[lmi] Editor for product files: sketch of an idea for xml representation of '.tir' data

[Greg Chicares]

<tiered_data> <!-- If all files combined, this is just <data>, no? -->
  <tiered_entity name="banded_av_load" type="banded" looked_up_by="outlay">
    <parent>Is this the right place for parent category?</parent>
    <description>Description of entity.</description>
    <authority>Authority, e.g. person and date.</authority>
    <notes>Any special notes, e.g. known problem or 'not implemented'.</notes>
    <data as_of_date="whenever">
      <datum value=0.0035 upper_bound=2e+007/>
    </data>
    ...
  </tiered_entity>
</tiered_data>

As we design the new product-file editor, I think it makes sense
to add a few extra items on the screen. Ideally, they'd be
read-only text controls if gtk has such a thing--at least for
msw, the advantage over static text controls is that the
contents of a read-only text control can be copied and pasted.
The <description>, <authority>, and <notes> tags above would
probably suffice in general. Perhaps they should be multi-line
edit controls. Is there a good reason to make them writable?

'.tir' data should also have editable properties like
  type="banded" [or some other value]
  looked_up_by="outlay"  [or some other value]
which aren't in today's '.tir' files.

It would be interesting to hear what others on this list think.
The time to weigh in is now, before we lock into final specs.
For instance, are there other data that we should display for
'.db4' data? Should we add "as-of" dates to each item, in
anticipation of expanding the product files to include
historical as well as current data, which would be especially
nice for '.fnd' data--and, if so, how should such dates be
portrayed?