[Opensim-dev] Reducing the plugin mechanisms

Mon Aug 17 04:47:38 UTC 2015

If you mean how hooks have been added for supporting out-of-core modules,
sure I agree.  I've added several hooks and events myself and I'll likely
add more. Usually when I do I add in-code documentation (which should work
with automatic documentation programs like doxygen) so others can take
advantage of them and to reduce the probability that they are deleted or
unnecessarily modified by other contributors.

Another reason I like the idea of using Region Modules for clients is
IClientAPI methods are designed around the messages the LL client uses. I'm
only aware of 2 (marginally) successful non-LL network-based IClientAPI
implementations in the past; one I wrote for use with a Unity3D based
viewer I was working on several years ago, and one that used a "Bubble"
grid concept that was implemented in IdealistViewer. These experiences have
contributed much to my general distaste of IClientAPI. Region modules and
EventManager are more stable (in the sense that the interfaces change less)
and seem much more generic than the very specialized IClientAPI and hence
more suitable for non-LL clients.

On Sun, Aug 16, 2015 at 9:22 PM, Diva Canto <diva at metaverseink.com> wrote:

> Yes, that dragon needs to be slayed. See note #1 on my "Future of
> OpenSimulator" message. It would be nice to actually see the concrete
> struggles of those other clients, though.
>
> On 8/16/2015 9:14 PM, Dahlia Trimble wrote:
>
> Awww you had me excited for a moment there....
>
> Regardless, it would be helpful to be able to create presences via region
> modules and have them be full-fledged presences from the perspective of
> grid services. This is currently a big stumbling block for implementing
> client protocols in region modules. There are also LL client dependencies
> which also make it difficult, or even impossible to create a fully capable
> grid managed presence in another IClientAPI implementation beside
> llClientView, so something eventually needs to happen here if anyone wants
> to get really serious about OpenSimulator supporting other protocol
> implementations besides the LL protocols. Without such, web-based and other
> clients are doomed to be second class citizens unless they use a proxy
> which translates to LL protocols.
>
> On Sun, Aug 16, 2015 at 8:43 PM, Diva Canto <diva at metaverseink.com> wrote:
>
>> I'm not suggesting getting rid of IClientAPI...
>> I mean I *wish* we would get rid of it, but that's not what I'm proposing
>> here. I'm just proposing replacing the ad-hoc reflective instantiation of
>> IClientNetworkServer that ClientStackManager is currently doing with a more
>> in-style Region Module.
>>
>>
>> On 8/16/2015 6:55 PM, Dahlia Trimble wrote:
>>
>> I like this idea. I have done some physics via the region module
>> interface and had pretty good luck. I've also done client protocol
>> implementations in region modules and I can say that the available
>> interfaces are incomplete for the purposes of the entire LL protocol suite.
>> I use EventManager for tracking scene changes and this seems to work ok for
>> the most part but I don't believe events exist for all events a normal
>> viewer would care about. There is also the issue of managing presences,
>> teleports and region border crossings. I've done some workarounds here but
>> it's not pretty. I suspect a lot of changes to related framework code would
>> need to be done to be successful. I'm also not sure if EventManager events
>> are as efficient and CPU friendly as the direct calls which go thru
>> IClientAPI but I can't say I've seen anything to suggest (yet) that this
>> could be a problem. There are also some efficiency hacks in llClientView
>> and related code (lazy packet initialization for one) which might not
>> easily translate to a region module.
>>
>> Regardless, it sounds like a good experiment to try :)
>>
>> On Sun, Aug 16, 2015 at 6:44 PM, Diva Canto < <diva at metaverseink.com>
>> diva at metaverseink.com> wrote:
>>
>>> We had this conversation today in the IRC about the several plugin
>>> mechanisms currently being used by assorted parts of OpenSim. A couple of
>>> years ago, we made a big push towards the [new] Region Modules mechanism,
>>> and that placed about 95% of simulator plugins in that bandwagon. However,
>>> a couple of them are still using their own raw "pluginning," and that makes
>>> them hard to (1) explain and (2) distribute as 3rd party packages. They
>>> were left behind.
>>>
>>> One of them is Physics, the other is the client implementations. I would
>>> like to propose that we move these last 2 renegades to the Region Module
>>> plugin mechanism, so to reduce entropy and to make them easier to package.
>>> From our conversation, moving the Physics plugins to region modules is
>>> peaceful. I haven't looked at the client dll yet, but I've been told that
>>> people experimenting with other client protocols are using region modules
>>> anyway.
>>>
>>> This affects the MOSES group developing the PhysX plugin, but it should
>>> be straightforward to adjust and it has advantages. Once we move the
>>> existing physics plugins to this new mechanism, you should be able to do
>>> exactly the same to yours -- the changes aren't that big, and it doesn't
>>> affect the Physics interface at all; it's just the way of connecting the
>>> physics implementation to the interface. Plus it will make it somewhat
>>> easier for you to make your physics plugin available for external testers
>>> at intermediate (early) times, if you want.
>>>
>>> Any objections?
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> Opensim-dev at opensimulator.org
>>> http://opensimulator.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/opensim-dev
>>>
>>
>>
>>
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