(Re (3): [Oberon] PPP ...) & syntax of PPP

[peter_easthope at gulfnet.sd64.bc.ca]

Chris and Edgar,

cg> Up to V2.3.6 the PPP was 'removed' (together with the dialer)
when the dial up session was completed.
Perhaps now the designer(s) want to cater for 'persisitent connections' ?
This would allow the error of PPP 'not resetting' to show.
Previously the 'PPP.Stop' for dial-up termination, forced a clean-up.

Chris, you refer to fundamental features of 
the mechanism.  In an ideal world the 
designer specifies these before implementation
and then makes revisions as the design evolves.

At present we do not have such specifications
for PPP.  Edgar is best qualified to write 
them but if he does not have the time I 
suppose you and I are next in line.  In this
case, the best we can do is to study the 
sources, write a tentative specification of
behaviour and make corrections as we become 
aware of errors.

Anyone interested in the syntax of PPP,

In _The School of Niklaus Wirth_, Pub. 
Morgan Kaufmann, 2000, p. 107, Jurg Gutknecht 
gives an EBNF description of the Oberon file 
transfer protocol.  When time is available
I want to attempt such a description of PPP.
Gutknecht shows the local syntax in plain 
text and the syntax from the remote system
in italic text.  For electronic distribution,
a notation based on displayable ASCII 
characters seems preferable to italicization.
Text from the remote system could be enclosed
in <...> or _..._ for example.  Perhaps some
experts in EBNF can address this issue and 
suggest a notation.

Thanks,    Peter E.
        http://carnot.pathology.ubc.ca/