Re: Re: RFC::Error Handling Guidelines for PHP5 packages

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004, Greg Beaver wrote: > Stig S. Bakken wrote: > > > Yes, this is beyond the scope of this RFC, so then my claim is that this > > RFC is premature. > > > > I've suggested to Sergio that we can extend it to include a migration plan > > _and_ these guidelines, pull this RFC back and then publish a new and > > Nice to see you are back in action, Stig. > > I do agree that the RFC may be premature, but the truth is that PHP5 > provides exceptions, and people will begin using them in packages. > Perhaps the guidelines you speak of should simply be: > > "you can use php5 features such as exceptions but expect to have to > rewrite code until the RFC for each code feature stabilizes. As a > consequence, NO php5-only packages may be more stable than alpha until > further notice." Good idea, something like that would at least set the expectations right. > As per my recent idea of assigning stability levels to RFCs, these 2 > simple sentences will solve all concerns for end-users. It's clear, > simple and unambiguous in any way. It will make us work harder, but > that's no different than how we work now (documentation, unit tests, etc.). > > I would like to state again, for the record, that Heino Gehlsen's idea > of spawning a completely separate repository and channel for php5-only > packages is the *only* reasonable solution to the problem of BC issues > between php4 and php5. > > Package pear::Foo > pear channel releases: > version 0.3.5 php4 > version 1.0.0 php4/php5 > version 1.0.1 php4/php5 > > package pear5::Pear5_Foo > php5.pear channel releases > version 0.1.0 php5-only > version 0.3.0 php5-only > > This solution would also allow us to properly prepend a prefix to all > new pear packages, allowing interoperability with other channels. I agree, this is a very logical way of dealing with this when we have channels. The PEAR server can determine which packages should be included in each server by looking at type="php" dependencies: php4-only: <dep type="php" rel="lt" version="5" /> php4/php5: <!-- no dependency needed --> php5-only: <dep type="php" rel="ge" version="5.0" /> - Stig