Announcing ModemManager. It's a standalone DBus system service to provide a common API to communicate with broadband modems. It is derived from the modem handling code from NetworkManager and in addition to DBus API, it adds more operations (scanning, signal quality, changing network mode, band, ...). It is easy to extend by having a plugin system to provide "drivers" for non standard operations. There is currently one plugin implemented for Huawei cards. It's fully functional and can be used as an example to write plugins for other cards (hint! hint!).
Some Q&A Q: Where can I get it? A: git clone git://gitorious.org/modemmanager/mainline.git modemmanager Q: What does it have to do with NetworkManager? A: NetworkManager will use ModemManager instead of current basic code in the future. Q: Can I see it in action? A: Yes! I've ported NM to use it already, but haven't exposed any of the new functionality in the UI. The fully working branch can be downloaded from the NetworkManager SVN branch: svn co svn+ssh://[EMAIL PROTECTED]/svn/NetworkManager/branches/modem-manager NetworkManager-mm [or using anonymous svn] svn co http://svn.gnome.org/svn/NetworkManage/branches/modem-manager NetworkManager-mm Q: Why? A: There have been some requests to integrate some existing mobile programs with NM (vodafone, telefonica) and it's never been easier: All that needs to happen is to implement the same public DBus API and NM will use that instead. A2: The current modem handling code in NM is very basic, and supporting non standard operations and cards is pretty much impossible without total reorganization. Well, ModemManager is the reorganization. Q: You lied, it doesn't support signal monitoring while connected! A: No, it just means it's a non standard feature and needs a card specific plugin which isn't written for your card yet. Q: Is there any documentation available for it? A: Yes, pass a --with-docs argument to the configure and it'll create docs/spec.html which is the DBus API reference. There's also some information in the README file. Q: Can I write a plugin for my own card? A: Yes! Take a look at plugins/ directory to see the Huawei plugin, it should be pretty easy to write new ones based on that. Q: I think I've found a bug. A: Great! let me (tambet /at/ gmail.com for now) know. Extra points if you can provide a patch! Q: You API sucks! A: If there's something you'd like to change, either to add new methods or to modify the existing ones, let me know, it's not set in the stone. Tambet _______________________________________________ NetworkManager-list mailing list [email protected] http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/networkmanager-list
