We have a direct need for this functionality. We have a mashup BI solution that we are looking to develop in Gadgets to replace an existing desktop app. Each gadget has very different information in it but relates to a common subject. A user can chose which gadgets they want to have so having a single gadget that is used as a 'selector' and the message published to all the other gadgets is highly desirable. The context of user only and no server side interaction is exactly what we need. So any suggestions or way in which to influence this feature?
For example a market research company may want to include a youtube search for adverts, a newpaper search for comments on a client, plus data from an internal data warehouse for other data. Each component is in a a separate gadget that the user choses to include. The only mandatory component is the selector. Once the selection is made all gadgets do their stuff. The original pubsub and the opensocial address this cheaply and effectively. The new stuff, whilst more flexible is much more complex than a number of simple environments would require so perhaps there is space for two? rgds davidw On Jun 23, 6:41 pm, Arne Roomann-Kurrik <[email protected]> wrote: > On Jun 23, 8:46 am, rgibson <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Hi, Arne (and others). Sorry for slow response, and thanks for your > > input. To respond to your question, I think for now we have two > > scenarios, when we simplify things. Let's say we want to visualize > > some arbitrary data (e.g., a google map) in one entity, while > > controlling it from another entity (e.g., a "joystick" that moves the > > map around). (The reality is more complex, with multiple views of > > different data sets, but this is illustrative.) > > > 1) Scenario 1: the map/joystick are all on the same user's page. I > > assume you're suggesting designing one huge "gadget" in canvas view > > that has a bunch of different entities in it that can all share the > > same data space? Is that right? > > That's what I would suggest right now - it keeps everything coupled > together, so you don't have to worry about the case where the user has > the map installed but not the joystick, for example. Of course, that > means that you can't release "add-on" gadgets to take advantage of the > joystick gadget, but that's a limited use case I think, plus you could > just reuse your joystick code server-side for a couple different > canvas gadgets. > > > 2) Scenario 2: I want to show another user (logged in separately) > > something. I move the joystick on my page and the map on their page > > moves. We will need a server (e.g., to serve up the data we're > > viewing), but most of the gadget communication methods I've seen only > > allow for _polling_ the server, not listening for callbacks when data > > arrives. That's not what we want long-term. > > Sadly, pubsub won't fix this - it's only for the case where two > gadgets on the same iGoogle page want to communicate with each other. > You won't be able to communicate between two different users without > bouncing information off of your server. > > I understand that polling isn't really a desirable solution for you. > There's been some talk on the spec list about getting some type of > real-time API up for gadgets - you probably found the Google Talk > implementation described > here:http://code.google.com/apis/talk/gadgets_realtime.html. > I think that's more along the lines of what you want from pubsub, but > I have no information about when this feature might potentially be on > iGoogle and whether "normal" gadgets would be able to use it. > > I believe that a flash movie embedded in a gadget has the potential to > open a socket connection to your server and listen for information, > but I don't know if you have the infrastructure for that. That's > probably the least amount of overhead you need to worry about, though. > > ~Arne > > > > > > > Regarding pubsub, I see how straightforward the interface is, but I > > still don't know what it's capabilities are. You say it won't allow > > us to pass data between different users, in which case I agree that it > > doesn't add much. > > > So is there any way to pass data between users without polling on the > > receiver side? I found one example of a Talk application, but I don't > > want to run in a chat box. > > > Thanks, > > Rob --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "iGoogle Developer Forum" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Gadgets-API?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
