multi link namespace

[hjalmarlucius]

Thanks for making this fantastic platform with a very well thought through logical structure! One logical concept I miss or haven't found is creating a namespace out of multi link so that the dot notation can be used to traverse multi links, e.g. (disclaimer: it's my second day testing edgeDB so there's surely errors):

abstract type Stuff {
  required property name -> str;
  index on (.name);
};
type Pants {
  multi link pocketcontents -> Stuff { KEY_ON .name };  # KEY_ON would be a new keyword
};
select Pants.pocketcontents.nameA;

Reasons I like it:

• it is a nice shorthand alternative to a query
• it is a structural pattern that I very frequently use
• it carries well over into a e.g. a python dict[str, Stuff]
• it maintains typing consistency

[elprans]

It's an interesting idea for dictionary-like objects. If implemented, it would likely have to use some syntax other than path navigation, e.g Pants.pocketcontents['nameA'] or something like that. Primarily because of non-string keys, but also to avoid clashing with path syntax.

[hjalmarlucius]

Yes agree with that, this would also avoid muddling the distinction between schema and data.