Hi,
Sorry about the waffle, the really important bit is near the end if
you're not interested in background detail..
I'm currently working on a project called ROACH (the RebOl Assisted
Critter Hunter - a web based bug report and tracking tool. Couldn't resist
the acronym). Each ROACH installation can store bugs for a number of
projects and each project has its own list of bugs. Bugs can be submitted
and commented on by registered users and project admins can alter the status
of bugs. If you have ever used a Bulletin Board system like UBB or phpBB
you will be familiar with the structure: the front page lists all the
projects in the system, selecting a project brings up the list of bugs for
that project and clicking on a bug opens the details for the bug.
Here's the important bit: the list of bugs for a project is held in a
block. The code I use to display the list is:
for offset 0 9 1 [
if (start + offset) <= (length? buglist) [
entry: pick buglist (start + offset)
; throw out a table entry to show the bug summary..
]
]
Using a block, I guess that pick for a block is an O(1) operation - a
simple array lookup? Now the problem - when a user comments on a bug, or a
project admin updates the status of a bug, I want that bug to be moved to
the start of the buglist block. Remembering that this list could end up
being long (probably into the thousands), removing an element in the middle
and inserting it at the start would, I guess, be rather costly. The
alternative is to use a list of course: that makes the move very quick,
but what does it do to my display code? Is pick for list still O(1) - I
guess it isn't?
Given that displays vastly outnumber moves, should I just stick with blocks?
Or does anyone have a better suggestion?
Chris
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Explorer 2260, Designer and Coder
http://www.starforge.co.uk
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