Simplify API for getting property values from a library object

[drj826]

The current API for getting property values from a library object is horrible. For instance:

my $element = $library->get_first_property_value_element($division_id,$property_name);

Many templates use this call this way:

[%- INCLUDE element.tt element = library.get_first_property_value_element(division_id,'title') -%]

That's pretty terrible. The template system should probably not bother with individual elements. I would rather see:

[%- INCLUDE STRING.tt self = property_store.get_property_string(division_id,'title') -%]

[drj826]

The current library methods that provide access to property data are:

my $text    = $library->get_first_property_value($division_id,$property_name)
my $element = $library->get_first_property_value_element($division_id,$property_name)
my $list    = $library->get_property_value_list($division_id,$property_name)
my $list    = $library->get_property_value_element_list($division_id,$property_name)
my $element = $library->get_property_value_element($division_id,$property_name,$property_value)
my $object  = $library->get_property_value_object($division_id,$property_name,$property_value)

For the majority of templating needs I think I should be able to get by with:

my $text   = $library->get_property_value($division_id,$property_name); # NEW
my $string = $library->get_property_value_string($division_id,$property_name); # NEW
my $list   = $library->get_property_value_list($division_id,$property_name);
my $list   = $library->get_property_value_string_list($division_id,$property_name); # NEW

Actually, there is no collision between the old API and the new API. I just need to add 3 new methods.

[drj826]

I've decided to add two new classes: (1) ElementStore, and (2) PropertyStore. A library object will have one of each of these. The ElementStore object will store raw elements. The PropertyStore will store "assembled" property values in plain text and SML::String form. Properties in the PropertyStore may either be assembled from manuscript elements or be inferred by the Reasoner.

The ElementStore's 'add_element' method will update the PropertyStore's holdings whenever an element is added.

Templates should only access the PropertyStore and should never need to access raw elements.

[drj826]

The purpose of the ElementStore is to de-duplicate element data. It will store element data in a three dimensional hash:

$hash->{$division_id}{$property_name}{$property_text} = $element;

Even if an SML manuscript contains a division with duplicate elements like this:

>>>DOCUMENT.my-doc
title:: My Document
author:: Don Johnson
author:: Don Johnson
.
.
.
<<<DOCUMENT

The duplicate element will be de-duplicated and the document author propery will only have one value.

[drj826]

After playing with this for a while I don't see why this functionality shouldn't be provided by a SINGLE class (SML::PropertyStore). The PropertyStore class can have the 'add_element' method.

[drj826]

Don't execute PropertyStore 'add_element' at Parser '_end_element' -- instead process all elements when you reach the end of an entity or the end of a document.

[drj826]

Well I screwed that up good!

Before optimization: 3 min 23 seconds to publish the library After optimization: 3 hours 20 minutes

[drj826]