Re: WIMS> RE: Whither the confusion in prtGeneral?

From: wamwagner@comcast.net
Date: Sat Nov 18 2006 - 17:02:52 EST

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    My recollection of my (perhaps incorrect) understanding at the time was that Steve Waldbusser maintained that scalars were to be avoided ( I don't recall why) and objects that were scalars logically associated with a table were lumped into the General Table rather than being in the group to which they corresponded. (e.g., default indexes). I know this has caused much confusion over the years.

    Bill Wagner

    -------------- Original message --------------
    From: "McDonald, Ira" <imcdonald@sharplabs.com>

    Hi Rick,

    Steve Waldbusser _half_ moved these scalars up. Though
    the actual OIDs are subordinate to 'prtGeneralEntry', the
    conformance macros (ever since RFC 1759) have it
    backwards, as in the following excerpts:

    prtGeneralGroup OBJECT-GROUP
        OBJECTS { prtGeneralConfigChanges,
                  prtGeneralCurrentLocalization,
                  prtGeneralReset, prtCoverDescription,
                  prtCoverStatus,
                  prtLocalizationLanguage, prtLocalizationCountry,
                  prtLocalizationCharacterSet, prtStorageRefIndex,
                  prtDeviceRefIndex }

    prtConsoleGroup OBJECT-GROUP
        OBJECTS { prtConsoleLocalization, prtConsoleNumberOfDisplayLines,
                  prtConsoleNumberOfDisplayChars, prtConsoleDisable,
                  prtConsoleDisplayBufferText, prtConsoleOnTime,
                  prtConsoleOffTime, prtConsoleColor,
                  prtConsoleDescription }

    Notice the completely broken presence of 'prtCoverStatus'
    in the prtGeneralGroup - and absent prtCoverGroup - duh!

    Thanks for reworking the diagram - I agree that the modelling
    is yucky but simpler.

    Cheers,
    - Ira
    Ira McDonald (Musician / Software Architect)
    Blue Roof Music / High North Inc
    PO Box 221 Grand Marais, MI 49839
    phone: +1-906-494-2434
    email: imcdonald@sharplabs.com
    -----Original Message-----
    From: Richard_Landau@Dell.com [mailto:Richard_Landau@Dell.com]
    Sent: Friday, November 17, 2006 6:19 PM
    To: McDonald, Ira
    Subject: Whither the confusion in prtGeneral?

    Ira, I think the confusion originally stemmed from something like this. (Pure hypothesis. Memory does not go back that far, at least not in this level of detail.)
    The prtGeneralTable contains these goodies, among others:
        prtInputDefaultIndex
        prtOutputDefaultIndex
        prtMarkerDefaultIndex
        prtMediaPathDefaultIndex
        prtConsoleLocalization
        prtConsoleNumberOfDisplayLines
        prtConsoleNumberOfDisplayChars
        prtConsoleDisable
    By *name* they appear to belong to their respective groups. However, all their OIDs are in the General group, specifically in the General table entry. It looks to me as though they were originally formulated as members of their respective groups, and that someone picked them up, moved the text definition and the OIDs down into the General group. Is it possible that this is the relocation that you are remembering?
    Well, in any case, let's be sure to add those properties to the CIM_Printer base class. And then there are only two scalars left, prtConsoleNumberOfDisplayLines and NumberOfDisplayChars. We move those two, too, and voila, emptiness in all the table headers.
    I have already redrawn the pictures. Lots simpler.
    Gobble, gobble.
    rick
    ----------------------
    Richard_Landau(at)dell(dot)com, Stds & System Mgt Arch, CTO Office
    +1-512-728-9023, One Dell Way, RR5-3, MS RR5-09, Round Rock, TX 78682 

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