Re: Web9: Final Status Update
Uriel
Great job, and it will be very nice to see php9p inside the standard
php distribution soon.
I also think thanks are due to Kris Maglione who wrote libixp and
certainly answered more questions in irc about this project than me
:)
Best wishes to all
uriel
P.S.: CC-ing 9p-hackers because this should be of interest there also.
On 8/22/07, Anant Narayanan <an...@kix.in> wrote:
>
> Hi All, Maht,
>
> It's been a few days since the official GSoC deadline passed, but I
> thought it would be appropriate to give a final status update on the
> Web9 project.
>
> PHP9P
> --
> * The client works fully and I haven't had a lot of trouble with it.
> Two examples are included in the source for PHP developers to look at,
> since the documentation is incomplete. You basically create an object
> of the IxpClient class and use its methods to work with the server.
>
> * The server portion does *not* work yet (the IxpServer class, in
> particular, which you would use to create your own 9P filesystems).
> I've scrapped that part of the code for now, it exhibited a lot of
> unpredictable and buggy behaviour. I'm on the verge of doing the
> implementation differently.
>
> JS9P
> --
> This part of the project consists of three portions:
>
> * JS9P.Base is the basic 9P implementation in JavaScript to create and
> decode all types of 9P messages. The README file explains in detail
> what the interface is like, but basically you call encodeMessage() to
> create a new 9P message and decodeMessage() to decode one.
>
> * Angled is a firefox extension built on JS9P.Base and uses XPCOM
> sockets to communicate with the 9P server. Angled can currently
> display files exported by a 9P server in your browser window. It works
> fine for text files and certain types of binary files. More details
> and screenshots of Angled in action at:
> http://summerofcode.wordpress.com/2007/08/22/say-hello-to-angled-01/
>
> * JS9P.XHR uses JavaScript's XMLHttpRequest to transport 9P messages.
> It is probably not a good 9P implementation, but was very useful in
> determining the correctness of JS9P.Base. XHR basically sends a comma-
> seperated list of Base64 encoded messages to listener.php (also
> included in the source). The PHP scripts then sends those messages, in
> order, to the 9P server and records all responses. The responses are
> sent back as an HTTP response in a JSON-encoded JavaScript array.
> JS9P.XHR calls JS9P.Base to decode the messages, again, in-order and
> displays the appropriate results.
>
> Future Plans
> --
> * Finish the IxpServer implementation. Write documentation and bring
> the extension up to the standards of regular PHP extension and then
> propose for inclusion with the mainstream PHP distribution.
> * Find out why Angled doesn't read all types of binary files well (pdf
> and doc in particular) and fix it.
> * Create a XUL-based GUI for Angled so users can not only read, but
> also modify, delete and create files. This includes displaying a tree-
> like structure for directory listing. This may also require
> implementing authentication.
> * Create an AJAX-ish/Web2.0 UI for use with JS9P.XHR.
> * Write a native PHP implementation of 9P for inclusion in PEAR.
>
> As always, the code is available at http://code.kix.in/projects/web9
>
> I'd like to thank Maht, Kris, Uriel and Devon for all their valuable
> help, comments and suggestions. Thanks for tolerating my questions,
> It's been a pleasure working with all of you, and I hope to keep
> hanging around with you guys! Special thanks to everyone on the #plan9-
> * channels and the 9fans list for all the inspiration. That includes
> all the flaming and trolling ;)
>
> To my fellow SoC students: All the best!
>
> Cheers,
> --
> Anant
>
>
> >
>
maht.l...@googlemail.com
Well done Anant, I hope you enjoyed learning about 9p and Plan 9 From
Bell Labs.
At least enough to draw you away from that silly web browser platform :)
9p in the PHP distribution would be good p.r.
Perhaps we also need a Glenda Certification Programme to validate 9p code !
Matt