[ViewVC] Contents of: cvs/Net-XMPP2/README

NAME
    Net::XMPP2 - An implementation of the XMPP Protocol

VERSION
    Version 0.01

SYNOPSIS
       use Net::XMPP2::Connection;

    or:

       use Net::XMPP2::IM::Connection;

    or:

       use Net::XMPP2::Client;

DESCRIPTION
    This is the head module of the Net::XMPP2 XMPP client protocol (as
    described in RFC 3920 and RFC 3921) framework.

    Net::XMPP2::Connection is a RFC 3920 conformant "XML" stream
    implementation for clients, which handles tcp connect up to the resource
    binding. And provides low-level access to the XML nodes on the XML
    stream along with some high level methods to send the predefined XML
    stanzas.

    Net::XMPP2::IM::Connection is a more highlevel module, which is derived
    from Net::XMPP2::Connection. It handles all the instant messaging client
    functionality described in RFC 3921.

    Net::XMPP2::Client is a multi account client class. It manages
    connections to multiple XMPP accounts and tries to offer a nice
    highlevel interface to XMPP communication.

    For a list of "Supportet extensions" see below.

    There are also other modules in this distribution, for example:
    Net::XMPP2::Util, Net::XMPP2::Writer, Net::XMPP2::Parser and those I
    forgot :-) Those modules might be helpful and/or required if you want to
    use this framework for XMPP.

    See also Net::XMPP2::Writer for a discussion about the brokeness of XML
    in the XMPP specification.

    If you have any questions or seek for help look below under "SUPPORT".

REQUIREMENTS
    One of the major drawbacks I see for Net::XMPP2 is the long list of
    required modules to make it work.

    AnyEvent
        For the I/O events and timers.

    XML::Writer
        For writing "XML".

    XML::Parser::Expat
        For parsing partial "XML" stuff.

    MIME::Base64
        For SASL authentication

    Authen::SASL
        For SASL authentication

    Net::LibIDN
        For stringprep profiles to handle JIDs.

    Net::SSLeay
        For SSL connections.

    Net::DNS
        For SRV RR lookups.

    And yes, all these are essential for XMPP communication. Even thought
    'instant messaging' and 'presence' is a quite simple problem XMPP
    somehow was successful at complicating the task enough to keep me busy
    for a long time. But all that time wasn't only for the technology
    required to get it started, mostly it was for all the quirks, hacks and
    badly applied "XML" in the protocol which complicated the matter.

RELEASE NOTES
    Here are some notes to the releases (release of this version is at top):

  Version
    * 0.01
        This release has beta status. The code is already used daily in my
        client and I keep looking out for bugs. If you find undocumented,
        missing or faulty code/methods please drop me a mail! See also
        "BUGS" below.

        Potential edges when using this module: sparely documented methods,
        missing functionality and generally bugs bugs and bugs. Even thought
        this module is in daily usage there are still lots of cases I might
        have missed.

        For the next release I'm planning to provide more examples in the
        documentation and/or samples/ directory, along with bugfixes and
        enhancements along with some todo items killed from the TODO file.

  TODO
    There are still lots of items on the TODO list (see also the TODO file
    in the distribution of Net::XMPP2).

Why (yet) another XMPP module?
    The main outstanding feature of this module in comparsion to the other
    XMPP (aka Jabber) modules out there is the support for AnyEvent.
    AnyEvent permits you to use this module together with other I/O event
    based programs and libraries (ie. Gtk2 or Event).

    The other modules could often only be integrated in those applications
    or librarys by using threads. I decided to write this module because I
    think CPAN lacks an event based XMPP module. Threads are unfortunately
    not an alternative in Perl at the moment due the limited threading
    functionality they provide and the global speed hit. I also think that a
    simple event based I/O framework might be a bit easier to handle than
    threads.

    Another thing was that I didn't like the APIs of the other modules. In
    Net::XMPP2 I try to provide low level modules for speaking XMPP as
    defined in RFC 3920 and RFC 3921 (see also Net::XMPP2::Connection and
    Net::XMPP2::IM::Connection). But I also try to provide a high level API
    for easier usage for instant messaging tasks and clients (eg.
    Net::XMPP2::Client).

A note about TLS
    This module also supports TLS, as the specification of XMPP requires an
    implementation to support TLS.

    There are maybe still some bugs in the handling of TLS in
    Net::XMPP2::Connection. So keep an eye on TLS with this module. If you
    encounter any problems it would be very helpful if you could debug them
    or at least send me a detailed report on how to reproduce the problem.

    (As I use this module myself I don't expect TLS to be completly broken,
    but it might break under different circumstances than I have here. Those
    circumstances might be a different load of data pumped through the TLS
    connection.)

    I mainly expect problems where aviable data isn't properly read from the
    socket or written to it. You might want to take a look at the
    "debug_send" and "debug_recv" events in Net::XMPP2::Connection.

Supportet extensions
    See Net::XMPP2::Ext for a list.

EXAMPLES
    See "samples/test_client" for a first pointer. More examples will be
    included in later releases, please feel free to ask the "AUTHOR" if you
    have any questions about the API. There is also an IRC channel, see
    "SUPPORT".

AUTHOR
    Robin Redeker, "<elmex at ta-sa.org>", JID: "<elmex at jabber.org>"

BUGS
    Please note that I'm currently (July 2007) the only developer on this
    project and I'm very busy with my studies in Computer Science in Summer
    2007. If you want to ease my workload or want timely releases please
    send me patches instead only bug reports or feature requests. I won't
    forget the reports or requests if you can't or didn't send patches but
    it can take a long time until I get enough time to fix/implement them.

    Also try to be as precise as possible with bugreports and best, if you
    can't send a patch, would be if you find out which code doesn't work and
    tell me why.

    Please report any bugs or feature requests to "bug-net-xmpp2 at
    rt.cpan.org", or through the web interface at
    <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Net-XMPP2>. I will be
    notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your
    bug as I make changes.

SUPPORT
    You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.

        perldoc Net::XMPP2

    You can also look for information at:

    * IRC: Net::XMPP2 IRC Channel
          IRC Network: http://freenode.net/
          Server     : chat.freenode.net
          Channel    : #net_xmpp2

          Feel free to join and ask questions!

    * Net::XMPP2 Project Site
        <http://www.ta-sa.org/>

    * AnnoCPAN: Annotated CPAN documentation
        <http://annocpan.org/dist/Net-XMPP2>

    * CPAN Ratings
        <http://cpanratings.perl.org/d/Net-XMPP2>

    * RT: CPAN's request tracker
        <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Net-XMPP2>

    * Search CPAN
        <http://search.cpan.org/dist/Net-XMPP2>

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
    Thanks to the XSF for the development of an open instant messaging
    protocol (even thought it uses "XML").

    And thanks to all people who had to listen to my desperate curses about
    the brokeness/braindeadness of XMPP, without you I would've never
    brought this module to a usable state.

COPYRIGHT & LICENSE
    Copyright 2007 Robin Redeker, all rights reserved.

    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
    under the same terms as Perl itself.

Revision:	1.3
Committed:	Thu Jul 5 17:43:30 2007 UTC (18 years, 8 months ago) by elmex
Branch:	MAIN
Changes since 1.2:	+107 -16 lines
Log Message:	last changes and now it's uploaded to CPAN!
#	Content
1	NAME
2	Net::XMPP2 - An implementation of the XMPP Protocol
3
4	VERSION
5	Version 0.01
6
7	SYNOPSIS
8	use Net::XMPP2::Connection;
9
10	or:
11
12	use Net::XMPP2::IM::Connection;
13
14	or:
15
16	use Net::XMPP2::Client;
17
18	DESCRIPTION
19	This is the head module of the Net::XMPP2 XMPP client protocol (as
20	described in RFC 3920 and RFC 3921) framework.
21
22	Net::XMPP2::Connection is a RFC 3920 conformant "XML" stream
23	implementation for clients, which handles tcp connect up to the resource
24	binding. And provides low-level access to the XML nodes on the XML
25	stream along with some high level methods to send the predefined XML
26	stanzas.
27
28	Net::XMPP2::IM::Connection is a more highlevel module, which is derived
29	from Net::XMPP2::Connection. It handles all the instant messaging client
30	functionality described in RFC 3921.
31
32	Net::XMPP2::Client is a multi account client class. It manages
33	connections to multiple XMPP accounts and tries to offer a nice
34	highlevel interface to XMPP communication.
35
36	For a list of "Supportet extensions" see below.
37
38	There are also other modules in this distribution, for example:
39	Net::XMPP2::Util, Net::XMPP2::Writer, Net::XMPP2::Parser and those I
40	forgot :-) Those modules might be helpful and/or required if you want to
41	use this framework for XMPP.
42
43	See also Net::XMPP2::Writer for a discussion about the brokeness of XML
44	in the XMPP specification.
45
46	If you have any questions or seek for help look below under "SUPPORT".
47
48	REQUIREMENTS
49	One of the major drawbacks I see for Net::XMPP2 is the long list of
50	required modules to make it work.
51
52	AnyEvent
53	For the I/O events and timers.
54
55	XML::Writer
56	For writing "XML".
57
58	XML::Parser::Expat
59	For parsing partial "XML" stuff.
60
61	MIME::Base64
62	For SASL authentication
63
64	Authen::SASL
65	For SASL authentication
66
67	Net::LibIDN
68	For stringprep profiles to handle JIDs.
69
70	Net::SSLeay
71	For SSL connections.
72
73	Net::DNS
74	For SRV RR lookups.
75
76	And yes, all these are essential for XMPP communication. Even thought
77	'instant messaging' and 'presence' is a quite simple problem XMPP
78	somehow was successful at complicating the task enough to keep me busy
79	for a long time. But all that time wasn't only for the technology
80	required to get it started, mostly it was for all the quirks, hacks and
81	badly applied "XML" in the protocol which complicated the matter.
82
83	RELEASE NOTES
84	Here are some notes to the releases (release of this version is at top):
85
86	Version
87	* 0.01
88	This release has beta status. The code is already used daily in my
89	client and I keep looking out for bugs. If you find undocumented,
90	missing or faulty code/methods please drop me a mail! See also
91	"BUGS" below.
92
93	Potential edges when using this module: sparely documented methods,
94	missing functionality and generally bugs bugs and bugs. Even thought
95	this module is in daily usage there are still lots of cases I might
96	have missed.
97
98	For the next release I'm planning to provide more examples in the
99	documentation and/or samples/ directory, along with bugfixes and
100	enhancements along with some todo items killed from the TODO file.
101
102	TODO
103	There are still lots of items on the TODO list (see also the TODO file
104	in the distribution of Net::XMPP2).
105
106	Why (yet) another XMPP module?
107	The main outstanding feature of this module in comparsion to the other
108	XMPP (aka Jabber) modules out there is the support for AnyEvent.
109	AnyEvent permits you to use this module together with other I/O event
110	based programs and libraries (ie. Gtk2 or Event).
111
112	The other modules could often only be integrated in those applications
113	or librarys by using threads. I decided to write this module because I
114	think CPAN lacks an event based XMPP module. Threads are unfortunately
115	not an alternative in Perl at the moment due the limited threading
116	functionality they provide and the global speed hit. I also think that a
117	simple event based I/O framework might be a bit easier to handle than
118	threads.
119
120	Another thing was that I didn't like the APIs of the other modules. In
121	Net::XMPP2 I try to provide low level modules for speaking XMPP as
122	defined in RFC 3920 and RFC 3921 (see also Net::XMPP2::Connection and
123	Net::XMPP2::IM::Connection). But I also try to provide a high level API
124	for easier usage for instant messaging tasks and clients (eg.
125	Net::XMPP2::Client).
126
127	A note about TLS
128	This module also supports TLS, as the specification of XMPP requires an
129	implementation to support TLS.
130
131	There are maybe still some bugs in the handling of TLS in
132	Net::XMPP2::Connection. So keep an eye on TLS with this module. If you
133	encounter any problems it would be very helpful if you could debug them
134	or at least send me a detailed report on how to reproduce the problem.
135
136	(As I use this module myself I don't expect TLS to be completly broken,
137	but it might break under different circumstances than I have here. Those
138	circumstances might be a different load of data pumped through the TLS
139	connection.)
140
141	I mainly expect problems where aviable data isn't properly read from the
142	socket or written to it. You might want to take a look at the
143	"debug_send" and "debug_recv" events in Net::XMPP2::Connection.
144
145	Supportet extensions
146	See Net::XMPP2::Ext for a list.
147
148	EXAMPLES
149	See "samples/test_client" for a first pointer. More examples will be
150	included in later releases, please feel free to ask the "AUTHOR" if you
151	have any questions about the API. There is also an IRC channel, see
152	"SUPPORT".
153
154	AUTHOR
155	Robin Redeker, "<elmex at ta-sa.org>", JID: "<elmex at jabber.org>"
156
157	BUGS
158	Please note that I'm currently (July 2007) the only developer on this
159	project and I'm very busy with my studies in Computer Science in Summer
160	2007. If you want to ease my workload or want timely releases please
161	send me patches instead only bug reports or feature requests. I won't
162	forget the reports or requests if you can't or didn't send patches but
163	it can take a long time until I get enough time to fix/implement them.
164
165	Also try to be as precise as possible with bugreports and best, if you
166	can't send a patch, would be if you find out which code doesn't work and
167	tell me why.
168
169	Please report any bugs or feature requests to "bug-net-xmpp2 at
170	rt.cpan.org", or through the web interface at
171	<http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Net-XMPP2>. I will be
172	notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your
173	bug as I make changes.
174
175	SUPPORT
176	You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.
177
178	perldoc Net::XMPP2
179
180	You can also look for information at:
181
182	* IRC: Net::XMPP2 IRC Channel
183	IRC Network: http://freenode.net/
184	Server : chat.freenode.net
185	Channel : #net_xmpp2
186
187	Feel free to join and ask questions!
188
189	* Net::XMPP2 Project Site
190	<http://www.ta-sa.org/>
191
192	* AnnoCPAN: Annotated CPAN documentation
193	<http://annocpan.org/dist/Net-XMPP2>
194
195	* CPAN Ratings
196	<http://cpanratings.perl.org/d/Net-XMPP2>
197
198	* RT: CPAN's request tracker
199	<http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Net-XMPP2>
200
201	* Search CPAN
202	<http://search.cpan.org/dist/Net-XMPP2>
203
204	ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
205	Thanks to the XSF for the development of an open instant messaging
206	protocol (even thought it uses "XML").
207
208	And thanks to all people who had to listen to my desperate curses about
209	the brokeness/braindeadness of XMPP, without you I would've never
210	brought this module to a usable state.
211
212	COPYRIGHT & LICENSE
213	Copyright 2007 Robin Redeker, all rights reserved.
214
215	This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
216	under the same terms as Perl itself.
217