Automake/autoconf for 7DS

I finally started workng with the GNU Automake/Autoconf system for 7DS today. It's really neat! Far easier to work with than the faulty manual Makefiles I've been creating so far. I hope to have a fully GNU-style 7DS system (at least for my part) by the end of this week.

I found that the deadline for submitting my paper to INFOCOM has passed, so I will probably be submitting a paper to ICC07.

Verbose options and logging levels/priority

Today I did something really cool with the 7DS logging system that enabled me to turn the "verbose" option off and instead introduce something more advanced: a level system that outputs log messages to the log file or screen based on the user setting.

To set this up, I basically made added two functions like this, one for on-screen and one for log files:


int SdsLogSetPrintLevel (int level)
{
print_level = level;
}



and then changed the code so that it prints only the higher priority messages to log file or screen, depending on user settings.


/* If level is greater than specified ,
* then print to stderr. */
if (level >= print_level)
fprintf(stderr, logstatement);

/* If level is greater than specified log level, write to logfile */
if (level >= log_level)
fprintf(logfp, "%s", logstatement);


Of course, I had to set the default values appropriately, so that the log file would get all messages.


int log_level = SDS_LOG_DEBUG, /* File should have debug messages */
print_level = SDS_LOG_INFO; /* Screen should have info messages */


7DS code cleaning

I' m continuing to clean up my 7DS code. I have to follow my advisor's instructions on formatting code, which are very helpful.

I'm also finding that other than configuration files and logging, I will well have to start using getopt() for command line options. Well, better late than never...

7DS software engineering and wikis

Sorry I haven't been active for a while on this blog ... well, a few days ago, I realized I was running into a brick wall with the 7DS project, not sure of what to do, and faced with an overwhelming array of choices that I didn't know how to handle. :(

Luckily, I e-mailed Henning and met him today (with Se Gi and Andy) to get an idea of how to come to grips with the situation and proceed further with the project.

It looks like:

1. We will release a version that has the basic features, but working.
   I think this can be released as source code with configure/make/make install, as well as installation binaries.
   
2. In parallel, we will draft guidelines for future versions and see how to make 7DS more modular so that it is "future-compatible". Things like the community extensions and file syncronization will be part of the next release.

In addition, Henning suggested that we use a wiki to document our work. That's a great idea! The only thing now is to find a place to host it ... unless we have a CS-wide one.

One great wiki I've heard a lot about is DokuWiki...