Hey all,

I thought of our problem to currently only have support for one language (Java).
For usage scenarios on “regular” devices (not embedded ones) one “simple” and 
“easy” way to bootstrap our current Java Implementation to other languages 
would be created by using Thrift or protobuf.

In short, the idea is to have a Java “Server” (call it proxy or bridge) which 
interacts with the PLCs via our Java Implementation. Furthermore, the Java 
Application hosts a Server where “thin clients” in other Languages can connect 
and issue commands.
Basically we could have

Python < ------ >

C++     < ------ >       PlcGatewayServer < ------ > PLC

C#       < ------ >

…

(Sorry for the bad ASCII Art).

Pro’s of this approach:

  *   Is doable in “few” Time and other languags can be connected with “no 
effort”, even langauges like Delphi are supported (or we can use it from VBA 
via C# I guess).
  *   Support for many (many) languages

Cons:

  *   Implementation not native (overhead)
  *   Not usable on embedded devices
  *   Separate process has to be running

Overall, I think it could be worth the effort, as we would create a possibility 
for non JVM guys to join us and play around.

What do you think?

Julian


Reply via email to