Location information structure

Definitions and links

See the UI pages: define-location; forming-enquiry; enquiry-location;

• LocID: location ID; indexes the structure itself, as well as being used as part of the name for the localStorage JSON.
• 0 or null means that location has not yet been selected
• pre-defined values 1 to 9 for, e.g. :
• 1: nowhere, location withheld
• 2: here and now for the currently active device
• possibilities for more special pre-defined locations
• 9: the default "home" location
• The first two locations (and perhaps others later?) are not editable
• The default location is editable but not deletable
• user-defined locations starting from 10 may be edited and deleted
• If it is for a mobile device, the time is taken as "immediately" and time values are disregarded.
• EnqLID is part of the Enquiry structure.
• LocName: name of location – may be given in different languages
• LocType: type of location: if COORDS or MYDEV then
• LocLat: latitude
• LocLong: longitude
• LStartB, LEndB, LocStart, LocEnd (start and end dates):
• false, false no start, no end: permanent location
• false, true no start, end defined
• true, false start defined, no end
• true, true both start and end defined

Javascript

A user would start with roughly this:

locations = {
1: {LocID:   1,     LocName: 'nowhere',      LocLat:   null, LocLong: null,
    LStartB: false, LEndB:   false,          LocStart: null, LocEnd:  null},
2: {LocID:   2,     LocName: 'here and now', LocLat:   0,    LocLong: 0,
    LStartB: false, LEndB:   false,          LocStart: null, LocEnd:  null},
9: {LocID:   9,     LocName: 'default/home', LocLat:   0,    LocLong: 0,
    LStartB: false, LEndB:   false,          LocStart: null, LocEnd:  null}
};

Locations of enquiries

One potentially important feature of an enquiry is where it is centred around. Wanting to share a hobby could be around one's home, or a premises where the hobby is undertaken. A job may be sought in a town or city – one's current or a different one. The location information structure assumes that nearly all enquiries will either focus on one of a small number of known places, or be "near me" wherever the person is, or will not care about place – as when one simply wants to communicate with someone with a shared interest.

The primary rationale of having a location is for physical meeting, not for formal identification or postal contact. When entering a location for an enquiry, the user needs to be directed towards putting in the place at or near which a meeting might take place. We also may want to know when such a meeting could be. We've got a rudimentary temporary/permanent distinction above, but anything more complex would need a lot of work both for development and in use.

A user can specify any number of locations. One may be used in each enquiry. Each location is stored as above, so it can be reused in different enquiries without having to input it again.

See enquiry info for enquiry location