Duration Datatype #129

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1. joepio commented on Jul 16, 2022

   

   joepio

   on Jul 16, 2022

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   Creating a new datatype or not is a tough decision. I tend to gravitate to keep the amount of datatypes to a minumum. If a datatype can actually be represented as a Property, things are often far easier.

   Basically, as a rule of thumb, I currently always ask the question: does this new datatype require a new type of input for forms? And if it does, is the datatype reusable in multiple semantic relationships?

   For Duration, I think there are definitely scenarios were I'd expect a new type of form. For example if I'm planning a holiday on AirBnB I want a date-range select. And in a calendar appointment, too. But these make more sense to represent as two seperate fields: start-date and end-date.

   Which usecases did you have in mind? Can you come up with multiple Properties that would use this datatype?
2. theduke commented on Jul 17, 2022

   

   theduke

   on Jul 17, 2022

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   I tend to gravitate to keep the amount of datatypes to a minumum

   I concur, but duration is a common type which has a distinct semantic meaning not subsumed by a timestamp or a plain integer.

   Example use cases:

   • duration of a video or audio file
   • duration worked on a task in a time tracking app
   • duration of a page visit in an analytics tracker
   • ...

   I think it's common enough and distinct enough to have a dedicated core datatype.