[SysInfo] Wiki Page and a proposal for the API structure

Hi,
I have gathered notes on the system information API at
<http://www.w3.org/2009/dap/wiki/SysInfo>. The page includes current 
proposals, notes, as well as a survey of existing similar APIs. It's a 
bit of a hodge-podge, but hopefully useful.

Second, I would like to offer a model for organising the SysInfo APIs.
It is based on the fact that there are 2 types of information that these 
APIs would cover: hardware availability (e.g. this device has a Brand X 
microphone) and sensor values (e.g. the current ambient noise level is 
67 dB). The idea is to separate the first out into a "hardware 
availability" API:

* Hardware availability: location/position, network, battery, input 
device, audio, screen, etc.

and

* Variable properties (readable, watchable, possibly writable):
           o Battery: number of, levels
           o CPU, including fans and temperature
           o Network level and type (GPRS, Wi-Fi, etc.)
           o Storage: capacity, type (RAM, HD, etc.)
           o Ambient Sound/Light/Temperature, Atmospheric pressure, 
humidity, proximity to my face.
           o Vibrator
           o Position (lat/lon/orientation): covered by geolocation
   (Possibly more, but that's not the point of this proposal.)

One may argue that this separation spreads the information returned by 
each device over 2 APIs. Fair enough, however:
- programmers will most often need the values and not the means of 
acquiring them (e.g. I want to trigger vibration, but I don't care how 
many RPMs the vibraor throttles at)
- the existing geolocation API is not concerned about devices, and I 
think that that API is a good model to follow and remain compatible with.

Your thoughts are welcome. In case of agreement or not-botheredness I 
would like to start implementing this model in the draft soon.

Cheers,
Max.

Received on Thursday, 26 November 2009 09:58:41 UTC