From: Intransition <transfire@...>
Date: 2009-11-21T00:39:12+09:00
Subject: Re: RCAP 0.2



On Nov 20, 9:13 am, Farrel Lifson <farrel.lif...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm pleased to announce the release of RCAP 0.2. RCAP is a Ruby
> implementation of the Common Alerting Protocol(CAP). This release is
> release is aimred at developers and  adds YAML generation and parsing
> support as well as functionality allowing RCAP objects to be displayed
> easily in the IRb command console.
>
> = What's New 0.2
>
> == YAML Support
>
> RCAP now supports the generation of YAML documents to represent each alert.
>
> This YAML message can then be parsed back into it's constituent RCAP
> objects using the Alert.from_yaml method.
>
> == IRb Console Formatting
>
> All RCAP classes now have custom inspect methods which enables them to
> be displayed in a helpful and clear manner to end users in an IRb
> console.
>
> For more detailed release notes seehttp://www.aimred.com/news/developers/2009/11/20/rcap_0_2_releasedor
> view the RCAP project page athttp://www.aimred.com/projects/rcap

Hi Farrel

I'm curious. What does CAP get used for / who is using CAP?

Also, if I might offer a suggestion or two...

You might allow symbols in place of constants, eg.

          alert = Alert.new( :sender   =>
'cape_town_disaster_relief@capetown.municipal.za',
                    :status   => :STATUS_ACTUAL,  # instead of
Alert::STATUS_ACTUAL
                    :msg_type => :MSG_TYPE_ALERT,
                    :scope    => :SCOPE_PUBLIC,
                    :infos    => Info.new( :event       => 'Liquid
Petroleoum Tanker Fire',
                                           :language    => 'en-ZA',
                                           :categories  =>
[ :CATEGORY_TRANSPORT, :CATEGORY_FIRE ],
                                           :urgency
=> :URGENCY_IMMEDIATE,
                                           :severity
=> :SEVERITY_SEVERE,
                                           :certainty
=> :CERTAINTY_OBSERVED,
                                           :headline    => 'LIQUID
PETROLEOUM TANKER FIRE ON N2 INCOMING FREEWAY',
                                           :description => 'A liquid
petroleoum tanker has caught fire on the N2 incoming freeway 1km
                                                           after the
R300 interchange.  Municipal fire fighting crews have been dispatched.
                                                           Traffic
control officers are on the scene and have diverted traffic onto
                                                           alternate
routes.' ))


Internally the symbols can be translated into the constants.

Also, considering how it used, it seems like the perfect candidate for
a simple DSL.

          alert = Alert do
                   sender
'cape_town_disaster_relief@capetown.municipal.za'
                   status :STATUS_ACTUAL
                   msg_type :MSG_TYPE_ALERT
                   scope  :SCOPE_PUBLIC
                   info do
                     event 'Liquid Petroleoum Tanker Fire'
                     language 'en-ZA'
                     categories
[ :CATEGORY_TRANSPORT, :CATEGORY_FIRE ]
                     urgency :URGENCY_IMMEDIATE
                     severity :SEVERITY_SEVERE
                     certainty :CERTAINTY_OBSERVED
                     headline  'LIQUID PETROLEOUM TANKER FIRE ON N2
INCOMING FREEWAY'
                     description 'A liquid petroleoum tanker has
caught fire on the N2 incoming freeway 1km
                                        after the R300 interchange.
Municipal fire fighting crews have been dispatched.
                                        Traffic control officers are
on the scene and have diverted traffic onto
                                        alternate routes.'
                   end
          end