> So, once again, this API is XML-based and ran through a socket. My question > is: Should we use CORBA instead? What are the advantages/disadvantages? My > MAJOR interest is that we have multiple UIs that can be attached to (and > controlled by) a single core, can run concurrently in the same session, and > can be controlled by one-another (via the front-request, middle-approve > API). > Can we do that with CORBA? > > Thoughts? I thought that we could keep both the streaming XML dialog *and* CORBA, but just in two different places in the program. My idea was that we could keep the small middle that we have in Loci right now to communiate with the GUI front via the streaming XML dialog you describe. This small middle could then also implement the CORBA interfaces to pass the information created in the GUI (as a work flow diagram) into the "processing" portion of the program. It would make sense to pass this as DOM or XML, since it seems like a nice structured way to store the data (and since Overflow already uses it to feed its "pull" networking system). I think that eventually the processing part could move through a work flow diagram in an even "smarter" way (ie. based on the fastest way to implement it) which is what Jarl seems to be proposing for GMS's with the neural net and genetic algorithms processor. Here it seens to makes sense to start with what we have (the Overflow pull system) and move into something more robust as things move along. I think this would make it easier to implement addition front ends (since they would only need to deal with XML though a pipe, and not implementing a CORBA interface), and will also allow us to re-use the code we already have for dealing with communicating with the GUI. In addition, I think this will allow us to make a "simpler" CORBA interface between the small middle and Overflow and GMS program processing functions, since we won't have to worry specifically about GUI requirements while coding these. Does this make any sense? I think this gives us a lot of reuse of code, while maintaing the streaming XML that Jeff digs and the CORBA/API interfaces of Overflow and GMS. Brad