[M] CSML3 API requests (1)

[lawrence]

The CSML API isn't very pythonic, and the distinction between attributes and methods (affordances) is not obvious. Introspection ought to help us, but doesn't a lot.

For example, if we introspect the attributes and methods of a feature member within a feature collection: (see ticket:848 for how we can get to this), we have a feature collection which is nearly iterable, so we can do this:

for i in dd.featureMembers: i.id

and get a list that looks something like

'K2xpDJkh'
'QFE4YVaJ'
'SEgLDf6Z'
...

but I can't look at ddK2xpDJkh? which is what one expects to be able to do ...

Further, if I do try and look at the objects with dir() I can't immediately tell what are attributes (like a FeatureCollection? is an attribute of a datset, yet there is an attribute called getFeatureCollection ...), and what are methods (like subsetting).

Obviously this is something to talk about after NDG2.

[domlowe]

Agreed, and it's confused/ing because it's trying to be XML-like at the same time..

Is this a blocker for now?

[selatham]

CSML future (but where?)

[domlowe]

Moved to CSML Trac  ticket:2