[Tutor] Turning a "script" into an "application"

[Christian Wyglendowski]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bill Mill [mailto:bill.mill at gmail.com] 
> Subject: Re: [Tutor] Turning a "script" into an "application"
> 
> Christian,
> 
> I'm not really sure what you're asking. Do you have more 
> concrete questions?

My main question boils down to: what programming/conceptual framework I
should use to turn my script into something resembling an application?

I guess maybe I was a bit vague in my description.  First off, the
program watches the network for virus-like patterns of behavior, and
alerts a user via email if it sees it during its capture window.

Here is the basic flow I would like to see in the program:

#RUNNING CONTROLLER 
|--> user can change options (captureTime, warnThreshhold,
networkDevice, sleepTime, notifyAddress)
|--> user can start/stop sniffer
|--> user can save capture analysis
|     
|_____ #RUNNING SNIFFER (basically a loop)
	|--> sniffer runs for captureTime seconds
	|--> sniffer analyzes captured data
	|--> sniffer saves analysis to memory
	|--> depending on analysis, sniffer sends alert via email or
does nothing
	|--> sniffer sleeps for sleepTime, then loops 

Sorry for the bad ASCII diagram - but hopefully it makes some sense.

> It seems to me that, instead of messing around with threads, 
> you may want to write an entirely seperate script to control 
> the network script. Pseudocode:
> 
> ##############
> #network_script_controller
> #############
> while 1:
>     actions = {'1': send_foo_to_network_script,    #this is a function
reference
>         '2': send_bar_to_network_script                 #so is this
>         #and whatever else menu options you want
>         }
>     print "Enter one to change foo, or two to change bar"
>     msg = raw_input('>')
>     actions[msg]()
> 
> #############
> #network_script
> ############
> while 1:
>     do_my_processing_loop()
>     check_for_new_messages()
> 
> And you could simply use sockets for communication between 
> the two. Is that something like what you're looking for?

Thanks for the idea.  Despite not reall knowing what I was asking, you
answered my question pretty well!  I had not considered a multi-process
approach but I can see that it could be quite flexible.
 
> Peace
> Bill Mill
> bill.mill at gmail.com
> 

Thanks again.

Christian
http://www.dowski.com