[pdal] Metadata/Option vs naked property_tree

[Howard Butler]

Michael,

If we want to be able to say metadata.get<std::string>("path.to.my.metadata.entry") how should that be anything other than a naked property_tree?  As far as I can tell, the only thing we want to do different is to serialize name/attributes when going to XML (like in PipelineWriter). Maybe we can get rid of Option/Options and Metadata/Entry altogether and simply have property_trees.  Downsides?  Do you remember what moved you toward a custom class when you cooked up Option/Options?  Can you make the case for keeping these as custom classes rather than having them either be a simple string-serialized property_tree?

Howard