existing applications.
> 

I think changing the API is a more significant issue that then odd format of
the iMesh option string in the one-option case.

- jason


> - tim
> 
> Jason Kraftcheck wrote:
>> Both MOAB and iMesh have functions that are passed an optional string
>> containing options (e.g. iMesh_loadMesh, iMesh_newMesh, and
>> MBInterface::load_file).  The format used by the two interfaces is
>> slightly
>> different.  The MOAB format uses a ';' to separate multiple options,
>> with a
>> mechanism to request an alternate separator if necessary.  For example:
>>   BINARY
>>  or
>>   PARALLEL=BCAST;MPI_ROOT=1
>>  or
>>   ;+PARALLEL=BCAST+MPI_ROOT=1
>> The iMesh format requires that the desired separator always be the first
>> character in the options string.  For example:
>>   ;BINARY
>>  or
>>   ;PARALLEL=BCAST;MPI_ROOT=1
>>  or
>>   +PARALLEL=BCAST+MPI_ROOT=1
>>
>> In the MOAB implementation of the iMesh API, the functions that accept
>> option strings convert the string from iMesh to MOAB format before
>> passing
>> it to an MBInterface function.
>>
>> Does anyone feel strongly that we should change the MOAB format to be
>> consistent with the iMesh one?
>>
>> - jason
>>
>>
> 


-- 
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" - Ralph Waldo Emerson