Re: Hurd IPC (client side)

[Andreas Haeberlen]

> However, the question remains: why can we not modify IDL4 to
> understand attributes.  And the answer of course lies in the question
> itself: an IDL is not about attributes; it is the wrong level of
> abstraction.

In fact, IDL4 does understand some attributes and can easily be
extended to support others; the question is more where to put them.
An interface definition specifies the interaction between the server
and its clients, whereas attributes specify the interaction between
the stubs and the code that uses them. Different applications may
require different attributes, but they should still be able to
communicate if they share the same interface.

DCE, for example, makes this distinction explicit by using two
separate files, one for the interface definition and another one,
the Attribute Configuration File (ACF), for attributes.
Applications can then share the first file.

        - Andreas