[Asterisk-Users] What about a higher level configuration language

[Benjamin on Asterisk Mailing Lists]

On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 11:50:55 -0500, Jay Milk <jay at skimmilk.net> wrote:
> XML isn't the magic answer to all questions.

I didn't say it was.

>  The configuration
> "database" for Asterisk is relatively flat while XML supports
> hierarchical data much better.  Asterisk's current config file are
> better suited to the task than XML inherently could be.

You are entitled to your opinion, but have you actually tried an XML
based configuration system to back this up?

I wouldn't be surprised if it comes down to innertia and the fear of
the unfamiliar. This is what I experienced when I started working on
MacOSX where all configuration is XML based. In the beginning I
thought "Oh, no, why didn't Apple just keep everything plain text".
Yet, after having got used to the XML based property list system on
MacOSX, I have to concede that my initial unease was unfounded.

>From the viewpoint of writing GUI tools to generate and modify
configuration files programmatically, an XML based system certainly
has tremendous advantages. I can tell you that from experience gained
from using both XML and plain text configuration bases in GUI
configuration tool projects.

And for those who prefer plain text configuration, there would be no
harm to have an XML based layer underneath their plain text layer.
They need not even be aware of the XML based layer.

rgds
benjk

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