[GRASS5] Imagery GROUP file

[Glynn Clements]

Frank Warmerdam wrote:

> > Consequently, I've changed the definitions so that the files are
> > always called CURGROUP and CURSUBGROUP.
> > 
> > Users will need to rename (or re-create) any GROUP/SUBGROUP files
> > after updating to the new code.
> > 
> > Also, any supplied datasets (e.g. "imagery") will need to be updated.
> 
> Glynn,
> 
> While I concur with your reasoning is it possible to do anything with the
> code to improve backward compatibility?  Perhaps if no CURGROUP directory
> is found, the GROUP directory could be tried?  I realize implementation may
> be a little more complicated than that.
> 
> I humbly feel that changes like this can cause major user confusion and
> inconvenience and that all reasonable efforts should be made to smooth the
> compatability issues from the code side.
> 
> Finally, it would be nice to have a script that could be run to convert a
> datastore to the new naming convention if backward compatibility can't be
> maintained.

I've renamed the GROUP/SUBGROUP *files*, which record the *current*
group/subgroup, not the "group" directory (aka element), which stores
the actual group definitions.

AFAICT, the worst that will happen is that the user would have to
re-select (but not re-create) the current group/subgroup. That didn't
seem (to me) to be significant enough to warrant adding code to handle
a one-off situation.

I'm willing to add the code if it's deemed necessary. The only reason
why I didn't do that was a reluctance to add code which is almost
never used, not because of the (minimal) effort involved.

-- 
Glynn Clements <glynn.clements at virgin.net>