on 4/29/07 11:46 PM, John Lee at johnleemk(a)gmail.com wrote:
On 4/30/07, Marc Riddell
<michaeldavid86(a)comcast.net> wrote:
>
> My complaint is a little different: Those who would prohibit placing
Main
and Sub
Categories in the same article.
There are very sensible reasons for this - we can't let the main
category
grow too crowded to the point that it loses all
usefulness, for
instance.
What we really need are ways to display the
unions and intersections of
categories, which would allow you to create the same effect on an
individual-by-individual basis without disturbing the hierarchical
order.
David says work is being done on this, and says
mySQL is at fault for
the
slowness of the work; I can't say I find the
latter surprising.
Hopefully
something can be done about this on the software
side, because your
particular problem can probably be solved without having to go as far as
to
change the culture of categories.
Having said that, it's clear that there are other problems with the
status
quo that will require some changes in how our
processes work - how we
categorise things. But the simplest place to start is on the software
side,
since it's pretty difficult to navigate
categories when you can't have
unions and intersections.
John,
In my work I have access to a database of thousands of case studies of
persons who have been formally treated for various psychosocial disorders.
The information does not include personal identification materials, just
age, gender and other demographics, plus their diagnosis, course of
treatment and outcome.
In each record there is a list of identifying codes. If the person's
primary
diagnosis was chemical dependency, the (main) code for this is entered; if
that person's primary chemical of use was cocaine, the (sub) code for this
is also entered, etc.
Now, if I want to call up all cases of chemical dependency, I enter its
code
and I have a list of these cases to study. If I want only those cases
where
the primary chemical of use was cocaine, I would enter that code. For this
to work, BOTH the main and sub codes must be entered in each case.
This is what I am asking for in WP. That is why both the main and sub
categories need to be entered into each Article.
Forgive me, but I don't see how this could not be accomplished with viewing
the union of the parent category and relevant subcategory.
Johnleemk