[Developers] Write grammar questions: question 4 -- when are links inserted?

[Tim Kientzle]

You should also take a look at the freebase-python project on  
code.google.com.  Among other things, it has a much-hacked version of  
your original metaweb.py module that may be worth a look.

Cheers,

Tim Kientzle


On Jun 4, 2008, at 2:16 PM, David Flanagan wrote:

> Tim,
>
> Thank you for this very clear explanation.  I think it means that I'll
> have to add cookie handling to the metaweb.py module that I develop in
> my MQL documentation.  I think I've got some examples near the end of
> the last chapter that do writes followed by reads, and unless python's
> urllib2 is automatically handling cookies for me (which I don't  
> think it
> does) those examples won't work anymore...
>
> 	David
>
> Tim Kientzle wrote:
>> David,
>>
>> The mwLastWriteTime cookie is an innovation that we've come up with  
>> to
>> try to balance the performance requirements of most read-only users
>> with the need for users who are making changes to see immediate
>> response to their changes.  This is handled through a special cookie
>> that works transparently for most users but does occasionally confuse
>> developers:
>>
>> * The mwLastWriteTime cookie is updated automatically by the
>> Freebase.com server whenever you write (including mqlwrite,
>> interactive client, blob upload, or otherwise).  As long as you're
>> working with a single application that tracks cookies (either a
>> browser or another application), you will read the results of your  
>> own
>> writes.
>>
>> * By default, we cache pretty aggressively.  If you don't have a
>> suitable cookie, we'll provide cached results if we can.  This gives
>> faster responses to the majority of users who are readers.  Our cache
>> timeouts vary depending on the particular request, but about 1 hour  
>> is
>> typical.
>>
>> * The only case where you'll see inconsistencies is if you have two
>> applications.  For example, people see this when they do writes  
>> from a
>> script and then try to see the results in their browser (or vice
>> versa).  The problem here is that the script will get an updated
>> cookie, but the browser has an old cookie.
>>
>> * You can always get an up-to-date cookie from the "touch" service: /
>> api/service/touch.  In the Freebase.com web GUI, press 'F8' to bring
>> up the developer toolbar and click 'Refresh cache' to update your
>> cookie.
>>
>> * We use a cookie instead of an envelope parameter because the value
>> needs to be set by and visible to the server.  Only cookies support
>> this style of usage.
>>
>> * The contents of the cookie are determined by the server and are
>> subject to change.  Please do not try to synthesize it yourself.
>> (Even today, the cookie actually has more information than just a
>> timestamp; if you just synthesize a timestamp, you risk getting some
>> very strangely inconsistent results.)
>>
>> Let me know if this isn't clear enough.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Tim Kientzle
>>
>>
>>
>> On Jun 3, 2008, at 12:44 PM, David Flanagan wrote:
>>
>>> Will M: Could you clarify this for the rest of the list?  I can't  
>>> find
>>> much documentation for this cookie.  What is the right thing to do
>>> with
>>> it when writing apps that are not browser-based?  Should we always
>>> insert a synthetic cookie with the current time into our mqlread
>>> requests?  Or will the absence of the cookie ensure that we get the
>>> lastest results?
>>>
>>> And why is this a cookie rather than an envelope parameter, anyway?
>>>
>>> 	David Flanagan
>>>
>>> Will Fitzgerald wrote:
>>>> Will Moffat said it was that the 'mwLastWriteTime' cookie wasn't
>>>> being
>>>> updated locally. He was right.
>>>>
>>>> Dr. Documentation, if you're reading this,  -- can you put this on
>>>> your list of things to document?
>>>>
>>>> Will F.
>>>>
>>>> On 6/3/08, Will Fitzgerald <will.fitzgerald at pobox.com> wrote:
>>>>> Using my own Ruby code, I'm trying to insert type links, but I'm
>>>>> wondering what, if anything, I'm doing wrong.
>>>>>
>>>>> For example:
>>>>>
>>>>> http://pastie.caboo.se/207795
>>>>>
>>>>> It appears, although the link looks like its being updated, the  
>>>>> link
>>>>> isn't yet live to the final query. If I do the same list of
>>>>> actions on
>>>>> the web-based MQL editor, there is no problem. Is there some
>>>>> difference with authenticating changes between the web-based  
>>>>> editor
>>>>> and client software?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Will Fitzgerald
>>>>> weblog: <http://www.entish.org/willwhim>
>>>>> Stop US torture: <http://www.unsubscribe-me.org>
>>>>>
>>>>
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