Re: [PATCH 2/3] Add generic descriptor support to Attribute API document

Hi Elvis,

On Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 7:39 PM, Elvis Pfützenreuter [off-list ref] wrote:

On 21 Feb 2011, at 16:14 , Claudio Takahasi wrote:

quoted

Hi,


On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 6:13 PM, Elvis Pfützenreuter [off-list ref] wrote:

quoted

This patch proposes extensions to Attribute API, giving access to all
characteristic descriptors (beyond 'Description' and 'Format').
---
 doc/attribute-api.txt |   28 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 files changed, 28 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)

diff --git a/doc/attribute-api.txt b/doc/attribute-api.txt
index 23808e6..5ee189e 100644
--- a/doc/attribute-api.txt
+++ b/doc/attribute-api.txt

@@ -104,6 +104,14 @@ Methods            dict GetProperties()

                       Possible Errors: org.bluez.Error.InvalidArguments

+               void SetDescriptorValue(object descriptor, array{byte} value)
+
+                       Sets descriptor value, provided that it is writable.
+
+                       Possible Errors: org.bluez.Error.InvalidArguments
+                                       org.bluez.Error.NotAuthorized
+
+
 Properties     string UUID [readonly]

                       UUID128 of this characteristic.

@@ -143,6 +151,26 @@ Properties         string UUID [readonly]

                       Friendly representation of the Characteristic Value
                       based on the format attribute.

+               dict Descriptors [readonly]
+
+                       List of descriptors for this characteristic.
+
+                       This list contains only the descriptors not already
+                       covered by other properties (v.g. Description, Format).
+
+                       Each descriptor is mapped to an unique object path,
+                       which is the key for the dict.
+
+                       Each dict value is, in turn, a dict with at least
+                       the following keys:
+
+                       {
+                               "UUID": string (descriptor UUID - mandatory),
+                               "Value": array of bytes (raw descriptor value -
+                                        optional, shows up when value can be
+                                        fetched)
+                       }
+

 Characteristic Watcher hierarchy
 ===============================
--
1.7.1

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In my opinion is not a good approach to allow applications(D-Bus
clients) to change a behavior/value of the same characteristic
descriptor. bluetoothd could manage automatically writing the client
characteristic configuration and server characteristic configuration
based on the registered watchers and supported client profiles.

I'm not sure I follow, but let's break it down:

1) Note that this API is not just for client (and server) characteristic configuration descriptors. It is good for any kind of descriptor (like Valid Range, that client is supposed to be able to read, and set the related characteristic within its limits).

The API already has SetProperty and GetProperties that could expose
the descriptors that you need.

2) Updating automatically CCC/SCC descriptors based on Watchers sounds nice. We just need to add some kind of flag to agent registering in order to tell if we want notification or indication.

This is our initial ideia, but it is not written in the stone yet. We
need to investigate a little bit more and see which/how the Profiles
are using these characteristics descriptors.

3) In terms of client profiles, the GATT API looks generic to me, not profile-specific. As there is a way to access characteristic values in a generic way, so there is a need to do the same for descriptors.

For some descriptors I agree that we need to expose through the D-Bus
API. However for others such as CCC and SCC I don't think that we need
to allow the apps to change it. If necessary we will also have a
plugin or a service specific interface, one example is Proximity
Profile. Do you have a good use case/example in health profiles using
CCC and SCC?

BR,
Claudio.