zz: New cell IDs-- a key question

[Ted Nelson <ted@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Edward--

You strike at the heart of matters when you ask--
>Is it easy for external programs to generate new ZZ cell ids?

The answer: we want every unit to be able to generate unique IDs,
 so that cells can be transported with full identity maintained.
 That will be either a prefix or suffix with the machine ID.
 (Undecided which-- suggestions?)

Note that that makes the cell unchangeable (unless the ID changes,
 in which case it's a new cell, of course).

Best, T



At 10:48 PM 4/7/99 -0400, you wrote:
>>That sounds like a very good idea.  (my pilot turns up in 2 days) Would
>>it be possible to write to the backup store and have this updated into
>>the pilot?
>
>Yes, that's essentially what the Pilot desktop software does.  I don't
>personally run the Unix sync utilities, but I'm pretty sure they
>provide full two-way syncing functionality.  The only trick is our
>ability to match up records in the backup store to ZZ cells.
>
>>Sounds complicated.  The addition of the ID's is a kind of "pollution"
>>of the ZigZag space for non-ZigZag purposes don't you think? (although
>>to some extent - so is my extra "Pilot" dimension)
>
>Somewhat.  That maybe branches into a generic ZZ design question: is
>it a good idea to include the provision for cells and/or dimensions
>which are invisible to the user yet still part of the database?
>
>>"Synch to pilot" (ignore whats already there and put this there) and
>>"Synch from pilot" (delete all the cells and copy pilot memos in) is one
>>way of making the Synch process easy - although it's a bit brain dead.
>
>Yes, both would be easy, although "sync from Pilot" would destroy all
>the ZZ connections.
>
>>or
>>
>>If the Pilot DB was our own (rather than memos) then we could attach the
>>zigzag cell id to cells within it.  That might help?
>
>That would be a good strategy.  The existing Memo Pad source is even
>available, so writing a Pilot client with that level of functionality
>is pretty trivial.
>
>Is it easy for external programs to generate new ZZ cell ids?
>
>- Edward Keyes
>  eakeyes@xxxxxxx

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