> -----Original Message----- > From: Peter B. West [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > <snip /> > If we go to 1.4, should we also use 1.4 logging (java.util.logging) and > possibly also the preferences API (java.util.prefs) for > configuration/user agent/user prefs? >
I like this latter proposal (using preferences). The more because about 6 months ago I played with the idea of extending FOP to use prefs --my main idea back then was to allow for simplifying command-line use when performing the rendering of many similar documents (CL doesn't support using wildcards AFAIK --I remember at that time it didn't seem too difficult to hack this in, just didn't get around to doing it; then started to focus on HEAD). The reason I decided to freeze these ideas was the support still being offered for 1.3 on one hand, and the fact that, where our current configuration file can be easily hand-edited, this is a bit more difficult when using the Preferences API. The settings themselves are stored in a system location where they are not meant to be found and edited by hand... (On Windows the more straightforward way to modify the prefs outside of the application is some regedit'ing). So, on top of the facility of reading the configuration settings, we would also have to provide for a way to enter/alter them. (more command-line switches...) Basically this would thus also require a thorough revision of all documents concerning configuration. Once support of this sort is operational, however, you could easily export the config settings from one system (be it Win / Linux / MacOS) and transfer this to another platform without too much further ado. The Prefs API is quite straightforward to use programmatically, so IMHO our embedded users would certainly benefit from this approach. (Thinking of the intuitive distinction between user- and system-level preferences) If we're maintaining support for 1.3, the absence of java.util.prefs would have to be tackled in a way similar to JCE support, I think (--might be overly complicating in itself) and on top of that, some sort of transition should be made, leaving the option of reading an 'old' config file into the brand new FOPPreferences (--this in itself shouldn't be too difficult, just a matter of transforming the config XML file into an XML ready for import by the Prefs ). Cheers, Andreas
