id	summary	reporter	owner	description	type	status	priority	milestone	component	version	resolution	keywords	cc
24	Questions concerning dim version in FACT++	dneise	somebody	"I would like to understand, what were the reasons to decide for including the source code of the dim library (http://dim.web.cern.ch/dim/) into the FACT++ source tree. 

I guess one of the reasons was, to make the build process simpler. No need to first download and build DIM, and then download and build FACT++, while making sure the compiler really finds the header files of DIM. But I think there were more reasons, which I don't remember.

Recently the FACT++ dim version has been updated from version 20.07 to 20.11. I would like to know, why this update has been done.

Dim services and commands are further specified by a ""service description string"". According to the format of this string, I found in the DIM documentation:

    Service description string, the contents of the service can be
    described in the form ""T:N;T:N;T"" where T is the data type : 
    C(har), 
    I(nt), 
    L(ong), 
    S(hort), 
    D(ouble), 
    F(loat) or 
    X(tra long) 
    and N is the number of items of that type. A data type alone at the
    end of string means all following items are of type T. [...]

However some commands in FACT++ have a description string, which is ""O"" (captital letter ""oh""). While apparently the DIM library does not mind using self defined format characters in the description strings, I would like to know, why this bug was exploited. 

The commands, which have this capital letter ""O"" description string are:

    AGILENT_CONTROL_24V/RECONNECT --> description string "" O ""
    AGILENT_CONTROL_50V/RECONNECT --> description string "" O ""
    AGILENT_CONTROL_80V/RECONNECT --> description string "" O ""
    BIAS_CONTROL/RECONNECT --> description string "" O ""
    DRIVE_CONTROL/RECONNECT --> description string "" O ""
    FSC_CONTROL/RECONNECT --> description string "" O ""
    FTM_CONTROL/RECONNECT --> description string "" O ""
    GCN/RECONNECT --> description string "" O ""
    GPS_CONTROL/RECONNECT --> description string "" O ""    
    SQM_CONTROL/RECONNECT --> description string "" O ""
    
What does this description string stand for, anyway? In my opinion a great feature of using the DIM library is to be able to access DIM services also from other platforms, and from software written in other languages. Do we not throw away this awesome feature, like this? And if so, what do we gain in return?

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