I agree that this is complex, and multi-faceted, which is why I have resisted giving any of these the Admin certify which would release them into the wild.
I don't like Solution A as it gives special meaning to suffix "m". We have more than enough use-cases for single letter suiffices (part variants, on-sprue multi-part identifiers, sticker sheet qualifiers, backward compatibilty maintenance for part number errors). This would just add to the confusion.
I think the use of the regular part number (e.g. 3001) in Solution A and Solution C is very artificial, because as you suggest, the 2x4 Mursten brick probably never was 3001.
I strongly prefer Solution B, maybe with a dedicated series of uNNNN numbers for each. Or, we do have a completely unused range of numbers (1000-1999), the use of which would indicate that these parts pre-date the more controlled 2xxx, 3xxx, 4xxx numbering.
But my biggest question surrounding the inclusion of these is "What value do they add to the library?". Would someone really want to build a virtual model with the Minitalia versions of regular parts? We are then back to the "parts inventory" vs. "CAD resource" argument which is as old as LDraw itself.
I don't like Solution A as it gives special meaning to suffix "m". We have more than enough use-cases for single letter suiffices (part variants, on-sprue multi-part identifiers, sticker sheet qualifiers, backward compatibilty maintenance for part number errors). This would just add to the confusion.
I think the use of the regular part number (e.g. 3001) in Solution A and Solution C is very artificial, because as you suggest, the 2x4 Mursten brick probably never was 3001.
I strongly prefer Solution B, maybe with a dedicated series of uNNNN numbers for each. Or, we do have a completely unused range of numbers (1000-1999), the use of which would indicate that these parts pre-date the more controlled 2xxx, 3xxx, 4xxx numbering.
But my biggest question surrounding the inclusion of these is "What value do they add to the library?". Would someone really want to build a virtual model with the Minitalia versions of regular parts? We are then back to the "parts inventory" vs. "CAD resource" argument which is as old as LDraw itself.
Chris (LDraw Parts Library Admin)