ID values in GCA

[RogerBW]

This is a mildly obscure feature request for GCA5.

If the saved character files use ID values as the ones in GCA4 do, could they be globally unique rather than sequential?

I ask because the use of sequential values makes merges harder. If a character has been branched and that branch is then to be merged back into the mainline, it's very likely to have duplicate ID values, which not only won't be warned about by the VCS but need to be resolved manually.

(Yes, I keep my character files under version control. I recently used git bisect to find out exactly when a particular skill was acquired.)

(More generally, GCA should not be the only tool that can read GCA files; a more standardised format like XML/JSON/YAML would make life much easier for support software.)

[Armin]

Originally Posted by RogerBW

This is a mildly obscure feature request for GCA5.

If the saved character files use ID values as the ones in GCA4 do, could they be globally unique rather than sequential?

I ask because the use of sequential values makes merges harder. If a character has been branched and that branch is then to be merged back into the mainline, it's very likely to have duplicate ID values, which not only won't be warned about by the VCS but need to be resolved manually.

Are you looking for real GUIDs, or more like IDs that are unique for your installation of GCA, where it could still use integer values? GUIDs would require a much more extensive volume of work than just switching the ID provider.

Obviously, I never considered this kind of branching and merging.

Originally Posted by RogerBW

(More generally, GCA should not be the only tool that can read GCA files; a more standardised format like XML/JSON/YAML would make life much easier for support software.)

I totally agree about that. GCA5 characters are XML.

[RogerBW]

Originally Posted by Armin

Are you looking for real GUIDs, or more like IDs that are unique for your installation of GCA, where it could still use integer values? GUIDs would require a much more extensive volume of work than just switching the ID provider.

Within the installation is plenty - the trick is that if I start with a file version A and add something to it, the ID which that something gets shouldn't be the same as if I start again with file version A and add a different something to it. That way I can bring them back together later without having to renumber one of them.

Originally Posted by Armin

Obviously, I never considered this kind of branching and merging.

I will readily admit that this is pretty niche even for GCA users. :-)

[Armin]

Originally Posted by RogerBW

Within the installation is plenty - the trick is that if I start with a file version A and add something to it, the ID which that something gets shouldn't be the same as if I start again with file version A and add a different something to it. That way I can bring them back together later without having to renumber one of them.

That should be doable. I'll add it to my list, and take a look at it when I get a chance.

Armin

[RogerBW]

Thanks. :-)