Ferreteria/v0.5/feature

the Features system

A "Feature", in this context, is a set of classes which work together to handle a particular type of data, traditionally represented by a table in a database. The class-set for each Feature is primarily organized around a descendent (subclass) of the Feature class.

Each Feature subclass represents a singleton object and has a SpecSlug() static method for identifying its table specs in the config data.

Pages

• /rendering: how Feature data is converted to display output (typically HTML)
• /access: how to access a Feature object

Related

• feature registry: translates URI slugs into Feature objects
• table registry: allows cross-referencing of tables within an app

Connections

A Feature that uses a Table doesn't know directly about that Table. The way the Table is accessed goes like this:

• Each Feature corresponds to a Spec, which typically includes the Table name and may include other information such as the name of the key field (typically "ID").
• The Feature doesn't contain the Spec, but looks it up when needed (GetMySpec()).
• Each Feature works with stored data via its Storage Row, which looks up the Table in the Table Registry using the Feature's Spec.

Note that Storage doesn't have to use a database; the Dropin-viewer Dropin just uses an in-memory array generated from reading the "dropins" folder.