[TransWarp] Use case outline - *very* raw first draft

[Phillip J. Eby]

I'm sending this out to get comments and ideas for other things that should 
be on this list.  Everything on the list should be possible with PEAK right 
now, although some things you'll have to do more work for than 
others.  This is also an extremely high-level list, for the most 
part.  Some items I can see needing multiple articles to cover the topic 
effectively.  For example, "Distinguish resource names from addresses" 
needs to be further broken down into a dozen or so major developer use 
cases for the naming system.  But I thought it would be a good idea to toss 
this out early, to help get discussion started.


Reliable and Scalable Services

     Multi-process on-line applications
         Ensure consistency and integrity across processes

     Cache objects in memory, while maintaining data integrity


Develop Object-based Applications Using Existing Enterprise Data

     Persist objects to/from relational databases and LDAP

     Integrate Data From Multiple Sources
         Reference data from one source in another
         Transparent bridging of cross-referenced data

     Persist objects to/from files

         One object per file

         Objects within a file
             Comma or tab-delimited
             XMI
             Other

Preserve Data Integrity
     Atomic operations
     Receive "early warnings" for error conditions

Manage Application Services

     Record and rotate logs of application activity

     Automatically perform batch or background tasks on an "as needed" basis

     Configure policies and options for applications on a site-wide, per 
server, or per application basis


Distributed Deployment

     Distribute configuration information

     Distribute updated database passwords and other 
credentials/configuration data

     Distinguish resource names (identity) from addresses (implementation)


Component-Based Development

     Create components which are easily configured from "outside" themselves

     Create components which can be "plugged into" any component which 
might need to use them

     Make a component available to be found by other components that need 
that kind of service