Hi, I've been playing with the new network preflet, and I have a fair idea of how everything should stick together. However, while I was working on this, I realised not only the front end needs to be designed, but also the back end. There should be a main way of storing settings. I believe that normal BMessages would suffice, however, a human readable (and editable) version perhaps is a good idea as well. This, however, will mean that a whole new backend needs to be designed, which, I'm sure, will be in R2, but not right now. I suggest using a BMessage scheme. Furthermore, there should be a way to communicate these settings to the kernel network modules. An option is that all the modules open the network preferences, however, the kernel should learn BMessages then, and they should be informed on what profile is loaded. A better way would thus be to have an application start via the Bootscript (or something similar) that loads all the settings to the kernel modules using ioctl(...). It could be an application (let's just name it 'netconfig') that puts the settings in the kernel, however, that would mean that add-ins should be written for that app as well. In my opinion, a better way would be to have the 'Network' preflet, during boot time, load in a NON-GUI way, let it have it load its add-ins, and have a specific handle in those add-ins, to set up the kernel modules they control. Any opinions? Anyway, back to the thing that all started these thoughts: the network preflet. In the attached screenshot, you see the basis of the preflet: A window with a general profile. The main theory of operation is that the application maintains a list of profiles, acts as a settings loader/writer for the add-ins, and provides the GUI facilities for each add-in to have its own status message (if needed, so the ethernet module can add status messages for all the interfaces it controls). A standard add-in, called the common_settings add-in will be added for controlling the main stack, there'll also be an ethernet add-in, and a lovely ppp add-in. Anyway, how does the GUI work? (I know I'm not a GUI wizard, and I'm not referring to the actual look/ spacing of the preflet, but rather the place of the controlls, their descriptions, etcetera). Will it suffice? There's much more to be said, but I'd rather start a discussion, than presenting all the details in my opinion, which may be wrong anyway. Any flames? Niels
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