This section describes some of the inter-operability problems
the ToolTalk service is designed to solve. The ToolTalk service
is the appropriate technology to use if your application needs:
Network-transparent events that are not owned by
any well-known server (for example, an X server) and that do not
have any predictable set of listeners
Automatic tool invocation
A widely-available distributed object system
Of course, there are some inter-operability problems for which
the ToolTalk service may not be the appropriate technology; however,
when your application needs to solve both sorts of problems (that
is, a combination of those inter-operability problems for which
the ToolTalk service is designed to solve and those problems for
which it is not designed), you can use the ToolTalk service in combination
with other technologies.
Tool Inter-changeability |
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Use the ToolTalk service when you want plug-and-play capability.
The term plug-and-play means that any tool can be replaced by any
other tool that follows the same protocol. That is, any tool that
follows a given ToolTalk protocol can be placed (plugged) into your
computing environment and perform (play) those functions indicated
by the protocol. Tools can be mixed and matched, without modification
and without having any specific built-in knowledge of each other.
Control Integration |
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Use the ToolTalk service when your application requires control
integration. The term control integration indicates a group of tools
working together toward a common end without direct user intervention.
The ToolTalk service enables control integration through its easy
and flexible facilities for issuing arbitrary requests, either to
specific tool instances or to anonymous service providers.
Network-Transparent Events |
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Use the ToolTalk service when your application needs to generate
or receive network-transparent events. To be useful, traditional
event mechanisms (such as signals and window-system events) require
special circumstances; for example, you must know a process or window
ID. The ToolTalk service allows events to be expressed naturally:
in terms of the file to which the event refers, or the group of
processes on the network to which the event is applicable. The ToolTalk
service delivers events (called notices) to any interested process
anywhere on the network. ToolTalk notices are a flexible and easy
way to provide extensibility for your system.
Automatic Tool Invocation |
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Use the ToolTalk service when your application needs network-transparent
automatic invocation. The ToolTalk service lets you describe the
messages that, when sent from any location on the network, should
cause your tool to be invoked. The ToolTalk auto-start facility
is easier to use and less host-specific than the conventional inetd(1)
facility.
Persistent Objects |
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Use the ToolTalk service when your application needs to place
objects unobtrusively in the UNIX file system.
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