Below is what I sent to python-xlib-users this morning. Hopefully there's some interest in getting a Twisted-driven version of Python Xlib done. I think I've learned the innards of Twisted well enough by now to do it myself (writing a new protocol for X events), but help and advice is of course welcome. --- Ed Suominen Registered Patent Agent Open-Source Software Author (yes, both...) Web Site: http://www.eepatents.com ----- On Monday 14 March 2005 08:08 am, Peter Liljenberg wrote:
Simon Forman, calroc99@users.sourceforge.net, has kindly offered to maintain Python Xlib from now on. Give him a big hand, folks.
I'll resign as project admin, but will still lurk around and may even do the occasional CVS commit (here's hoping).
/Peter Liljenberg
Python Xlib is a neat project, and I'm glad to see the continued activity. One of the projects I've been planning for the near future is to add some functionality to the connection code of Python Xlib so that it can operate asynchronously using the Twisted networking framework rather than relying on blocking and threads. I'm planning to integrate the patched Python Xlib into WinDictator, a Windows-Linux bridge I wrote and use for running dictation software in VMware and having the keystrokes typed with X events. Briefly, the Windows copy of WinDictator is a TCP server to a Linux client and presents a dictation window on the Windows machine. Using the dictation software's "direct dictation" feature, the user generates text in the dictation window, which is sent immediately to the Linux client. The Linux client then generates an X "KeyPress" event (followed by an X "KeyRelease" event) corresponding to the character sent from the Windows client. It is assumed that the (virtual) Windows machine is insecure and will be firewalled off from the Internet anyhow, so it is the TCP server. Plus, multiple Linux clients can connect to and use a single Windows server at different times. Advantageously, the client-server pair allows "direct dictation" from a text entry window running on Windows (along with the Windows-only dictation software) to whatever word processor the user is employing under Linux. The text entry window can be viewed on a separate screen of a separate Windows box, or can appear somewhere on the Linux computer's display. The latter can be accomplished by emulation with VMware or (I think) QEMU, or by VNC operation of the separate Windows box. Twisted's "Perspective Broker" maintains the client-server communication very nicely at a high level. WinDicator works great with the xte program "typing" the keystrokes, and I use it every day. But I want to improve it and need the finer-grained control of Python Xlib to do so. Ideally, I would like to see Python Xlib's networking integrated smoothly into Twisted's asynchronous event loop for performance, compatibility, and because it is just plain cool. See http://twistedmatrix.com/services/twisted-advantage for more info about Twisted, if you're interested. It runs my web site plus my boss's site (http://valuablepatents.com), among other things, off of a single main python thread. Offers of cooperation, either to add Twisted capability to Python Xlib or with WinDictator (GPL) itself, would of course be welcomed.