Re: [Demexp-dev] About timestamps

[David MENTRE]

Hello Lyu,

Sorry for the delay in reply.

2007/11/12, Lyu Abe <address@hidden>:
> I understand the mechanism of timestamps, but I'm not sure I understand
> how they work in detail. Tell me if this is correct: are timestamps
> saved independently for each users on the server? Then no problem.

No. The timestamps are common to all users.

> >  * Issue get_timestamp() (or get_timestamp_decoded()) to get all the
> > timestamps. Compare the returned value with the value you stored.
>
> When you say "with the value you stored", it confuses me: what does it
> mean exactly?
>
> Also, can you explain what is the use of "gt_tag", "gt_question" (this I
> think I understand), and "gt_participant".

gt_tag are the timestamps of the tags (one timestamp per tag), ditto
for gt_question and gt_participant.

Suppose you have a tag of id 4 with label "foo" and its timestamp is
6. At one point, the label of this tag is modified into "bar", then
you can be sure that the timestamp of this tag is modified to value
/n/, with /n/ > 6 (e.g. 8).

So, when you store tags, you store the corresponding timestamp.
Latter, when you reconnect to the server, you get the new timestamps
(and only them). If for one tag the timestamp is different, you need
to get the new tag label (because it has been modified on the server).
Otherwise, i.e. the timestamp you got from the server is the same as
teh one you stored along the tag label, you can be sure you have the
latest tag label.

The explanation is the same for questions and participants (replace
"tag" word, with "question" or "participant" word in above
explanation).

Am I clear?

Yours,
d.