Idas Architectural Todo

This list represents items needed to be done which are architectural in nature, or have to do with the IdAS API/SPI interfaces. Issues not backed by an eclipse bug are bold.

• Support for "building block" context providers (e.g. that do certain kinds of attribute transformation). 171294
  • Each building block context will expect to be told the rest of the chain of contextRefs.
  • Perhaps a Factory takes a list of ContextRefs instead of a sole ContextRefs
  • When the consumer of IdAS finally gets the Context instance, that instance might be the head of a chain of Context instances. Perhaps the registry only sees the top one.

• Metadata:
  • Metadata access: Allow subsets of metadata to be fetched. (IHasMetadata.java)
  • Does IHasMetadata.createMetadata also effectively call addMetadata?

• Schema: Add method(s) which return the schema as a stream, DOM document, or other iterable object. (IContext.java) 160412

• Digital Subjects
  • Filter
    • Allow filters In other methods: (removeSubject, etc.) (IContext.java)
  • verifySubjectAttributes doesn't leave a way to verify that a DS representing a group contains a specific member in its member value. (IContext.java)
  • IContext::getSubjectSchema(), IContext::setSubjectSchema() 171295

• • Updates
    • Transaction Semantics: Each IdAS API is to be atomic (11.16.2006 F2F Outcomes). 171290
    • We still need to decide how a joining provider would guarantee atomicity. (IContext.java) 171296
    • Updates to IDigitalSubject instances: discuss whether modifications to a returned IDigitalSubject affect the stored subject. (IContext.java)
    • Can't remove an attribute using updateSubject. (IContext.java) 171297
    • Can't update components of an attribute's value (IContext.java) 171297
    • Can't update single (of many) attribute values or properties. 171297
    • Collisions: Determine what to do when importing data and collisions occur. Does import override, add to , or error when a DS exists? (IContext.java) 171298

• • Data Model
    • Document the special "uniqueIdentifier" attribute 171300

• Context
  • Does export/import only export/import Digital Subjects, or the entire Context (Metadata, Schema, DS, Relationships)? (IContext.java) 171301
  • Export/Import Filter Format: Define the format (IContext.java) 171301
  • Export/Import data representation format. Document what this would look like and how, given the string one could understand what the format is. Is there a registry? (IContext.java) 171301
  • How does IContext.importData handle data collisions? 171298

• Relationships 171304
  • How are two relationships compared for equality? (IHasRelationships.java)
  • Does IHasRelationships.createRelationship also add? (IHasRelationships.java)