WIMS> CIM> Call for volunteers to assist with prototype CIM proxy provider

WIMS> CIM> Call for volunteers to assist with prototype CIM proxy provider

Ira McDonald blueroofmusic at gmail.com
Sat Sep 27 17:46:10 EDT 2008


Hi Rick,

For property mappings - your sample (algs.ini) contains some lines
with 'fDirect=prtXxx' or 'fNull' or 'fAlertRecord_RecordData'.

Could you explain this notation?

If that's what you want for a direct mapping (for example an index
object value as in your sample), then your ABNF in note bullet (3)
below isn't correct.

Could you please clarify?

Cheers,
- Ira

On Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 6:24 PM,  <Richard_Landau at dell.com> wrote:
> Several people volunteered to help in the construction of the prototype CIM
> proxy provider.  I can certainly use the help in a few areas.  All of these
> are initialization files, just structured ASCII.  No code, just tables to
> supply the data translations from one format to the other.
>
> Here are a few things I can use help with, please, if someone has time.
>
> 1.  MIB dumps: What is actually in the SNMP agents of printers?  I could use
> MIB dumps from a variety of printers.  (The provider can run from these MIB
> dumps instead of a live printer, for convenience.)  Getting a dump in a
> reasonable format is simple to do.
>
> (In all file formats, blank lines and comment lines beginning with # or ;
> will be ignored, no problem.  Use comments to describe the contents,
> provenance, version, etc., of the file.)
>
> Format: one OID and value per line.
> ABNF: numeric-oid "\t" contents
> If there is additional information in the line such as datatype, length,
> etc., that's okay.  I can process almost anything down to the format
> needed.
>
> Easy way to do this: Get Net-SNMP v5.4.1.2 at
> http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=12694&package_id=162885&release_id=611628
> The kit is less than 4MB.  Installs in a few seconds.
>
> The CLI command to get a numeric dump, which is all I need, is
>   snmpwalk  -v 1  -c public  -O n  11.22.33.44  1
> Substitute the right IP address, SNMP version number, community name.
> (SNMPv2 is called "v2c" in the command options.)  If you have timeout
> problems, check the command help for the options to lengthen timeouts and
> retries.
>
> I'll strip off the leading dot (they use the convention .1.3.6.1.2.1 et ff)
> and the syntax spec, which takes all of two lines of sed, and poof, done.
>
> All contributions appreciated.  An example is attached.
>
> 2.  Enum value translations: How to map the enum values of SNMP variables to
> the enum values of the related CIM properties?  I need the correlation
> between the enums that come from the printer and the ones that are emitted
> in the CIM property.
>
> These correlations cannot, unfortunately, be constructed automatically.
> They do require a human to read the definitions and decide what old values
> are equivalent to what new values.
>
> Format: one mapping pair per line.
> ABNF: cim-classname "." cim-property-name "\t"
>         cim-enum-numeric-value "\t" cim-enum-string-value
>         snmp-variable-name "\t" snmp-enum-numeric-value "\t"
> snmp-enum-string-value
>
> A starter set file is attached.  It contains everything except the SNMP
> numeric and string values.  It seems very large, but take heart: one needs
> to fill in only a few percent of it.  The init code is smart enough to store
> only the values with proper translations, and if the runtime never
> encounters one of the unknown values, no problema.
>
> Shortcut #1: Let's not bother with all the properties.  Let's include only
> the properties that are likely to show up non-null in response to a
> request.  For instance, almost anything that does not have "Print" in its
> classname is not likely to be rendered by the prototype provider.  There
> might be a few properties that are inherited from non-print parent classes,
> for instance the status variables.
>
> Shortcut #2: Let's not bother with all the values.  Let's include only the
> values that one is likely to see.  Almost all the enum lists contain 99%
> chaff, at least w.r.t. a prototype like this.  For instance, the only values
> of CIM_PrintInterpreter.LangType that I am likely to encounter are
> PostScript and PCL and maybe Unknown; we don't need all sixty-five values.
>
> 3.  Property mappings: What CIM properties are mapped directly from their
> SNMP counterparts?  This is particularly important because it keeps me from
> having to write several hundred tiny functions, one for each property.
> Directly mapped properties can all be done through a single function.
>
> Take this list of properties and tell me which ones are mapped directly from
> some SNMP variable.  If there is such a direct mapping, add the name of the
> SNMP variable to the line.  If not, do nothing; just leave the CIM property
> name alone on the line.
>
> Format: one mapping per line.
> ABNF: cim-classname "." cim-property-name "\t" snmp-variable-name
>
> A starter set file is attached.
>
> Thank you all for any assistance you can give.
>
> rick
> ----------------------
> Richard_Landau(at)dell(dot)com, Stds & System Mgt Architecture, CTO Office
> +1-512-728-9023, One Dell Way, RR5-3, MS RR5-32, Round Rock, TX 78682
> <<WhatINeedSamples.zip>>



-- 
Ira McDonald (Musician / Software Architect)
Chair - Linux Foundation Open Printing WG
Blue Roof Music/High North Inc
email: blueroofmusic at gmail.com
winter:
  579 Park Place  Saline, MI  48176
  734-944-0094
summer:
  PO Box 221  Grand Marais, MI 49839
  906-494-2434



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