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118 lines
5.3 KiB
HTML
118 lines
5.3 KiB
HTML
<HTML>
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<HEAD>
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<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
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<META NAME="Author" CONTENT="Kipp E.B. Hickman">
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<META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="Mozilla/4.04 [en] (WinNT; I) [Netscape]">
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<TITLE>Gemini Object Model</TITLE>
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</HEAD>
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<BODY>
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<H1>
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Gemini Object Model</H1>
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The gemini object model is a cross platform component object model modelled
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after win32's IUnknown and COM. We do not support a C API to gemini at
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this time.
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<H2>
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nsID</H2>
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Like OSF's DCE, we use an "interface id" which is a unique identifer which
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names the interface. The nsID and be used as a key into a cross platform
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registry service to discover an implementation of an interface. Here is
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the declaration of nsID:
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<UL><TT>struct nsID {</TT>
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<BR><TT> PRUint32 m0;</TT>
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<BR><TT> PRUint16 m1, m2;</TT>
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<BR><TT> PRUint8 m3[8];</TT>
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<P><TT> inline nsbool Equals(const nsID& other) const {</TT>
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<BR><TT> return</TT>
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<BR><TT> (((PRUint32*) &m0)[0] == ((PRUint32*)
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&other.m0)[0]) &&</TT>
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<BR><TT> (((PRUint32*) &m0)[1] == ((PRUint32*)
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&other.m0)[1]) &&</TT>
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<BR><TT> (((PRUint32*) &m0)[2] == ((PRUint32*)
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&other.m0)[2]) &&</TT>
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<BR><TT> (((PRUint32*) &m0)[3] == ((PRUint32*)
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&other.m0)[3]);</TT>
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<BR><TT> }</TT>
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<BR><TT>};</TT></UL>
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On windows, the "uuidgen" program (provided with Visual C++) can be used
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to generate these identifiers.
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<H2>
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nsISupports</H2>
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This is the base class for all component objects. Not all objects are component
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objects; these rules apply to objects which expose an interface which is
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shared across dll/exe boundaries. Here is nsISupports:
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<UL><TT>typedef nsID nsIID;</TT>
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<BR><TT>class nsISupports {</TT>
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<BR><TT>public:</TT>
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<BR><TT> virtual nsqresult QueryInterface(const nsIID& aIID,</TT>
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<BR><TT>
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void** aInstancePtr) = 0;</TT>
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<BR><TT> virtual nsrefcnt AddRef() = 0;</TT>
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<BR><TT> virtual nsrefcnt Release() = 0;</TT>
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<BR><TT>};</TT></UL>
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The semantics of this interface are identical to win32's "COM" IUnknown
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interface. In addition, the types are carefully mapped and the names are
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the same so that if necessary we can "flip a switch" and have the windows
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version (or any other platform that embraces COM) use the native COM IUnknown
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without source code modification.
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<H2>
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Factory Procedures</H2>
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Factory procedures use this design pattern
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<UL><TT>nsqresult NS_NewFoo(nsIFoo** aInstancePtr, nsISupports* aOuter,
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...);</TT></UL>
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The return value is a status value (see nsISupports.h for the legal return
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values); the first argument is a pointer to a cell which will hold the
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new instance pointer if the factory procedure succeeds. The second argument
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is a pointer to a containing component object that wishes to aggregate
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in the Foo object. This pointer will be null if no aggregation is requested.
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If the factory procedure cannot support aggregation of the Foo type then
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it fails and returns an error if aggregation is requested.
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<P>The following symbols are defined for standard error return values from
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<TT>QueryInterface</TT> and from factory procedures:
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<UL><TT>#define NS_FAILED(_nsresult) ((_nsresult) < 0)</TT>
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<BR><TT>#define NS_SUCCEEDED(_nsresult) ((_nsresult) >= 0)</TT>
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<P><TT>// Standard "it worked" return value</TT>
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<BR><TT>#define NS_OK 0</TT>
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<P><TT>// Some standard error codes we use</TT>
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<BR><TT>#define NS_ERROR_BASE ((nsresult) 0xC1F30000)</TT>
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<BR><TT>#define NS_ERROR_OUT_OF_MEMORY (NS_ERROR_BASE + 0)</TT>
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<BR><TT>#define NS_ERROR_NO_AGGREGATION (NS_ERROR_BASE + 1)</TT>
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<BR><TT>#define NS_NOINTERFACE ((nqresult) 0x80004002L)</TT></UL>
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<H2>
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nsIFactory</H2>
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Factory classes should eventually replace factory procedures for major
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classes. They provide an easy mechanism for placing code in DLLs. The nsIFactory
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class is as follows:
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<BR>
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<UL><TT>class nsIFactory: public nsISupports {</TT>
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<BR><TT>public:</TT>
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<UL><TT>virtual nsresult CreateInstance(const nsIID &aIID,</TT>
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<BR><TT>
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nsISupports *aOuter,</TT>
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<BR><TT>
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void **aResult) = 0;</TT>
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<BR><TT>virtual void LockFactory(PRBool aLock) = 0;</TT></UL>
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<TT>};</TT></UL>
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This interface is again identical to the COM version. More on registering
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factories shortly.
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<H2>
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Error Handling</H2>
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Because no exceptions are returned, error handling is done in the traditional
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"error status value" method.
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<H2>
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Cross Platform Registry</H2>
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A cross platform registry was written for the SmartUpdate feature of Communicator.
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We will investigate it's usefulness for our purposes.
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<H2>
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Library Management</H2>
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NSPR 2.x provides the cross platform mechanism for loading and unloading
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libraries, and run time linking.
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<BR>
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</BODY>
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</HTML>
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