|
|
- What is SOCKET?
Service-Oriented Consumer Kit for ELF Tools, or SOCKET, is a
JISC ELF Toolkit project.
- What is the duration of the project?
The project runs from 1 February 2006 until 31 July 2006.
- What are the project aims?
Starting from a Web service WSDL document, SOCKET will make the
associated service available as a resource in a VLE, indistinguishable
from any other component-based VLE resource.
- Who is developing SOCKET?
The SOCKET development team is the e-Learning Development
Group in the Faculty of Biological Sciences at The University of
Leeds - Professor Andrew G. Booth, Dr Brian P. Clark, Atif Suleman
and Robin J. Garbutt.
|
- What technology does SOCKET use?
The programming language is Java and the Web service
consumer software is packaged in a .war file.
- Is SOCKET a container?
No, SOCKET is not a container, although the output from a
SOCKET service can be fed into a Java for Business Integration (JBI)
meta-container.
- Is SOCKET tied to a particular VLE?
No, SOCKET is not tied to one VLE. The project uses
the Bodington open source VLE, but SOCKET services will feed
into any VLE or portal application based on a Web server,
Java or non-Java.
- Can SOCKET operate in a standalone mode?
SOCKET will sit in a servlet container and operate independently
from any VLE. SOCKET services are then accessed directly through
a browser.
- In which format does the SOCKET consumer
software produce its data?
The current version of the consumer factory results in output
data passed to the View Factory in the form of an XML Graphical User
Interface Document (GUID).
- How can a browser have direct access
to service consumer software?
Incorporated into SOCKET is a View Factory that processes the
output from the Consumer Software Factory to make it suitable for
the chosen output device - this could be a PC browser, portlet, PDA,
mobile phone or Web TV.
- Is possible to customise the SOCKET view?
Yes, the current view can be customised by plugging in bespoke
XSLT and CSS style sheets.
- Can the output data from a SOCKET service be
processed before it reaches the user?
Yes, there are two ways to do this. The current consumer factory
uses the Axis SOAP toolkit. Therefore, a bespoke handler module
can be placed in the Axis response handler chain. The current
View Factory is housed in a servlet filter and operates by modifying
the contents of the servlet response object. Therefore, a second
way of modifying the output data is to insert another
filter with custom data processing methods into the output chain.
- Why does the FAQ keep mentioning the "current"
consumer factory output and the "current" view? Are these likely
to change in the near future?
These won't change, but they will be added to. SOCKET has been
written in such a way as to facilitate pluggable consumer and view
factories. Other implementations of the consumer factory might
output the service data in other formats, a bean, for example.
|
|
|
