Thanks for the reply... I assumed as much since it's a Microsoft issue. We're pushing (as best as we can) on the MS side as well, but I thought I'd let the Palm side know. Win2k seems to support Obex, but it's unclear if the hint bits are done right or not, or if there is an API. What I was hoping for is to support the native Palm Obex beaming functionality. That's not going to be possible except for future Plam OS versions that know about the Microsoft specific implementation of Obex. In our custom app we can do as you suggest for the work-around. - John Schettino -----Original Message----- From: Gavin Peacock [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2000 1:10 PM To: Palm Developer Forum Subject: Re: Palm Beaming to non-palm (windows) IrObex stacks... interoperability issue John, Attempting to maintain compatibility with Microsoft's definition of "standard" is a challenge. There is some kind of magic undocumented work around for setting hint bits on the Microsoft stack. Perhaps you can get some guru at Counterpoint to fill you in on it. This is your best approach because any change I make to the PalmOS ROM now will only be useful on devices that have not yet shipped. I think there is some magic registry setting that you can use, but I'm not sure about that. I am familiar with the problem that you mention and with the suggested work around. I had intended to make that allowance in the 3.5 release, but it it didn't happen. I'll put it on the list for the next ROM release. The way most developers have been working around Microsoft's lack of support for hint bits is to look for a connection with an OBEX hint bit, but if none is found, just use the first connection you can find anyway. BTW I don't know if Windows 2000 gives you an API for setting the hint bits, but Microsoft decided that they did not want to depend on them anyway. So they devised a new mechanism for discovering devices. This broke compatibility for beaming to all existing PalmOS devices even though we have always supported the standard correctly. We modified our stack in OS 3.5 to deal with the new Microsoft discovery scheme. Microsoft also removed IrComm support in Windows2000, so they also broke our Ir Hotsync support at the same time. Not that I am complaining or anything... ;) --- Gavin At 7:00 AM +0000 4/11/00, Palm Developer Forum digest wrote: >"Schettino, John" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> on 04/08/2000 12:07:59 AM > >As part of HP's CoolTown project (http://cooltown.hp.com) we want to >support >using VCards and IrObex to support legacy devices. In other words, someone >with any kind of device (Palm, CE, Psion, Cell phone, whatever) that >supports IrObex and can beam/receive a VCard can interoperate with CoolTown >enabled spaces. > >Problem: > >The IrObex spec version 1.2, section 6.3 (see >http://www.irda.org/standards/pubs/IrOBEX12.pdf, page 44) says "The OBEX >IrLMP service hint bit has a value of 0x20 in the second hint byte... >Setting the OBEX hint bit is required. Many OBEX clients will not even >attempt a connection unless the OBEX hint bit is set." > >It appears Palm OS (as a client) is following this rule. No hint bit set, >no >connection attempt. MS Windows's IR Stack does not allow setting the hint >bit at all, so when we implemented OBEX on top of the Windows IR stack, a >Palm device won't send/receive VCards. > >Testing: > >We tested a number of IrObex devices with the MS Windows IR stack + our >Obex >layer. > >Psion (Epoc32, REVO) connects & Puts VCard OK >WinCE (Jornada 4xx, 6xx) connects & Puts VCard OK >Palm (3.0x, 3.1x, 3.2x, 3.3x, 3.5) fails to connect > >Using the QuickBeam IrDA stack with its Obex implementation is a >work-around, since it sets the hint bit correctly. When using this stack, >Palm & other devices successfully connect and beam. > >It seems that testing for the hint bit and not attempting a connection if >its not set, although correct in the spec, limits interoperability and >doesn't really provide any gain for the user. > >Suggestion: > >Either remove the test for the hint bit, or allow users/developers to turn >it off ;) > >Thanks, > >- John Schettino >Hewlett Packard Labs -- For information on using the Palm Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http://www.palm.com/devzone/mailinglists.html -- For information on using the Palm Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http://www.palm.com/devzone/mailinglists.html
