Re: xPL announcement/description protocol -- was xPLDiag

[Gerry Duprey <gerry@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Howdy,

> Firstly an app doesn't (shouldn't) take up to 5 minutes to start
working
> without a hub. An app is supposed to bind it's hub port regardless and
start
> using it immediately, even if there's no hub

Hmm, perhaps I need to restate my case.

If I'm writing an xPL front end that can control an arbitrary network of
xPL
devices, that front end will not be able to offer those devices for control
until it has heard from them.  In most cases, when the xPL network has been
up and running for a while, the first time this front end will hear from
them will be their first heartbeat -- that could be from 1 minute to 30
minutes after the front end program starts up.

So, in short, things like a front end will "start up"
immediately, but they
may not be of full use until they've discovered/heard from all the devices
on the network and without some way for the front end program to ask all
devices to identify themselves, that discovery period can be a long one.

There may be other programs that work similarly, but a front end, I hope,
crystallizes my concern about device discovery.

Gerry
--
Gerry Duprey
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
http://www.cdp1802.org