From: why the lucky stiff <yaml4r@...>
Date: 2002-08-14T13:01:41+09:00
Subject: Re: [ANN] YAML.rb 0.38 -- Objects in plain text

Chris Morris (chrismo@clabs.org) wrote:
> Does YAML.rb currently handle circular obj references? This is one thing my
> module lacks that I'd like to support, but it's going to require an id
> system within the XML to keep it straight, which means more 'clutter' in the
> xml.

At this time, circular object references are supported by the 
YAML.rb parser, but not the emitter.  As I have just restructured
the Emitter into its own class, you will see references supported
in the emitter by version 0.40, which should release by next week.

For a somewhat dated discussion of how this will work, browse here:

  http://wiki.yaml.org/yamlwiki/AnchorsAndAliases

You can see living examples of anchors and aliases in the Cookbook:

  http://yaml4r.sourceforge.net/cookbook/#aliases%20and%20anchors

I really like the XmlSerialization class, BTW.  I like that it's
so straightforward.  Many of the ideas in the XmlSerialization
module are also expressed in YAML.  For example, you allow simple scalars to
go untyped.  If a scalar isn't an Integer or a Float, it is assumed
to be a String.  Similiar logic is used in YAML (though the
specification does detail specific grammar for what constitutes an unquoted
string).

If you have any recommendations for YAML, Chris, I'm sure all the guys
on the Yaml-core list would appreciate your experience.  The entire team
is very practical, focusing on actual use cases to weigh decisions.

_why