[db-wg] last-modified:, a succesor to changed:

Hi,

transforming all but the last changed: attributes into remarks: would be 
the best way I would see this implementation being done. This way 
scripts that use the changed attribute won't break unless the maintainer 
of the object decides to remove the (now optional) changed attribute.
Additionally, I think that making changed: optional is a good idea.

I don't think that by removing all the changed lines the RIPE Database 
will be cleaner..
I think we should let every maintainer decide if he wants to keep the 
changed: lines as history of/in the object (in the remarks: lines) or 
remove them at a later date.

my 2 cents,
elvis

On 17/04/14 18:23, Piotr Strzyzewski wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 05:59:30PM +0200, Job Snijders wrote:
>
> Dear Job
>
>> On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 05:36:21PM +0200, Piotr Strzyzewski wrote:
>>
>>> 1. Breaking some scripts (already mentioned).
>> Scripts depending on the existance of "changed:" when parsing an object
>> will break anyway if the attribute is made optional, so I fail to see
>> the point. Patching a script to accept ISO8601 string instead of
>> "20140101" should be trivial task for most companies when given a few
>> months notice. I expect any company with a dependency on the RIPE Whois
>> Database to invest at least a few hours per year to maintain the
>> software driving their operations.
> Good point.
>
>> As Denis stated earlier, scripts /updating/ the RIPE database need no
>> change as the attribute will just be ignored by the RIPE Whois software.
> Although I expect that at some point of time, the software will be
> changed to throw an error.
>
>>> 2. Some people keep real history of changes using this attribute. If
>>> this is going to be deprecated, they would be forced to rewrite some
>>> scripts.
>> The history is already recorded, and automatically available through the
>> use of the --list-versions and --show-version flags. This is real
> And this is not true for every object:
>
> $ whois -- --list-versions PS1393-RIPE|grep available
> % History not available for PERSON and ROLE objects.
>
>> history as it can show you the actual changes between versions of an
>> object. When people deem it necessary to publically record who or what
>> made the last change, a "remarks:" attribute would be appropiate.
> Which exactly mean that they have to rewrite some scripts.
>
> And just to be clear - I vote for making this attribute deprecated.
>
> Piotr
>