This is a subject I raised at ApacheCon in my (sparsely-attended) BOF,
and also the morning after when Aaron Bannert discussed apr_reslist in
his talk.
(1) APR[1] provides a useful though limited library of reusable code.
(2) Through apr_reslist it provides the basis for a module to reuse
resources such as a connection pool.
(3) Individual modules can, on an ad-hoc basis, export resources for
use by other modules.
However, what we lack is
(4) Any kind of systematic approach to or infrastructure for sharing
resources between independent modules.
Example:
My Site Valet application uses PostgreSQL in my custom code.
The site also uses a third-party module, mod_auth_pgsql, that uses
PostgreSQL. Mod_auth_pgsql does the work of maintaining the
connection pool, but without using APR. So the only way I can reuse
the mod_auth_pgsql connection is by hacking straight into the code.
What I'd like to see, perhaps as a medium-term goal, is a framework
whereby modules are encouraged to export functions and resources that
could usefully be shared. For example, if mod_auth_pgsql exported
a PgSQL connection pool, I could use it directly. Better still,
if the APR exported a generic SQL connection pool with a PgSQL
implementation, I could build on that to make my application
portable across different SQL engines (as the Enterprise Edition is).
As a module developer, I am happy to contribute to such an effort.
My modules currently export a small number of functions and data
where appropriate - that would be more likely to benefit other
developers if it were documented at apache.org.
Maybe if we (say) formally defined a contrib namespace (like apc_**)
with published guidelines (like returning APR_STATUS_T), that could
help module developers start making reusable resources available?
BTW, on a related note, I anticipate using an apx_*** namespace to
export fuctions from mod_xmlns in the reasonably near future.
[1] or, more pedantically, apr-util
--
Nick Kew
