<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> Hi there, before deciding how to support the Introspect pattern, I went out and looked through the specs at <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://standards.freedesktop.org/dbus/1.0/introspect.dtd"><http://standards.freedesktop.org/dbus/1.0/introspect.dtd></a>, but also what in "real life" the different xml-interface description files look like, using for this purpose the developing installation, which currently is a 64-bit Ubuntu VM. Looking into /usr/share/dbus-1/interfaces and skimming throught the interface files there, it is interesting to see that quite a few files employ extensions exploiting XML namespaces. Particularly one extension, e.g. in the org.fedoraproject.Config.Printing.xml employs a namespace named <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://standards.freedesktop.org/dbus/1.0/doc.dtd"><http://standards.freedesktop.org/dbus/1.0/doc.dtd></a>, which looks very interesting as it allows one to add documentation prosa. Although there are other extensions for that purpose, e.g. telepathy related ones (<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://telepathy.feredesktop.org/wiki/DbusSpec#extensions-v0"><http://telepathy.feredesktop.org/wiki/DbusSpec#extensions-v0></a>) e.g. in org.freedesktopo.ModemManager.Modem.Cdma.xml. Questions: <ul> <li>Is <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://standards.freedesktop.org/dbus/1.0/doc.dtd"><http://standards.freedesktop.org/dbus/1.0/doc.dtd></a> a standard already? If so, where can one retrieve its dtd (it is not on the given URL) ?</li> <ul> <li>Are there any tools (e.g. xslt-files) that are able to create nice looking :) documentation (e.g. in html, man-pages, etc.) from those source files? </li> </ul> <li>What does one have to expect when sending an "Introspect" message to objects that have interface files employing extensions? </li> <ul> <li>The verbatim interface file or</li> <ul> <li>if so, how is a client expected to parse it reliably and error-free? </li> </ul> <li>an xml-rendering of the interface file that strictly adheres to <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://standards.freedesktop.org/dbus/1.0/introspect.dtd"><http://standards.freedesktop.org/dbus/1.0/introspect.dtd></a> ?</li> <ul> <li>if so, is there a standard message that would yield the original, unaltered interface file, such that utilities can be devised that will be able to process them, possibly creating automatic documentation off it using dbus for transportation of the original files? </li> </ul> </ul> <li>Can one rely that interface xml files that adhering to <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://standards.freedesktop.org/dbus/1.0/introspect.dtd"><http://standards.freedesktop.org/dbus/1.0/introspect.dtd></a> use always empty elements for <annotation>, <method> and <signal>? Or is it possible that (e.g. with the usage of namespaces) every element can be employed either as an empty element or one that has content (like documentation, annotation, etc.)? </li> <li>There are "error"-xml files that do not use "introspect.dtd" at all, but the telephony extension. What would be your advice about using them? Would it be e.g. possible to request such files via dbus (or request all interface xml files via dbus, like a method to obtain a list and one method to fetch those files verbatimly)?</li> </ul> Sorry, that it seems that I have been almost overusing this e-mail list with questions, but despite researching the Internet there seem to be no authorative/explanatory/demonstrating information available, hence turning to this list of dbus-creators/maintainers/and-people-in-the-know for answers, that may be very easy for this group (yes/no answers would be more than sufficient!). Maybe these questions of a total newcomer to the dbus world tell the experts what has been clear already with the given documentations and specifications, and where there are open questions. TIA, ---rony </body> </html>