[e4-dev] Q: Uniqueness of model element ids

[Brian de Alwis <briandealwis@xxxxxxxxx>]

I was just bitten by an annoying error caused by having two parts with the same id [1].  I think this is the 3rd time I've been bit by duplicate id issues!

It's not clear to me whether ids should be unique or may be the same.  Or if the ids are scoped somehow, such as by a perspective — I can see that being useful.  But I'm pretty sure given the use of placeholders that they are assumed to be unique.

My suggestion: state that model element ids should be unique, and change the e4 startup to enforce this.  I'm happy to put together a patch (I'm certainly going to run with it locally!).  This policy can be relaxed at a later point as situations arise.

Brian.

[1] https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=301081

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