Re: [Orbit-python-list] ORBit-Python 0.2.0 released

[Duncan G. <dg...@uk...>]

On Thu 4 April, Jason Tackaberry wrote:

It's good to see orbit-python back in action. For a while I've felt
that omniORBpy is the only Python ORB going anywhere. Competition is
good :-) .

> The spec defines a base, so that all code written in compliance will be
> portable between any compliant implementation.  So this is a good thing.
> The trick is implementing extensions so they don't break the spec, and
> that making sure programmers who use the extensions know they're
> non-compliant.  This is one point that'll have to be worked out first.

Indeed. omniORBpy has quite a few extensions to the spec, and I'm in
the process of adding more. The difficulty is, as you say, making sure
that the extensions are clearly distinguished from the standard parts.
Wherever possible, I've put extensions in the omniORB package, so it's
obvious. Other times that's not possible, so I have to resort to
documentation.

If extensions become supported by several ORBs, it will be worth going
through the motions to add them to the official spec.


I've had a quick look at the web site, and I've spotted a couple of
errors about the CORBA mapping...

First, CORBA.ORB.shutdown() should take a boolean argument:

  module CORBA {
    interface ORB {   // PIDL
      ...
      void shutdown(in boolean wait_for_completion);
      ...
    };
  };

That omission might well be an omission in ORBit itself, rather than
just orbit-python.


The POA._get_the_POAManager() function is part of the standard, not an
omniORBpy specific thing. The POA's IDL definition contains:

  module PortableServer {
    ...
    interface POA {
      ...
      readonly attribute POAManager the_POAManager;
      ...
    };
  };

So the Python POA object has a _get_the_POAManager() function.

There are a few other minor things too. I recommend you download the
ORB interface and POA chapters of the CORBA spec and check all the
method signatures.


Cheers,

Duncan.

-- 
 -- Duncan Grisby  \  Research Engineer  --
  -- AT&T Laboratories Cambridge          --
   -- http://www.uk.research.att.com/~dpg1 --