[Opensim-dev] SceneObjectGroup vs SceneObjectPart

[Stefan Andersson]

Ok guys,
 
since we haven't started the 0.6 discussion, I'd like to kick off with a couple of observations;
 
* We need to revise the SceneObjectGroup/SceneObjectPart bit as it stands for several reasons: 1) It doesn't hold for attachments  2) It doesn't hold as a object model (we still have that root mess)  3) It's a hell of a lot of duplication, as several fields aren't used on child objects (like permissions and objectflags) and it's real bad db normalization.
* Related, we need to revise the xml serialization scheme and the db schemes. The xml scheme should be user-friendly to the point where you should be confident to create and edit objects in notepad, basically. This is not the case at the moment. Massive duplication, weird bit values and non-intuitive value ranges are king at the moment.
 
We need to kickstart these issues, I'm not entirely sure how. I do know that these kinds of radical changes are seriously hampered by the need for backwards compatibility; we now see ourselves painting ourselves into the very same kinds of corners that made other companies choose really weird solutions - the question is if we are going to go down the same route?
 
So, should 0.6 be developed in a branch by itself, and with tools to migrate from 0.5 to it? How should we address the already-installed content?
 
I am 100% tech on these issues, so you content people, please comment.
 
Best,
Stefan (lbsa71)
 
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