Qt Mobility Tech Preview - Service Framework API

[andrew.stanley-jones]

Welcome to the Service Framework API forum on DevNet.

The Service Framework out of process API is one of the new APIs being worked on for the Qt Mobility program. It allows you to perform IPC easily.

We would like to share our work so far and see what you think, we would especially like to hear your opinions and comments on what could be improved. This forum is your opportunity to help steer and shape the API so that you as developers will have the best possible API to use.

Today’s release is part our “Technology Preview” package for the new APIs planned for QtMobility 1.1.0.
QtLabs will still be used to communicate the availability of our new packages, but Devnet is where you have the opportunity to review and comment on the API, and suggest changes etc.

Welcome to the forum, we look forward to your feedback on the new Service Framework API.

Kind regards,

Andrew
Qt Development Team

[johnk]

Hello,

After reading the overview of the Service FW API, I would like to get some clarity on a few concepts. As I understand it, this api is for calling remote services much link DCOM, RCP, etc.

The word server is used. The Symbian architecture makes heavy use of servers for everything from the file system to communication. Is it correct to say that this API will not facilitate building Symbian servers?

The word remote is used a lot. Can I use this API to find services offered on the handset?

The word capability is used without definition. On symbian, people will think you are talking about the sercurity platform. I suspect you're thinking about what capabilities the service offers. Would it make sense to add a sentence to clarify it?

Sincerely,
John

[andrew.stanley-jones]

Service Framework will not facilitate building of traditional Symbian servers. Qt Signals, slots, and QMetaObjects are Qt objects, and without Qt it would be very hard to decode and interpret the messages on Symbian. That said, this does provide a very similar feature for Qt applications.

Service Framework provides service discovery, so yes you can find what services are available on the handset. Remote refers to any function not local to the process.

Capability is used in the XML, and it used in the Symbian sense for platform security. This will allow services to list what capabilities a client requires to access the service.

[johnk]

Hello Andrew,

Thanks for your prompt reply. I'm almost there but I still have a question. Applications and servers have different life cycles. Does this framework provide a mechanism for a Qt app to start automatically and live in the background without being registered as a application?

Sincerely,

John

[andrew.stanley-jones]

Yes, Service Framework will automatically start services in the background as required. The lifetime of the service is determined by the service and control is left up to the service writer.