[jdev] Data forms, jabber:iq:register, jabber:x:data and the <x/> tag

[Dr. Craig Hollabaugh]

Dear Developers,

I've been listening in on the list conversations for a while and now I
have a some questions about Data Forms and jabber:iq:register namespace.
First off, I'm very familiar with these JEPs

JEP-0004: Data Forms
JEP-0020: Feature Negotiation
JEP-0068: Field Standardization for Data Forms
JEP-0030: Service Discovery
JEP-0050: Ad-Hoc Commands
JEP-0060: Publish-Subscribe

so feel free to reference these in your replies.

I'm working on a research project to use XML communication for
industrial instrumentation (voltmeters, oscilloscopes, function
generators, temperature/pressure probes, high resolution CCD cameras,
data acquisition cards, etc). There are numerous connectivity options
for these field devices (RS-232/485, GPIB, Ethernet, Fiber, PCI/ISA
register based) and countless protocols (simple text, modbus, VXI-11,
SCPI, VISA, home grown, etc). My research project is looking to unify
communication with all these disparate devices using XML. I'm looking at
the state of Jabber and XMPP to determine if the functionality for all
my instrumentation requirements can be implemented. So far, Jabber and
XMPP look great! I've spent the last two months researching the
situation, even coded up an extremely simple example that connected an
old HP voltmeter to a chat room.

These instruments have a command structure that maps well into Ad-Hoc
Commands. Their parameter hierarchical structure maps into the Service
Discovery node structure. Which brings me to my first question, I've
having a little problem seeing the use of Service Discovery and Data
Forms together.

Using a recursive disco#items query, you might discover this
oscilloscope node, 'Vertical/CH3/Scale' with a <feature var='value'>.

Now I want to use a data form to allow modification of this var='value'.

Question 1: Is it within the Jabber way to include a node attribute in
the query tag for a data form registration query?

Here, I'm modifying JEP-0004 example 1.

 Example 1. Send: Asking the Component for the registration requirements

  <iq type='get' to='scope1.jabber.org' id='data1'>
   <query xmlns='jabber:iq:register' node='Vertical/CH1/Scale'/>
  </iq>

Assuming yes.

Question 2: Did the Jabber architects intend to map 'service discovery
node feature vars' to 'data form field vars'?

And now the big question.

Question 3: My application's use of forms will be extensive but data
gathering will have little in common with the jabber:iq:register
namespace. I don't see a mapping of JEP-0077 In-Band Registration 13.3
Field Standardization fields to my devices. If I use the approach of
JEP-0004's Data Forms, all my data will use the <x/> tag with the
jabber:x:data namespace.

So my question is, should I
 a. live with <x/> extention approach of Data Forms and the
jabber:iq:register namespace
 b. define a new namespace to use instead jabber:iq:register for IQ
queries
 c. use the jabber:x:data as the new namespace for IQ queries
 d. wait for new namespace to be devised that generalizes data form
queries away from jabber:iq:register

Please comment on Q1, Q2 and the pros and cons of Q3's approaches a, b,
c and d. I appreciate your time for reading this posting and any
comments you have.

Thanks,
Craig



-- 
------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Craig Hollabaugh, craig at hollabaugh.com
Author of Embedded Linux: Hardware, Software and Interfacing
www.embeddedlinuxinterfacing.com