[vtk-developers] Description of file you are about to read

[Andy Cedilnik]

>VTK is written in English. But VTK is the API. Your application, 
>hopefully, does not have to be written in English (look at VolView). And 
>since what we are talking about here is definitely something that is 
>GUI/application related, that is a legitimate usability question: you do 
>not use that info to "programmatically" decide something, but to let the 
>user decide something. So what's the point if the user can not understand 
>that info: it can not make the decision, or even worse, can make a wrong 
>decision.

Well, all error messages and warnings are in ... "English". There is no 
messages in "axis of evil"
or any other language. Well, there may be some Canadian, British, 
Australian, or baby-talk words
in it, but that is about it. So, if you are saying that VTK is language 
independent, you are
already wrong.

>I agree with your default value scheme (the example you give at the end of 
>your email), but I think it would be cool if it could be overridden :)

Ok, I guess. You can always write your own way of getting information out 
of the object. You can
safe-down-cast to vtkSausage and then use the methods of the class.
It would not break anything. It would just add a nice feature for quickly 
getting some information
out of the data file.

>>>Since it's typically something aimed at better GUIs and user-application 
>>>communication, I would suggest that the user (i.e. developper) could 
>>>specify a kind of prinft-style format/mask/pattern to be used to return 
>>>these infos (like the SetFilePattern of vtkImageReader).
>>>
>>>For example:
>>>SetFileInformationPattern("Size: %S, Bit depth: %D");
>>>=> would return "Size: 512x512, Bit depth: 24b" as info (for example)
>>>SetFileInformationPattern("Taille: %S, Profondeur: %D");
>>>=> same in Axes of Evil language
>>>SetFileInformationPattern("Patient Name: %N");
>>>etc.
>>
>>Ok, what about readers that do not have bit depth?
>Sure, but the question is: what about a default pattern, and/or a pattern 
>for each reader.

If you are doing something specific for a reader, then there is no point of 
having this.
The idea is that you do something that all readers support.

>>What about one that do not have
>>Taille and Profondeur? Or Velikost in Stevilo Bitov?
>C'mon, we all know that all images have a least some bits of Velikost, and 
>some ancient books also report that Stevilo Bitov were found in GIF files 
>as well as meteorites.


VTK Poly data?
VTK Rectilinear grid?
STL?
vtkGrabageReader?

What you said is limited to image data. And even there can be a problem. 
What about
Volume data?

 > I'm sorry, but "HP IL v1.1" for a french user is actually an insult 
which will definitely make him > > close the app, format the disk and give 
anyone full legal right to blow your car.

Maybe we should just ditch vtk and start:
LaTrousseAOutilsDeVisualization (LTOV)
where all classes would have parent class
ltovObjet
and they would all include file
ltovPositionnementObitiennent
...

                                 Andy