[DAS2] properties

[Andrew Dalke]

Thomas:
> I've been seeing this very much as something for machines.  You don't 
> want to be showing end-users your stylesheet data, at least not in XML 
> format --

You wouldn't.  It's a list of keys and values, with strings for both.
That's a property table, and there are many ways to view it.

I'm fine with having them be elements instead of this <PROP> thing.

That means we'll define:
   - the element name
   - the search parameter(s) for searching that element (if one exists)
   - what it means to search that field

I don't think the current scheme of
   att=score:0.3

for searching attributes will work well.  It's too field dependent.
Instead we would say:

  The element name is "das:score"
  The search term is "score" with operators "<", ">", "=", "<=" and ">="
    eg
       score>=0.3

(quoting as needed.)

I'm not sure that the stylesheet information should be in the types
field, except as a way to override some other default.

For example, should I be able to specify in a style sheet that
all "chromosome_variation" are colored blue, which includes
"chromosomal_duplication" and 
"uninverted_intrachromosomal_transposition"?
Or should the server return back

<type ontology="SO:0000240">
   <color value="blue" />
</type>
<type ontology="SO:1000037">
   <color value="blue" />
</type>
<type ontology="SO:1000152">
   <color value="blue" />
</type>
   ...

> although smarter clients might want to have a dedicated stylesheet 
> editor, of course.

Agreed.  Having the styles well-defined enables sophisticated editors.
Eg, ones that know "bgcolor" can take a color selector pane.


					Andrew
					dalke at dalkescientific.com