DBF records API

[MRAB]

On 01/06/2012 18:50, Ethan Furman wrote:
> I'm getting towards an actual non-beta release, which means even more
> tests, polishings, cleaning up of various things, and actual
> documentation.  :)
>
> However, I am wondering about my current record API:
>
> Currently, one does things like:
>
>     record.scatter_fields()
>
> or
>
>     record.has_been_deleted
>
> or
>
>     record.record_number
>
> The reason those method names are so long is that field names are
> limited to 10 characters, and long method names means no possibility of
> name clashes.
>
> Unfortunately, Version 7 tables can have much longer field names.
>
> So, do I not ever support version 7, do I not worry about it until I get
> there (which could easily be a long time from now), or do I move all the
> methods out of the record class and make them module level functions
> instead?  That would like:
>
>     dbf.scatter_fields(record)
>
>     dbf.has_been_deleted(record)
>
>     dbf.record_number(record)
>
> although probably with shorter names.
>
> Thoughts?
>
I'd probably think of a record as being more like a dict (or an 
OrderedDict)
with the fields accessed by key:

     record["name"]

but:

     record.deleted