[Cosmo-dev] Re: conference call followup

[Jeffrey Harris]

Hi Randy,

> Instead of using polymorphism, why not construct a task list which
> references the event.  It accomplishes the same thing and keeps the
> object (database) model simpler.  It also allows for additional data to
> be associated with the task - tasks probably have suspense dates, events
> don't for example.

This is the initial reaction of a large number of the engineers who've
worked on Chandler, many of whom still aren't convinced that
polymorphism is a good plan, so you're in good company.

I'll ditto Brian that how it's implemented isn't crucial as long as the
user behavior works, but fundamentally, stamping is different from
referencing.  It's really about causing one thing to simultaneously be
an arbitrary variety of different types, and some of the attributes for
the various types overlap.  So if you model the item stamps with
different items, you have to keep the various attributes coherent
between different stamps, which is thorny.

We'll also support references between items, so it's not an either or.
Following potentially long chains of references-that-may-be-stamps is
pretty tricky.

Sincerely,
Jeffrey