name magic explained

I just wanted to do a quick review of name magic--which begins with automaticly determining the DescriptorUnit (read "type") to associate with a newly created Topic.

Lets say we are in some Topic (other than the Data Topic). This current topic, which is where we are about to create a subordinate topic, has an associated DescriptorUnit--either the du was explicitly assigned or a default du is used.

Now if the DescriptorUnit has a NewTopicNameMap table (LSec), then when you create a supordinate topic, the new topic name is applied to the NewTopicNameMap to determine which du to assign.

For example, in the Drawer DescriptorUnits, we (will) have the following NewTopicNameMap:

Topic, DescriptorUnit
---------------------
*TableDescriptorUnit, TableDescriptorUnitDescriptorUnit
*DescriptorUnit, DefaultDescriptorUnitDescriptorUnit

Now when we create a folder called MyTableDescriptorUnit in Drawer DescriptorUnits, the crf command knows enought to give it the TableDescriptorUnitDescriptorUnit as its du. Then it knows that MyTableDescriptorUnit is a du for a table and creates a Columns table.

So once we've defined all the descriptorunits and properly configured the Ark, all subsequent [type] assignments are handled automaticly, as long as the users follow the naming convention.

Could prove interesting.