[pmwiki-users] recipes on core elements

Joachim Durchholz jo at durchholz.org
Thu Sep 1 15:04:00 CDT 2005


Radu schrieb:
> I've asked already how I can make a recipe available for features that 
> slightly extend an existing core function, and the answer at the time 
> was oking my suggestion of 'just copy the function, modify it and put it 
> in a cookbook file'.
> 
> However, that requires potentially lots of maintainance. E.g., I 
> modified the simple tables function, and now there are changes to it, 
> the recipe has to be modified to reflect them. So a recipe creator has 
> to continuously monitor pmwiki releases and compare the bits they modify.

Well, if you're fiddling with core functions, you can't avoid this kind 
of maintenance. For example, you'd have to check whether your extension 
is still needed at all. Or whether it conflicts.

The best way out is to make the extension non-core if at all possible, 
e.g. by rewriting it as a new markup, or by installing a markup in place 
of an existing one (that's more potential for conflicts, of course), or 
by using one of PmWiki's numerous plug-in interfaces.
Of course, even then you're not entirely safe. Writing an extension 
automatically creates the burden of maintenance, which has to be borne 
by you or a volunteer.
Personally, I have written two PmWiki extensions, and I'm going to write 
another one, but that will be about it. I know why I'm limiting myself 
that way - I want to keep the maintenance burden to an acceptable level.

Regards,
Jo




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