Thanks.  I just mean to say that if you are wanting information, it is very
helpful to be explicit about the information you are looking for rather than
just asking general questions that would require a very long reply to
address.

Very often I see questions asked that you just can't answer without spending
2 hours on the answer if you don't go back and probe further about what
exactly the poster is looking for.  More often than not I don't answer these
because I don't have the time to put into that.  So asking a question in a
way that someone can give a much more specific and less time consuming
answer will tend to increase the chances of getting an answer at all.

The issue of permissions is a good example: clearly, yes there are
permissions, and hopefully it is clear that it is desirable for them to be
there since the vast majority of applications shouldn't be doing these
things and they can have a serious impact on the overall system.  So to
provide an answer, it helps a lot to know what someone is actually wanting
to do that makes them think they need access to those permissions.  Maybe
this means there should be some new API or mechanism for their feature.
Maybe there is a totally different way to go about it.  How does someone
provide a good answer without knowing what the original poster is actually
trying to accomplish?

Also note that this is the first time you have actually said anything about
loading and unloading wifi drivers.  That is a very useful piece of
information right there. :)  (Though again it begs the question...  why does
one want to do -that-?)

On Wed, Apr 1, 2009 at 6:43 PM, alexdonnini <[email protected]> wrote:

>
> Thanks for the detailed feedback. I appreciate it, and will follow
> your advice.
>
> I do have a question. If at this point, I am only gathering
> information (i.e. my original question about the purpose of
> WifiService, and the issue of permissions to perform functions such as
> loading and unloading a WIFI driver), I seem to understand that in
> your opinion such a request for information will not get much of a
> response unless I describe in some detail what I would like to do (am
> doing). Is this correct?
>
> If this is the way it is, I will conform although I don't quite
> understand why.
>
> Again, thanks for your response
>
> On Apr 1, 7:06 pm, Dianne Hackborn <[email protected]> wrote:
> > I am not trying hide things.  You asked a really broad question (tell me
> all
> > about this stuff) which I doubt anyone will answer because they would
> spend
> > a lot of time writing things not knowing what would be useful and what
> not.
> >
> > For what it's worth, I don't work on wifi stuff, so I can't help you with
> > details.  I am just trying to get this going in a direction that can
> > actually help anyone.
> >
> > You might want to try posting to android-platform; there might be
> engineers
> > who work on wifi there.  Also I would strongly recommend going at this
> from
> > the perspective of "I'd like to make extension X and modification Y" to
> the
> > API rather than "the stuff is limited" (in what way?) and "doesn't always
> > work" (what isn't working?) and "I have partially implemented some of the
> > stuff I want" (what have you implemented?).
> >
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Apr 1, 2009 at 2:21 PM, alexdonnini <[email protected]>
> wrote:
> >
> > > I am trying to expand and improve on WIFI management functions which
> > > currently are limited, and don't always work.
> >
> > > At this point, I am looking for information about specific functions
> > > performed by WifiSerivce and, to a lesser extent, WifiMonitor and
> > > WifiStateTracker. I would think someone knows the answer to these
> > > questions and that related to permissions. I did not think this was a
> > > big deal.
> >
> > > By the way, I have read carefully (to the best of my ability), several
> > > times, the documentation on all the WIFI related APIs and classes in
> > > the SDK. They do not allow the fine grained control that WifiService,
> > > WifiStateTracker, and WifiMonitor allow. I have also experimented
> > > using WifiLayer. It is OK. It provides an API for some of the
> > > functions I am interested in implementing (and already have partially
> > > implemented). Initial testing of AccessPointState has been going OK
> > > too.
> >
> > > Again, I would not think that the information I am looking for is, or
> > > should be a big secret.
> >
> > > Thanks.
> >
> > > Alex Donnini
> >
> > > On Apr 1, 4:27 pm, Dianne Hackborn <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > > What are you trying to do?
> >
> > > > On Wed, Apr 1, 2009 at 1:00 PM, alexdonnini <[email protected]>
> > > wrote:
> >
> > > > > Hello,
> >
> > > > > Could anyone explain to me the intended purpose of
> WifiService.java?
> >
> > > > > I am trying to understand if and how it could be used for an
> > > > > application.
> >
> > > > > I am also exploring the use of:
> > > > > - WifiMonitor
> > > > > - WifiStateTracker
> > > > > With regard to both of the above, I can understand the potential
> use a
> > > > > little better.
> >
> > > > > For all three, I can see that one potential issue is permissions.
> >
> > > > > Based on some initial testing, it does not look like the standard
> > > > > Android permissions (as included in the manifest file) are
> sufficient.
> > > > > Am I wrong?
> >
> > > > > If I am correct about the permissions issue, I would like to
> > > > > understand if and how an pplication could obtain the permission to
> > > > > perform some of the tasks executed by WifiMontior,
> WifiStateTracker,
> > > > > and WifiService.
> >
> > > > > Thank you.
> >
> > > > > Alex Donnini
> >
> > > > --
> > > > Dianne Hackborn
> > > > Android framework engineer
> > > > [email protected]
> >
> > > > Note: please don't send private questions to me, as I don't have time
> to
> > > > provide private support.  All such questions should be posted on
> public
> > > > forums, where I and others can see and answer them.
> >
> > --
> > Dianne Hackborn
> > Android framework engineer
> > [email protected]
> >
> > Note: please don't send private questions to me, as I don't have time to
> > provide private support.  All such questions should be posted on public
> > forums, where I and others can see and answer them.
> >
>


-- 
Dianne Hackborn
Android framework engineer
[email protected]

Note: please don't send private questions to me, as I don't have time to
provide private support.  All such questions should be posted on public
forums, where I and others can see and answer them.

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