I've posted some use cases I don't think PLASTIC solves on the
twiki at
http://www.ivoa.net/twiki/bin/view/IVOA/ApplicationsMessagingUseCases
To be honest, with painful contortions I could probably do each of these
(and will likely think of others) but that isn't the point here. I'll
include the
text here for easier rebuttal.
-Mike
Use-Cases Not Handled (Eleganty) by PLASTIC
Missing Concept: Language support for legacy environments not directly
supporting XML-RPC or RMI.
2) I have code that computes a deblended spectral profile of an eclipsing
binary. I would like to plot the spectrum, zoom in on a particular line and overplot my best fit to that feature by sending the data from my fit (without writing an intermediate file).
Missing Concept: A data payload with the message instead of a simple
file reference.
3) I have an instrument simulator (I *really* do) that creates an
observation sequence by triggering an action in a "head" process that then cascades to multiple processes controlling different areas of a detector. As each process completes it should send a 'done' message back to the head node, when all replies are received the trigger process is given a 'done' to complete the observation. Procs in the chain all know only a 'start' and 'done' message but messages are broadcast based on the type of work they do. (Note the same example could apply in a pipeline or distributed workflow).
Missing Concept: The idea of "message groups", i.e. apps can identify
themselves as belonging to a special-interest 'group' rather than
simply as having some functionality or handling some data type.
Messages can be broadcast only to this group, apps can enroll in
any group but ignore specific messages they cannot handle (e.g.
subscribe to the 'plot' group but reject a request to plot a
spectrum on a wavelength scale).
4) a) I want to display a 2-D image to any application capable of rendering
it on the screen for me.
b) I want to do the same but only if the app can accept a URL insstead
of a local file name,
c) I want to display an image to a specific frame/plane of the
app so I can load it for an animation/blinking.
d) I want to display an image to a specific region of the image display
window (e.g. as part of a detector mosaic)
Missing Concept: Ability to query and/or exploit specific capabilities
of an application.
5) I want to sent all connected apps a message to "cd" to a specific
directory so that subsequent file references will have them see the same files my app sees.
Missing Concept: "Context Messages" to create a unified view of the
desktop between all applications.
6) I want to invoke a task on an app with a command shell environment. The
app requires some method to invoke a task and optional arguments. It may or may not return a response message other that a status, it may also produce a new data product that can be referenced later by name.
Missing Concept: Well, ...IRAF Received on 2007-04-27Z12:08:55