> Sure, but even "pure" Java drivers that use javax.comm still require
> native code to talk to the serial and parallel port OS drivers.
Yes indeed. Generally speaking though, the less native code you have, the
less obscure problems you are likely to come across. i.e. With Java you
can always debug a lot easier than with a black-box driver based system
which is pure native code :-)
Put it this way – I have a DalSemi iButton reader (serial port), an SLB
PCMCIA reader, and a Gemplus USB reader. Of the 3, only the Dalsemi and
Gemplus are usable for my project, and of those only the Dalsemi was a
no-brainer to install :-)
To explain: My viewpoint is that of creating applications that use
smartcards as one feature of their operation, in a user-centric way. i.e.
IF the user has a smartcard, they may be able to use it with my
application. As a result, ease of reader installation and trouble-free
running is the order of the day! Buggy drivers and installation of
multiple obscure .EXE files in the right order and not hot-plugging
devices as you can other devices, is not what end-users will endure if
given a choice.
> But it sounds like the core of your porlbme is buggy software, not
> software that is not pure Java. I'm sure that both of us could write
> buggy Java code with the best of them :-).
Very true indeed! However, I always endeavour not to release buggy code,
and Java does somewhat restrict the range of bugs you can have (while
also introducing new ranges <G>).
It certainly didn't help that SLB's "TestResMan" test application
highlights the "T=0 | T=1" option by default when calling ScardConnect,
so the default settings which you assume would work fail every time with
their buggy driver.
FWIW, I am going to send my SLB reader back and buy a Gemplus. SLB have
unfortunately not responded to any of my queries about a replacement
driver, nor do they seem to have responded to other people who found this
bug back in 1999. I suspected this is a trap of being stuck in "legacy
land" with Win9x, like most of the "Average Joe" users. Also the SLB web
discussion forums seem rather dead.
My problems aside, I'm sure the SLB Reflex 20 driver works fine on Win2K
and NT.
Cheers
---
> Visit the OpenCard web site at http://www.opencard.org/ for more
> information on OpenCard---binaries, source code, documents.
> This list is being archived at http://www.opencard.org/archive/opencard/
! To unsubscribe from the [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list send an email
! to
! [EMAIL PROTECTED]
! containing the word
! unsubscribe
! in the body.
