portable_audio_player.type,access_method

[James "Doc" Livingston]

On Thu, 2007-05-03 at 00:35 -0400, David Zeuthen wrote:
> On Thu, 2007-05-03 at 00:20 -0400, Jeff Mitchell wrote:
> > But if there's only a driver_support key, I'd recommend that, at least 
> > informally, each driver should include a [drivername].protocol key that 
> > specifies what protocol it speaks.  And probably a [drivername].name 
> > that has a user-friendly device name -- never underestimate the power of 
> > the right name to make a user feel at ease  :-)

Having a user-friendly name in a property starts to get pretty messy if
you want it to be translatable.


> I think we mean the same thing. I guess what I wanted to achieve was
> simplicity; e.g. app authors for e.g. Banshee does not care about
> protocols at all; they just care what library to use to transfer a file
> to the device right? That's my guess but then again, I don't write apps.

I'd say that's backwards, because apps use the protocol to figure out
which library to use, and they don't necessarily use the same libraries
to access it.

For example, consider an iPod which uses the "ipod protocol" (the
special database). Rhythmbox uses libgpod to access it, Banshee uses
(last I checked) libipoddevice, other media players quite possible use
different libraries.

Given that apps have to be coded to use the API of the library, it isn't
a problem to have the app map the "protocol" to the library it wants to
use.


Cheers,

-- 
On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament!], `Pray,
Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right
answers come out?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of
confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question. --Charles Babbage