On Wed, Nov 22, 2000 at 01:24:50PM -0500, Chaim Frenkel wrote: > I'd offer the possiblity that there are two (or perhaps more) > different problems here. One is the current bunch of bytes (string, > executable to be twiddled) Another which the attribute on strings > seems to be structured data. > > Squeezing attributes onto a buffer, seems to be shoehorning a more > general problem onto a specific implementation. > > Getting an efficient representation of a meaningful structure should > be done a new data type. > > (I'm thinking of representing COBOL records/data, or even XML documents) Have I misunderstood you if I suggest that "two or more" is actually a continuous range of representation from 1 (contiguous linear) string data with 0 or more attribute attached to each character where the string's text is the backbone [and the global and local order of the characters in string is crucial to the value and equality with other variables] 2 structured data (eg XML) where the string's text is just part of the data held in the structure, and you could sort the data in different ways without changing its value Are those end members in a continuum? or are hybrids of the 2 impossible? Am I barking up the wrong tree completely? Nicholas Clark
