[gmpi] Re: Reqs 5, 6, 11 for debate

--- RonKuper wrote:
> >>>
> Req 5 - Portable Runtime
> 
> The GMPI design group should research options for a cross-platform
> portability library for GMPI plugins.  And existing library may be
> adopted, or a new library may be drafted.  This should be a separate
> specification from the GMPI API.  Plugins that wish to be most portable 
> should use this API instead of native APIs whenever possible.  This API 
> is not the host services API, which should handle certain host-specific 
> services tasks.
> <<<
> 
> To me this is drifiting away from the whole reason for wanting a runtime
> system.  At least it's drifiting away from *my* reasoning.
> 
> We need a way for plugins to allocate memory, access the disk, and
> manage threads, in a way that allows the host to manage and/or
intervene.  
> The host might the OS, or the host might be the host application.
> 
> In other words, when a GMPI plugin needs to allocate memory, it asks the
> host for it.  The host exposes a memory allocator for the plugin.  The
> plugin doesn't have a memory allocator compiled in, because that means
> different hosts can't customize allocations to their requirements.
> 
> To me, the requirement is: the GMPI host interface must expose core
> services to the plugin: memory management, disk IO, threading.  It is
> the responsibility of every GMPI host to expose these services.  A 
> deliverable in the final GMPI developers kit will be reference 
> implementations of these services for hosts to expose to plugins.

I think that, until GMPI is The Only Plugin Format (and I don't think that
that will happen for a really long time, I don't even think that it will
be Yet Another Plugin Format anytime within the next couple of years),
this is going to make things difficult for authors developing for multiple
plugin APIs.  I just think that's worth thinking about.  I can see
developers either resenting this or not doing it at all.

Marc

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now
http://companion.yahoo.com/

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Generalized Music Plugin Interface (GMPI) public discussion list
Participation in this list is contingent upon your abiding by the
following rules:  Please stay on topic.  You are responsible for your own
words.  Please respect your fellow subscribers.  Please do not
redistribute anyone else's words without their permission.

Archive: http://www.freelists.org/archives/gmpi
Email gmpi-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx w/ subject "unsubscribe" to unsubscribe

Other related posts: