OpenTop Version 1.4
The following notes give an insight into
the new features of OpenTop 1.4. For further information we recommend
taking a look at the
Version 1.4 API Reference.
New HTTP Client
Many applications make use of OpenTop's HTTP client stack, even though
some of them may be unaware of it due to the fact that they employ the
polymorphic URLConnection class. The new HTTP client framework has greatly
extended the original mechanism with 7 fully-documented
classes within a new ot::web namespace, giving applications
the ability to control and further extend the HTTP client stack.
The ot::web namespace provides classes which enable applications to:-
- use (and re-use) persistent HTTP connections
- communicate via configurable HTTP proxy servers
- transparently support secure (HTTPS) connections using SSL/TLS,
including secure proxy tunnelling
- be RFC-compliant with both HTTP/1.0 and HTTP/1.1
- use memory-efficient streaming of both input and output (POST) entities
- modify and extend the framework classes through the use of
customized request handlers
Simply recompiling existing OpenTop applications will allow them
to enjoy the performance benefit of persistent connections and support
for secure (HTTPS) URLs. For a more complete picture of the new HTTP client framework, refer to the
ot::web namespace API Reference.
Secure communications using SSL/TLS
The 21st century has seen a rapid growth in the use of secure
communication protocols. This trend has been most evident in the securing
of HTTP transactions over the World Wide Web, but secure network protocols
are increasingly being employed by other client-server and peer-peer applications.
This trend has been recognized by the OpenTop designers, who have carefully
integrated support for the SSL/TLS protocols into the fabric of OpenTop.
OpenTop's SSL/TLS support comprises 14 new documented classes
in the new ot::ssl namespace. Like much of the OpenTop API,
these classes are based on equivalent interfaces from the Java API, resulting
in a tried, tested and widely understood design which can easily be integrated
into both new and existing OpenTop applications.
64-bit Integer and large file support
Most processors in today's desktop and server machines support 64-bit
integers and the associated arithmetic operations. OpenTop now provides
the Int64Type typedef, which provides cross-platform support
for native 64-bit integers.
Over recent years, the move to 64-bit quantities has been echoed
in the size of data files used by applications. OpenTop has been extended
in version 1.4 to recognize, interrogate and manipulate large files.
Random-access and fixed-format data files
Two important new features added to the ot::io namespace are
support for random-access files and interfaces to provide
fixed-format I/O.
The RandomAccessFile class allows a file to be opened and
dynamically positioned to any byte offset. In addition to reading and
writing arrays of bytes, RandomAccessFile supports the new DataInput and DataOutput
interfaces for fixed-format I/O.
Fixed-format I/O involves writing numeric and string data in a
fixed-size platform-independent manner so that the same data can be written
and read on different platforms, perhaps employing different physical architectures.
The new DataInput and DataOutput classes provide the necessary interface
and these are implemented in both the RandomAccessFile already mentioned and
two new filter stream classes: DataInputStream and DataOutputStream.
Availability
OpenTop 1.4 was released in February 2004. Online ordering, secure purchasing
and immediate download are available from our online purchasing page.
OpenTop 1.4 is a commercial product developed by ElCel Technology.
