Re: xAP - The Proposed Architecture Explained - the first extensio

["PatrickLidstone" <patrickl@xxxxxxx>]

--- In ukha_d@y..., "BUTLER, Tony, FM" <roaming@f...>
wrote:
> XML has an advantage of being an open, well known standard and 
being plain
> text, can be xmitted [retty much from and to anywhere.....
> embedded devices wouldn't _have_ to support an XML parser - I'm 
sure a
> simple string search for key words and string builder for creating
response
> messages etc would suffice.....

If the embedded device doesn't have an XML parser, then why send the 
text as XML? You either implement XML *properly* or not at all. A 
half-baked "text searching" based algorithm will, at some point,
break horribly when another device makes a perfectly valid change to 
the XML structure of their message.

And whilst XML defines the grammar of a message, it doesn't define 
the structure in terms of the "policy" (addressing etc) that
devices 
need in order to make sense of the message. This means that "any
old" 
XML message will need to be massaged before it is transmitted to 
other xAP compliant devices.

It's a question of the right tool for the right job. XML has it's 
place, but it isn't, IMHO, appropriate for use here.

As I've said before, there is nothing magical about XML. In addition 
to the policy element, you need add code to do the broadcast bit, so 
the "open" bit of the argument doesn't count for much at all in
the 
end.

A well conceived, open API, with support for say Linux, Win32, Basic 
Stamp, PIC and Rabbit, should provide the platform independence we 
are looking for. As Mark has commented previously, this code should 
be fairly light, so it's not a insurmountable task.

Patrick

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