dhis2-devs team mailing list archive

[Jason Pickering <jason.p.pickering@xxxxxxxxx>]

> We don't really support real numbers.. we support integers, and
> decimal approximations of rational numbers.. I think the name decimal
> would be better here.

Good point and I support the change in naming. We should have seen
this earlier. However, we do also support decimal representation of
irrational/transcendental numbers. I think you mean "finite decimal
approximations of  real numbers". We do not support complex numbers
(and I do not see a real use case for them!).

Not knowing the details of how Java handles floating point numbers,
but I also assume that this is a 32 bit decimal representation, which
further restricts the length of the number which the regex does not
really account for.


> Yes, I think maybe integer is the way to go, since whole numbers is
> not clearly defined. But I'm not a native speaker, so I'm not really
> sure whats best.

Natural numbers are simply positive integers but whether they include
zero is somewhat of a mathematical fine point. Not being an
authoritative source on this,  I think we should stick with  positive
and negative integers and be sure they are explained well in the help.
I think if we need a set of numbers, which include 0 and positive
integers, we should use  "Natural numbers", or allow zero to be
included in "Positive and negative integers", but be sure it is well
explained in the manual.

>> As for the support for scientific notation, I am not necessarily
>> opposed to it, but think we need to stick to the more strict regex
>> validation.
>
> I think maybe supporting e-notation but restricting it might be more
> confusing.. ? not sure here... maybe just plain decimals is OK.
>

Well, if we support it, we need to be sure it is valid and I
personally do not trust !NaN. I see no real need for it and unless
people are asking for it, I suggest we simply not allow it.

Best regards,
Jason