data model

After the really great post by lhridley on her First stab at data structures for a Drupal 7 based Genealogy site, I'm hoping this will garner robust feedback as well. This is for the launch of the GreatAlbum site. 

Hello mappers,

I have a proposal that I think will make the gmap module stronger, but I wanted to solicit other opinions before I start writing the patch.

I recently was working on two additional gmap functionalities for a client: the first was the ability to load KML files located at an offsite URL as overlays, and the other was a "click to add nodes" functionality so that users could add images by simply clicking on their locations on a gmap.

In both cases I started trying to build my functionality as add modules to gmap. This quickly broke down as I discovered the macro processing was hard coded and not easy to work with. Additionally, I attempted to modify the gmap module itself, but again working with the macro processing was such a headache that I abandoned that idea as well. Finally, I developed these tools as stand alone JavaScript additions, with not UI in Drupal. Not an optimal situation, but I had to get these features out in a reasonable time frame.

I've been thinking about my experience since then, and I have come to the following conclusion: the gmap macro hinders development of the gmap module and prevents additional module development. Therefore, it should be discontinued in favor of a simpler, UI and data model driven alternative, similar to Views.