1、 Access to Additional Content for CEA-860-A, Dated: December 2002 (Click here to view the publication) This Page is not part of the original publication This page has been added by IHS as a convenience to the user in order to provide access to additional content as authorized by the Copyright holder
2、 of this document Click the link(s) below to access the content and use normal procedures for downloading or opening the files. CEA-860-A Files Information contained in the above is the property of the Copyright holder and all Notice of Disclaimer Phone 800-854-7179; Fax 303-397-2740; Internet: http
3、:/; Email: COM Standard: The Component Object Model (COM) Specification, Draft Version 0.9, October 24, 1995, Microsoft Corporation and Digital Equipment Corporation, Copyright 1992-95 Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA, 98052-6399; Internet: http:/ IEC Standards: Global Engineer
4、ing Documents, World Headquarters, 15 Inverness Way East, Englewood, CO USA 80112-5776; Phone 800-854-7179; Fax 303-397-2740; Internet: http:/; Email: IEC Central Office, 3, rue de Varembe, PO Box 131, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland; Phone +41 22 919 02 11; Fax +41 22 919 03 00; Internet http:/www.
5、iec.ch; Email pubinforiec.ch LonMark Interoperability Association: LonMark Interoperability Association, 550 Meridian Ave, San Jose, CA 95126-3422; Phone: +1-408-938-5266; Fax: +1-408-790-3838; Internet: http:/www.lonmark.org; E-mail: infolonmark.org CEA-860-A 2Echelon Corporation: Echelon Corporati
6、on, 550 Meridian Ave, San Jose, CA 95126-3422; Phone: +1-408-938-5200; Fax: +1-408-790-3800; Internet: http:/; E-mail: MSDN, MSDN Online: Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA, 98052-6399; Internet: http:/ E-mail: 3 Document Overview This document contains both normative and inform
7、ative information compiled during the development of a specification for device plug-in interfaces to ANSI/EIA-709.1-B-2002 network tools. The majority of this document consists of the technical definitions of the software interfaces required to allow third party network tools and device plug-ins to
8、 interoperate on a users computer. In addition to the technical definitions, this document also contains background material for the rationale of the specified interfaces including usage scenarios. The interface design architecture and the requirements it was derived from are also included. This bac
9、kground and other informative material can be found in this documents annexes. The following sections describe the major areas of this document and their purpose and contents. 3.1 Section 4: Definitions and Symbols This section identifies terminology and acronyms that are used throughout the documen
10、t. Terms are defined either in their general context or in their context specific to this specification. 3.2 Section 5: Overview of Device Plug-in Interface Components This section describes the software architecture encompassed by the interfaces specified in this document. A system architecture dia
11、gram shows the visual relationship of the software and hardware components affected by this specification. Many of the systems components are also described. 3.3 Section 6: Device Plug-in Creation Process This section describes the software method that a tool will use to create device plug-in object
12、s at runtime. The different types of plug-ins that can be found and invoked are described and the interface specification for this method is defined. 3.4 Section 7: Device Plug-in Naming Conventions This section describes the areas in which naming conventions must be adhered to when implementing the
13、 interfaces in this specification. The naming conventions and their use is defined in this section. 3.5 Section 8: Device Plug-in Control Interface This section contains the definition of the software interfaces required to allow the network tool to determine the feature set of the plug-in from the
14、device plug-in software component. It begins with a discussion of the role of the interface set and provides a quick reference to the high level details of the interfaces. It follows with a detailed definition of the interfaces properties and methods including syntax and examples of their implementa
15、tion. The last area of this section describes the Interface Definition Language (IDL) file provided with this standard for the set of interfaces comprising the Control Interface. 3.6 Section 9: Device Plug-in Services Interface This section contains the definition of the software interfaces required
16、 to allow a device plug-in software component to use the ANSI/EIA-709.1 network services of the network tool. It begins with a discussion of the role of the interface set and provides a quick reference to the high level details of the interfaces. It CEA-860-A 3follows with a detailed definition of t
17、he interfaces properties and methods including syntax and examples of their implementation. The last area of this section describes the Interface Definition Language (IDL) file provided with this standard for the set of interfaces comprising the Services Interface. 3.7 Section 10: Installation Speci
18、fication This section describes the way a device plug-in must be installed to ensure interoperability with the network tool while the tool is running. Naming conventions and software registration specifications are identified. 3.8 Section 11: Error Codes This section serves as a reference for the de
19、veloper of device plug-ins and network tools when handling errors during integration at runtime. 3.9 Support Documentation This document also provides a bibliography and some informative material intended to assist users of this specification with background and supportive documentation. Section 12:
20、 Annexes provides a list of the annexes found at the end of the document. Section 13 contains this documents Bibliography. The annex sections follow the bibliography and are summarized in this section. 3.9.1 Annex A: Objectives and Benefits This section contains a description of the background ratio
21、nale for developing a specification for interfaces between network tools and device plug-ins. It contains an overview of the objectives and a statement of purpose for the effort. It also comments on software architectures, interfaces, and upgrades. Finally, it lists the specific objectives this spec
22、ification addresses for tools and device plug-ins in the field. 3.9.2 Annex B: Usage Scenarios This section provides background information describing the target users of this specification. The target users are described in the context of usage scenarios for this specification. It breaks down the u
23、sers into their roles as plug-in developers and network tool developers and describes their perspectives and objectives satisfied by implementing to this specification. 3.9.3 Annex C: Support Files This section provides a table describing the files accompanying this specification. This section is a
24、normative reference and several of the files described and included with this standard are substantive in support of the content of this document. The table names and describes each of the files including their context in support of this specification. 4 Definitions and Symbols 4.1 Use of Terms The
25、following section introduces the basic terminology employed throughout this document. Most of it is commonly used and the terms have the same meaning in both the general and the EIA-709 Device Plug-in context. For terms that have subtle differences, those differences are noted. 4.2 Definitions Activ
26、eX Object: Software packages using the OLE Automation and COM technology to expose their features and functions to other software packages known as ActiveX clients. In the context of this standard, the device plug-ins are ActiveX objects and the tools that run them and access their properties CEA-86
27、0-A 4and methods are the objects clients. ActiveX objects are often called Servers, COM Servers, or ActiveX Servers. ActiveX Client: Software package that invokes and accesses the features and functions of other software packages, specifically ActiveX Objects, using OLE Automation and COM technology
28、. The client is the package that creates the ActiveX object from a component library. In the context of this standard, network tools are the ActiveX Clients to the device plug-in ActiveX objects. COM Program ID, COMProgID: The user-friendly string ID registered in the Windows registry with the Globa
29、lly Unique Identifier (GUID) of an ActiveX object. The ID contains the name of the software program that the object is contained in, the name of the class component from which the object is created, and the version number of the component. The IDs are listed in the registry as “HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/CLS
30、ID” entries and each ActiveX Objects GUID is paired with an associated COM Program ID. COMProgID is the abbreviation used in this standard and its interfaces as an abbreviation for COM Program ID. Compare: An optional feature that a device plug-in may support that will allow the tool to force the pl
31、ug-in instance to compare its properties with another provided device or plug-in instance of the same type. This feature causes the plug-in to run a comparison of the contents of one device with another. Either of the device plug-in instances may contain persisted or live device properties. The impl
32、ementation of the Compare feature would be contained solely in the plug-in and the call would come from the tool or the plug-in user. The plug-in may reflect the results of the compare in its user interface components. This feature would be used, for example, by a user wishing to determine the diffe
33、rence between a persisted and a live device. Configuration: The non-volatile information used by the devices to customize their operation. There is configuration data for the correct operation of the protocol in each device, and optionally, for application operation. This document refers only to the
34、 application configuration information that is application specific. Control Interface: The set of COM Interfaces shared by the tool and the device plug-in that allow the tool to identify the plug-in by descriptive information, as well as the features the plug-in supports. The implementation of the
35、Control Interface methods and properties exist in the plug-in and the tool will make the calls to the plug-in to expose the details of the plug-in to the user. The control interface allows the user to control the plug-in through the network tool. Download: The act of sending configuration data to a
36、device that may cause the device to change its operation, settings, or operation limits. Download is a feature supported by the device plug-in Control Interface that allows the tool to force the plug-in to prepare and send its current data down to the device. The device plug-in Services Interface co
37、ntains the call the plug-in uses to make the actual device download command through the tool. The plug-in contains the data and can initiate its own download through the Services Interface, as well. Extensibility: The character of a set of COM interfaces which allow them to be broadened in the futur
38、e to enhance the softwares capabilities without causing the previous components to become inoperable. Extensible interface definitions imply that base properties and methods required to run a feature set already exist and that new functions and properties will merely enhance the base behavior. Facto
39、ring: The design goal of identifying and defining a set of software interfaces that implies a focused responsibility for those interfaces. Factoring interfaces involves removing the interfaces to their own component allowing them to become more easily reusable as a collection. Unrelated interfaces a
40、re removed from the set so the set of interfaces can retain uniqueness and focused scope. Factory Method: In general, an interface which has the responsibility of creating an object, but which allows other classes to determine which object to instantiate. In the context of this standard, the factory
41、 method of the device plug-in interface is called by the network tool with a COM Program ID of a device plug-in object the tool would like to attempt to create. CEA-860-A 5Host application: The host application, in the context of this standard is the network tool which instantiates and hosts the dev
42、ice plug-ins. Interface Definition Language (IDL): The IDL file specifies a network contract between the client (network tool) and server (device plug-in)that is, the IDL file specifies what is transmitted between the client and the server. Keeping this information distinct from the information abou
43、t the operating environment makes the IDL file portable to other environments. (MSDN5) Network Services: The collection of EIA-709.1 commands and protocol a software network tool uses to communicate with, service, and configure an EIA-709.1 compliant physical network and its compliant nodes. This st
44、andard requires that the network tool expose a subset of these commands to the device plug-in to allow it to service EIA-709.1 nodes. The collection of interfaces between the tool and the device plug-in allowing for these network services is called the Services Interface. Persistence: The ability of
45、 a software object to retain its value or state after the object itself is terminated by the host application. In the context of this standard, persistence is applied to the ability of a device plug-in object to retain its property values, data, and settings to be recreated at a later time. Software
46、 persistence requires that a number of special properties and methods of an object be implemented prior to being shut down. The flag in the Control Interface definition of this standard for Supports Persistence is set to True when the necessary methods and properties have been implemented in the dev
47、ice plug-in object to allow it to be persisted and recreated later from the persisted object. Plug-in: In the context of this standard, a software package that can be created by and within another software package that adheres to a set of interfaces allowing the two packages to expect exact behavior
48、s from the other. Network tools create software objects based on a standard creation method. When created, those software objects expose a standard known set of properties and methods that plug into the calls that the tool has implemented to access the software objects. The connection is two-way onc
49、e it is made, and the plug-in object can also make calls on a standard known set of properties and methods implemented in the tool software. Program ID: In the context of this standard and the EIA-709.11 standard, this refers to the program-identifying property of an EIA-709.1-compliant node. The program of a node is the application in that node model which is identified as
