[net2-wg] Proposal for dissemination structure and interfaces

[Philip Levis]

On Dec 16, 2005, at 6:52 PM, Omprakash Gnawali wrote:

> The proposed dissemination interface requires that the key is
> determined at compile time. If I know that I need to disseminate
> exactly this particular key, this interface works great. What if I do
> not know the number of keys I will need to disseminate ?
>

Since you have to allocate the storage for each value in a key/value  
pair, dynamic key creation would require dynamic allocation. What's a  
situation where you would need dynamically generated keys?

>> From what I understand, the proposed interface is geared towards
> supporting dissemination of programs and statically known number of
> states where the collectors are only interested in the latest
> version. It does not address the case when a node does not know the
> keys up front, generates a message, derives a key out of it, and wants
> to use the disseminate functionality.
>

What would an example of this be?

> Can we allow dynamically generated keys ?

It's possible that we could, but it's predicated on dynamic  
allocation, which opens a whole can of worms that TinyOS generally  
tries to avoid.

Phil

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"We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."

- T. S. Eliot,  'Little Gidding'