[TYPO3-dev] Migrate to FAL with internal_type = file_reference

[Jigal van Hemert]

Hi,

On 15-5-2014 9:32, bernd wilke wrote:
> just my opinion:
> this statements shows to me that core developer who created and extended
> FAL and those who wrote this upgrade wizard have no respect to others
> which are not so much involved in core-programming.

I'm really sorry you feel this way, but that is not the case.

> there is no documentation about FAL.

There is documentation being prepared, but it takes a while. I really 
could use this myself, but I have to wait too. To make FAL good enough 
for an LTS version the FAL developers had to really work hard in the 
time before the release. They simply didn't have the time to make 
documentation at the same time.

> there is no way/ example to convert file-reference-fields as there are
> no fiel-refence-fields in core tables.
>
> no extension-tables are converted at all.
>
> everyone who uses any extension with additional tables (how many
> installtion are build without any additional extension? (!)) is forced
> to convert this tables on his own (or depends on the extension author to
> build an upgrade)

Such a change in the field usually has to be made at the same time that 
the code that uses the field is changed. If this is a field from an 
extension the extension author should really take care of these fields.

One example where the core has thought about existing installations and 
FAL is that the old image-related fields are generated during rendering 
of a page. This is done to let old TypoScript work without the necessary 
modifications that are needed to properly use FAL.
It does come with quite a performance penalty, but you can have a 
working website and gradually modify things until you are ready to 
disable the option (and get a faster website).

> one further step to a closed group of TYPO3 developers?

Really not. Everybody can contribute. There is however no time enough 
for the group of "Active Contributors" (just the title of the group in 
forge) to build everything that someone finds useful.
Others are very much welcom to share their code / documentation / etcetera.

> I appreciate the work of all developers and try to share the little I
> can give, but more frequently I have the feeling of being excluded by
> leading developers.

It's certainly not on purpose that people should feel excluded. Not 
everybody communicates the same way. Not everybody has enough time to 
spend a long time on a certain question/bug/request.
In general, everybody means the best for all. Answers are not meant to 
sound unfriendly (often language issues can distort a message).

You asked if there were plans to extend the upgrade wizard to handle 
file reference fields. The simple answer is "no, there are no plans" (as 
far as I know). It would take relatively a lot of time to implement and 
only very few people would benefit from it because the core table never 
used file reference fields.
If you implement it or find a developer to do it for you, the Upgrade 
Wizard could be extended.

> I would welcome a stable version of the new TYPO3 (6.2 LTS) which is
> well documented and supported with tools which enable (experienced)
> users to handle smaller problems which are not covered by extensions
> from TER.

The documentation team is working hard on improving the documentation. 
If you find parts that are incorrect / missing you can file a forge 
issue and possibly include the correct content.
For other missing parts the priority has been to write the code, fix the 
bugs and then create the documentation. Time is limited, so you need to 
prioritize the work.

TER extensions are actually meant to handle features that are not 
covered by the core. The core will contain only basic functionality and 
the infrastructure for extensions to implement various things in 
different ways.
For example: the core provides the infrastructure for authentication 
services to work. It provides a basic authentication service based on 
frontend users in a database table. Extensions implement other 
authentication services (LDAP, IP-based, oAuth, ...)

-- 
Jigal van Hemert
TYPO3 CMS Active Contributor

TYPO3 .... inspiring people to share!
Get involved: typo3.org