Re: [subscriptions] Re: spice-netserve is now in componenthaus (and spice-threadpool)

Hi Mauro,

> looks very good :-)
> one change I would still recommend is to clarify better what is an
> interface and what is a component.

So by component you mean implementation of an interface?

> Eg, in a search for manage connections, I would find it more intuitive
> to get a list of interfaces (only the links, which can be can then be
> displayed in more details) and to which components they map to.

Fully agree.  I want to do this.  Will do it in fact, when I get time.
Right now I am working on handling dependencies.

> I think the level of granularity down to the methods on a high-level
> search is probably a bit too much (esp. when the components grow in
> number).

I am not yet sure of this.  The first iteration of CH was like this - the
unit of indexing and searching was the component (interface) itself.  But I
changed to methods for two reasons:

 * There is an awful lot of javadoc on methods.  It would be shame to not
make use of it.
 * Playing around with CH leads me to believe its methods people are really
interested in.

So I think it would be smart to consider continuing the methods experiment a
little further.  And if the number of comps grows, lets allow the search
engine come back with the best matches.

I do plan to return to indexing components themselves i.e. the javadoc at
the top of an interface.  So when you do a search, you will get back a list
containing a mixture of components and methods, with the most relevant ones
at the top.  Hopefully.

One last thing - search operates on interfaces only right now.  This is up
for debate though as we see how things play out during real use.  I expect
some implementation related info will have to be made use of, but not sure
what yet.

> So something like this on the search results
>
> Interface Components
>
> ConnectionManager (link)        Netserve   (link, download, etc)

I fully agree that there needs to be a relationship from interface to
implementations.  But, following on from I said above, I am not certain that
presenting this info on the search results page is quite right.  I think it
makes sense for a user to first locate a component or method he is
interested in.  "Find me something to copy a file" he says to himself.  Then
he gets ranked results back - of interfaces.  Then he investigates each
result to see what impls are available, and makes a choice.

What ya reckon?  Its still early days and we can move this thing whatever
way makes sense.

Cheers,
Mike.