> If the template system doesn't understand the semantics of the configuration file, templates just work because you are lucky.
Or because I put appropriate constraints on data filling the template. Integer
fields are the easiest format to handle.
Generating configs with template systems is surprisingly strudy in real world
scenarios, where at least half-competent programmer provides templates for at
least half-competent sysadmin to fill.
> If the system does understand the configuration file, then you can get the full value out of having a "fact database" that describes the system.
The problem is that this "full value" is not that much bigger, but the effort
in understanding config file formats is quite large.
The work is large because parser generators are designed for systems programmers and not for application programmers. They haven't advanced much in terms of usability, thus parsing seems like a much harder problem than it really is.
Or because I put appropriate constraints on data filling the template. Integer fields are the easiest format to handle.
Generating configs with template systems is surprisingly strudy in real world scenarios, where at least half-competent programmer provides templates for at least half-competent sysadmin to fill.
> If the system does understand the configuration file, then you can get the full value out of having a "fact database" that describes the system.
The problem is that this "full value" is not that much bigger, but the effort in understanding config file formats is quite large.