[Java-player-users] Deprecated functionality issues

[R. P. W. <pa...@te...>]

Greetings,

First, let me say "thanks" to Radu Bogdan Rusu for picking up the  
Java client for Player/Stage.  It's work, and it's appreciated.

In the 1.6.x versions of the Java client, there has been some code  
restructuring.  In that restructuring, several features seem to have  
been deprecated or removed.  For at least two of these, we've had to  
put them back in our local copies in order to avoid making fairly  
radical code changes to our existing software.  I wanted to write to  
the list in order to:  1.) Inform others of these changes so they can  
avoid spending time stumbling to find them, and 2.) Try to convince  
the developers to return the functionality.

The two items critical to our work are as follows:

The getTimeForDataSent() method in PlayerDevice was changed from  
public to protected.  We actually use this for a variety of purposes  
(including debugging P/S timing problems, etc.) ... so we've had to  
return this method to the public scope.  Is there a reason it is  
protected?

The FiducialInterface class used to have an exposed accessor method  
to get the array of what are now called  
"PlayerFiducialItems" (formerly "Fiducials").  This method has been  
entirely removed.  I believe I understand why (it exposes internal  
information and weakens the integrity of the class); however, we  
actually use this array for our own purposes.


There are more protective ways to provide this kind of information,  
if data integrity is the problem.  If that is not the issue, why have  
these features been removed?  And can the developers be convinced to  
add them back in the general distribution?

Thanks,
Paul.


=============================
R. Paul Wiegand

Naval Research Laboratory
4555 Overlook Ave. SW
Washington, DC
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