Updating Data Substacks

[Dan Shafer]

At 10:37 PM -0700 7/11/02, Scott Rossi wrote:
>Recently, Dan Shafer wrote:
>
>>  It just occurred to me that the RR model which requires me to create
>>  a separate stack to hold the data for my app might be an obstacle to
>>  product upgrades.
>>
>>  My mainstack is a splasher. My substacks are a palette (which can
>>  change) and the primary data stack (which will change). If in my next
>>  rev of the product, I wish to add features (e.g., a menu or even a
>>  button on that stack with some new functions), I would expect to ask
>>  my users to replace their current stack with the new one. But that
>>  will, obviously, result in the loss of all their data.
>>
>>  How should this work? What am I missing?
>
>Two options I can think of:
>
>Good) Keep your data separate from the UI.  This way you can update the UI
>independently of the data.

Thanks for the fast reply, Scott.

But this would require storing it in a text file and managing all the 
data manipulation stuff or alternatively using a database, right? If 
I have to do those things to keep data from being munged when I 
upgrade the app, I might just as well use a conventional programming 
environment! Transparency of data storage is crucial to stackware 
applications.

>Not So Good) If you really want to keep the UI and data in the same stack,
>include an "export data" option or similar in the stack.  When a user wants
>to upgrade they hit "export" and then import the exported data into the
>upgrade stack.
>
>Regards,
>
>Scott Rossi
>Creative Director
>
>Tactile Media, Multimedia & Design
>Email: scott at tactilemedia.com
>Web: www.tactilemedia.com
>
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Dan Shafer
Technology Visionary - Technology Assessment - Documentation
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