dhis2-devs-core team mailing list archive

[Lars Helge Øverland <larshelge@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello there,

I suspect we are talking past each other to some degree here.

Firstly, there is no doubt that having a class that encapsulates "thing
with attributes" would be good. We have seen how the introduction of
IdentifiableObject has greatly  improved the source code and allowed for
generic use of objects. A similar benefit could come from introducing a
base class for things with attributes.

But this discussion is not primarily about that. From a model perspective,
we need a concrete class which is associated with attributes, events and
other entities in the "tracker" model. This class must also be mapped as a
unique Hibernate entity. For this we need a concrete class which name is
generic enough to represent persons, lab samples, stock, medicines and
other things we might want to track. For that I think TrackedEntity is a
good name. We are not prohibited from letting that class inherit properties
and logic from another base class later.
 On Dec 7, 2013 11:43 PM, "Bob Jolliffe" <bobjolliffe@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> ah ok.  Then I suppose we are sitting with an opportunity.  As we come up
> with a better solution to patient attributes we keep in mind that what we
> do come up with should be possible to be reused to address the other
> inadequacies when we eventually have the opportunity decide to address
> them.   Hence my quibbling about names ... the Ministry of Silly Names as
> Lars is fond of referring to :-)
>
>
> On 8 December 2013 00:36, Morten Olav Hansen <mortenoh@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> Actually, I don't think we have had any discussion of attributes at
>> all... today, we have attributes (for 'aggregates', ou, de, etc) and we
>> have patientattributes... both seem inadequate for this purpose.. and I
>> would hope we don't reuse any of them.
>>
>> --
>> Morten
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Dec 7, 2013 at 11:34 PM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>>
>>> Sorry I don't have much idea on how the detailed discussion has been on
>>> actually implementing the attributes.  I had assumed (now it seems wrongly)
>>> that you would use something based on our existing attributes mechanism.
>>>  Having yet-another-object-with-attributes seems to me like the wrong
>>> approach.  Either try to use existing mechanism or generalize and improve
>>> that if there are deficiencies.  For example liked the discussion I was
>>> hearing about labels etc.
>>>
>>> Anyway too late here now I must sleep.  Catch up later.
>>>
>>>
>>> On 7 December 2013 23:59, Morten Olav Hansen <mortenoh@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I'm curious to know how we will model attributes on this tracked
>>>> entity. I think we should open the discission up to more people. It's not
>>>> like these kinds of changes will come soon anyways.
>>>>
>>>> Maybe it should be modelled as a new kind of 'idObject' with
>>>> attributes.. If so, the name tracked entity is completely wrong. A tracked
>>>> entity would need something that sets it apart from idObject + attributes.
>>>> Maybe we should simply use the name Entity.
>>>>  On Dec 7, 2013 10:53 PM, "Bob Jolliffe" <bobjolliffe@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi Morten
>>>>>
>>>>> Fully understand that you want to do this with tracker and not
>>>>> suggesting we have to attack the other  stuff simultaneously.  I'm just at
>>>>> this stage talking about what we name this new creature.  We shouldn't name
>>>>> it as if it was somehow only related to tracker, when in fact we are
>>>>> implementing a more generally very useful mechanism which we plan initially
>>>>> to use with tracker, but could and possibly should turn out to be useful
>>>>> for other things.
>>>>>
>>>>> Bob
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 7 December 2013 21:10, Morten Olav Hansen <mortenoh@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Bob,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I kinda agree with that. From what you're saying, you want something
>>>>>> more along the lines of an idObject + attributes? I would like that also,
>>>>>> for all our types really, but I don't think that's what's happening now...
>>>>>> it's just the tracker module that is changing..
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I would like us to even look at our aggregate datamodel this way, but
>>>>>> (correct me if I'm wrong) Lars said it would impact our performance quite
>>>>>> badly... not to mention that everything would need to be rewritten
>>>>>>
>>>>>> There are many benefits to at least doing this within the tracker
>>>>>> domain, especially with validation...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Morten
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Sat, Dec 7, 2013 at 3:52 PM, Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I don't like this name at all :-(
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I am not sure there is anything about this new entity object which
>>>>>>> logically ties it to tracking. So for example such an object could serve
>>>>>>> equally well as a base class for an orgunit or other dhis2 metadata objects
>>>>>>> in any future refactoring.  Isn't the key innovation that it is an object
>>>>>>> with minimal fixed properties?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> So I would be in favour of a more generic name which reflects more
>>>>>>> what this class will actually do rather than which area you see it its
>>>>>>> current specific use (things to be tracked).
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Something along the lines of DynamicEntity (or DynamicObject) or the
>>>>>>> like makes sense.   Of course you can layer tracked things on top of that.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> A passing thought (which also relates to other "complex" objects
>>>>>>> whose attributes are spread across multiple tables) is that this might also
>>>>>>> be an opportunity to also address the problem of how to determine
>>>>>>> "lastUpdated" on such objects.  Recall that this is an outstanding concern
>>>>>>> currently with orgunits making correct facility registry implementation
>>>>>>> impossiible.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> So perhaps again this is an opportunity to address the concerns in
>>>>>>> the current discussion in as general a way as possible so that we can try
>>>>>>> and reap benefits across the system.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Bob
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On 6 December 2013 17:45, Morten Olav Hansen <mortenoh@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Fri, Dec 6, 2013 at 1:56 PM, Jim Grace <jimgrace@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>  TrackedEntity
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> +1
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>> Morten
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> --
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>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>>
>
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