pcplantdb

[John Schinnerer <eco_living@yahoo.com>]

Aloha,

Just duping this to this list...I want to clear this up...

> We have already been through this discussion.
> I said that one is needed for North America and that only those 
> living there will likely contribute, especially in the data 
> department... 
>You, of course, are free to work on any one you 
>choose...

I think there's some misunderstanding about what exactly we are
creating.  For the non-technical, and the technical who haven't thought
about it yet:

There are two basic elements to a working *database* - the *engine* and
the *data*.

The *engine* is the software that does the work of taking in,
organizing, managing, categorizing, etc. etc. and handing out the data.

The *data* is the information that the engine is designed to handle,
manage, sort, categorize, return, etc. etc.

A useful, working *database* consists of an *engine* that is populated
with (has in it) relevant *data*.  

My understanding has been that we are proposing creating a PC plant
database *engine* as an open source project, freely available to
whomever finds it useful.  

Different individuals and groups may have their own *data* that they
want to put into a (not *the*) database.  Each uses the *engine* we
create to input, manage and output the data they consider relevant. 
For initial development purposes we may use primarily N. American plant
*data*, but it doesn't matter to the design of the *engine*. 

Ideally we design the *engine* so that it can access any or all of the
various *databases* (engine + data) that are created using it.

That is, the *engine* can communicate with other instances of itself
(the engine running on one server can communicate with the engine
running on another server) to search the *data* in other *databases* on
other servers.

If PC-relevant plant data is as 'universal' as we imagine, the *engine*
will be applicable to databases for all areas of the world - that is,
it will handle data for 'N. American' plants equally as well as for
'African', as for 'tropical', as for 'Siberian', as for whatever. 

This is also basic software design practice - separate code from data
(from presentation, but that's not an issue here...yet... ;-)

This is what I am interested in contributing to.  Y'all can make the
*data* for your particular *database* as provincial or global as you
want, but let's not confuse that with the design and implementation of
one PC plant DB *engine*.

=====
John Schinnerer, MA
--------------------
- Eco-Living -
Cultural & Ecological Designing
Food - Shelter - Community
john@eco-living.net
http://eco-living.net

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