Re: Announcing xPL4Java V1.0

["David Amphlett" <dave_yahoo@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Would like to add my congratulations and support for what appears to
be a very well designed class hierarchy.

I've been toying with doing something similar for a month or so, and
although a little disappointed to have missed the opportunity to do
that big chunk of coding, I am somewhat relieved that I
procrastinated as from what I've seen so far you've done a marvelous
job.

But - I'm a little unclear as to what license terms you are intending
to use. I can't see any license details in the accompanying txt file
or in the html documentation. Did I miss it? Also I couldn't see any
source code?

Can I take this opportunity to expound the virtues of the Apache
Source License (see http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
- I'm
not big into all of these different licenses, but my understanding of
the GNU license is that it's very difficult to use GPL'd software, in
any way, in a commercial development, where as the ASL's primary
reason for existing is to allows for commercial use whilst keeping
the source open. This is a most important issues when it comes to
class libraries.

Either way, I'm interested in how you intend to handle issues like
access to the source code, and contributions from others as this
could affect my ability to use the library in a commercial xpl
project I'm looking into.

Eitherway congratulations on a well designed class library.

cheers

Dave Amphlett


--- In ukha_xpl@xxxxxxx, Gerry Duprey <gerry@c...> wrote:
> Howdy All,
>
> The first release of my xPL4Java framework is now available for
download at
>
> http://www.dvarchive.org/xPL/xPL4Java.zip
>
> This is a complete, cross platform implementation of xPL for Java.
> It supports:
>
> * raw xPL protocol
> * automated heartbeat management
> * groups
> * filters
> * configuration
> * automatic resource management/shutdown/cleanup
>
> You can code small apps that just receive xPL messages and sends
them out or
> you can write apps where the framework takes care of all the grunt
work like
> heartbeats, filters, group targeting and the configuration protocol.
>
> This is built to implement the entire xPL protocol (including
multiple
> configuration values and such) in an efficient, compact, layered
set of
> classes that let you use as little or as much of the framework as
you need.
>
> Underlying transmission media is partitioned allowing you to create
adapters
> for any type of transmission medium without having to change
anything in the
> code above it.  This version comes with an EthernetHandler to
handle network
> transmissions and I'm planning a SerialHandler for communicating
over RS232
> in a future release.  You could easily create media handlers for
RS485, I2C,
> etc.  They are very straightforward and make no assumptions about
how the
> actual media works.
>
> You can get a useful xPL app up and running in about 6 lines of
code:
>
> xPL_Manager xplManager = xPL_Manager.getManager();
> ServiceManager serviceManager = theManager.getServiceManager();
>
> theManager.doNetworkSmartStart();
> xPL_ServiceI myService = serviceManager.createConfigurableService
("cdp1802", "clock", new File("clock.cfg"));
> myService.addMessageListener(this);
> myService.setEnabled(true);
>
> (the above code binds to all networks on this PC, starts a hub, if
needed,
> creates a service with the vendor/device name of cdp1802 and clock,
loads the
> last saved config, if any, from clock.cfg, sets up the service to
auto-store
> future changes to the configuration back to clock.cfg, adds a
message
> listener to get messages directed at this service and then, when
set to be
> enabled, starts broadcasting heartbeats and engaging in the xPL
> configuration dialog with a xPL management console (like xPLHal).
>
> xPL4Java requires Java 5 (i.e. 1.5) or higher and will run on any
platform
> that supports Java (Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, Solaris, AIX, etc,
etc).
>
> Please feel free to drop me a note if you have any questions,
problems,
> suggestions, etc.
>
> Have a great day,
>
> Gerry
>
> --
> Gerry Duprey
> Ann Arbor, MI 48103
> http://www.cdp1802.org