Re: A question of programming technique in C

On 11 Nov 2008 04:21:49 -0800, Tim Rentsch
<txr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

cri@xxxxxxxx (Richard Harter) writes:


I agree that the names aren't very descriptive. As much as
anything they are the detritus of my changing thoughts as I was
working out the issues. In effect the scheme is a simple key and
lock system, the "descriptor" being the key and the "locator"
being the lock.

AFAIK the "descriptor" is usually called a handle or a reference,
the former being lowbrow and the latter being highbrow. :-)
Reference may be better because handles (e.g. FILE) often contain
data about the object in question.

Offhand, I can't think of a good replacement for "locator". I
thought of proxy because it handles having remote bobbles, but
that's not right. Functionally it's a bobble access lock.
Portal is fairly descriptive and is sexier.

Just to throw a couple more ideas into the mix: 'bobble_oop' in
place of 'bobble_descriptor', and 'bobble_ote' in place of
'bobble_locator'. The acronyms come from Smalltalk virtual
memory implementations - 'oop' is short for object-oriented
pointer, 'ote' is short for 'object table entry'.

That seems like a good choice; the suffixes are short and are
part of standard practice (somewhere). I almost considered using
sigil and portkey.

Upon reflection I can't think of a good reason for knowing
whether a slot is in use or not. Until I can think of a reason
I'm not going to worry about it.

The context, btw, is what you might imagine, a simulator using
interacting objects that appear and disappear and can dynamically
alter their interactions. They communication via messages in
connectors that can be broken without their knowledge.

Again, many thanks.


Richard Harter, cri@xxxxxxxx
http://home.tiac.net/~cri, http://www.varinoma.com
Save the Earth now!!
It's the only planet with chocolate.
.

Relevant Pages

  • linking ICSF AMODE64 apps - documentation or installation problem?
    ... I´ve been dealing with some linking errors while trying to build AMODE64 ... IEW2469E 9907 THE ATTRIBUTES OF A REFERENCE TO CSNFKRC FROM SECTION GenChav#C ... DO NOT MATCH THE ATTRIBUTES OF THE TARGET SYMBOL. ... REASON 2 ...
    (bit.listserv.ibm-main)
  • Re: Dismissal - without warning - employee 6 months
    ... They are on a standard contract - 1 months notice either way - have ... So long as you are not dismissing them for a discriminatory reason (eg ... for a reference from any potential future employer. ... The employer could end up being sued. ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: Geosynchronous orbits
    ... The reason is pretty simple, it is because it doesn't exist, except in ... If you could only understand the frames of reference concept properly, ... The dynamicists already come pretty close but insist on the wandering ... "A sun-synchronous orbit is a retrograde orbit (that is, ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: Reference for a cubic with a double root?
    ... self-evident to those who do remember their Algebra ... A 'Calculus' approach according to which there will be a double root ... I still need a reference where the condition ... is a reason that D is called "discriminant", ...
    (sci.math)
  • Re: Messages...
    ... PostMessage vs. SendMessage is another discussion, ... > TComponent notifications and reference passing to hold the lot ... One doesn't need a window for using messages (with Send-/PostMessage you do, ... I can't remember the exact reason for it, but I have somewhere a Microsoft ...
    (comp.lang.pascal.delphi.misc)