[jdom-interest] A utility Element subclass and a request for API extension

[Les Hill]

jhunter at servlets.com writes:
> Have you thought about just using the ""+ trick?

Actually, yes.  Using "" + is better than:

setAttribute("myFloat", Float.toString(someFloat));

But suffers from the same problem in the long run.  Doing it once or twice
or ten times is OK, scattering it everywhere begs for a cleaner solution.

> It's not too bad, and probably nicer than making Element larger.  One
> goal of JDOM is simplicity.

Not to beat a dead horse, but simplicity does not imply minimalism.

I would argue that extending the API to include utility methods providing
*exactly* the same intention+ with similar but not the same signatures, does
not introduce complexity and promotes use.

As an example of how this kind of utility method is useful, I recently
switched over to 1.4 and started using the 1.4 logging instead of log4j.
Both have the generic log method (signatures not exactly correct for
clarity):

log.log(Level level, String msg)

which writes the message to the log at the specified level.  Both also have
utility methods of the form:

log.warning(String msg)

which writes the msg to the log at a warning level.  However, when it comes
to exceptions, the log system in 1.4 only provides the generic method:

log.log(Level level, String msg, Throwable thrown)

while log4j provides the generic and the various utility methods:

log.warning(String msg, Throwable thrown)

No difference in functionality: in either case the message is written with a
stack trace at the given level.  Amazing difference in daily ease of use.

I offer this as a suggestion as a user of JDOM who is not trying to
manipulate XML documents per se, but rather as a user who is using XML as an
adjunct to everyday applications where attributes are regularly a native
Java type instead of String.

+ In this case setting the value of an attribute -- this would be opposed to
overridden signatures that change intended behaviors.

Regards,

Les Hill
leh at galaxynine.com