QtopiaNetworkInterface Class Reference
[QtBaseModule]

Detailed Description

The QtopiaNetworkInterface class describes the minimum interface that a network plug-in must provide.

The QtopiaNetworkServer interacts with Linux network devices via network plug-ins. Each plug-in implements this interface. It allows to start() and stop() network devices, changes to the routing table via setDefaultGateway() and provides access to the status() and Linux device() name.

Note that applications should usually not handle QtopiaNetworkInterface instances directly. This interface is only of interest to device integrators intending to implement their own network plug-ins. Most functions of this interface have a public equivalent which can be used by application developer wanting to utilise network facilities:

Each instance publishes various internal states to the network value space. The network value space can be found under /Network/Interfaces/<config hash>. The hash value uniquely identifies each interface and is generated via:

    QtopiaNetworkInterface* iface = ...
    QString hash = qHash( iface->configuration()->configFile() );

Each QtopiaNetworkInterface instance must publish the following values:

• Config - the configuration file associated to this interface
• Error - the last QtopiaNetworkInterface::Error value converted to an integer
• ErrorString - the human-readable string describing the last error
• NetDevice - the Linux network interface that this interface is managing e.g., eth0
• State - the current state (QtopiaNetworkInterface::Status enum converted to integer)

There is no default implementation available for this interface.

See also QtopiaNetworkServer and QtopiaNetworkConfiguration.

Member Type Documentation

enum QtopiaNetworkInterface::Error

This enum identifies the error that occurred.

enum QtopiaNetworkInterface::Status

The status provides information about the state of the network interface.

Member Function Documentation

QtopiaNetworkInterface::~QtopiaNetworkInterface ()   [virtual]

Destroys the QtopiaNetworkInterface instance.

void QtopiaNetworkInterface::cleanup ()   [pure virtual]

Removes all system and config files (e.g., the dialup plug-in deletes the peer and connect/disconnect chat file) created for this interface. However this function must not remove the network configuration file associated with this plug-in instance as this will be done by the network server.

QtopiaNetworkConfiguration * QtopiaNetworkInterface::configuration ()   [pure virtual]

Returns a pointer to allow access to the configuration for this interface. This function must not change the internal state of the current network interface instance. Its sole purpose is to allow applications to change the underlying configuration.

QString QtopiaNetworkInterface::device () const   [pure virtual]

Returns the name of the network device that is used for connections. (e.g., eth0, wlan1, ppp0). This name is only valid if the interface status is not QtopiaNetworkInterface::Unknown or QtopiaNetworkInterface::Unavailable

void QtopiaNetworkInterface::initialize ()   [pure virtual]

Initializes the network interface configuration. The implementation must change the interface state to a value that is not equal to QtopiaNetworkInterface::Unknown.

bool QtopiaNetworkInterface::setDefaultGateway ()   [pure virtual]

This interface becomes the default gateway for the device. This function returns false if the default gateway could not be set.

void QtopiaNetworkInterface::setProperties ( const QtopiaNetworkProperties & properties )   [pure virtual]

The content of properties is written to the network configuration for this interface.

bool QtopiaNetworkInterface::start ( const QVariant options = QVariant() )   [pure virtual]

Starts the network service, returning true on success. options is used to pass optional parameter to the interface. The actual value of options is plug-in specific and plug-in developer may use it for any arbitrary value that might be of importance to the startup code.

Note: This function may only be called by the qpe server. Qt Extended applications should start an interface via QtopiaNetwork::startInterface().

Status QtopiaNetworkInterface::status ()   [pure virtual]

Updates and returns the current status of the interface. At any given time a call to this function should always perform a status check before returning the results.

See also QtopiaNetworkInterface::Status.

bool QtopiaNetworkInterface::stop ()   [pure virtual]

Stops the network service, returning true on success.

Note: This function may only be called by the qpe server. Qt Extended applications should stop a specific interface via QtopiaNetwork::stopInterface() or QtopiaNetwork::shutdown()

QtopiaNetwork::Type QtopiaNetworkInterface::type () const   [pure virtual]

Returns the type of network interface that this particular interface can handle.