Re: How to determine host is a laptop?
Re: How to determine host is a laptop?
- Subject: Re: How to determine host is a laptop?
- From: Derick Centeno <email@hidden>
- Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2005 03:34:12 -0400
I am not sure my method of approach is Apple approved as far as
determining whether local host hardware is portable. But it would seem
to me that as there will be a diversity of systems which will be Intel
and PowerPC for years into the future both running OS X and being used
in a variety of ways the problem of identity and determining how a
program utility or other application is to interact with them upon that
discovery is a rather interesting problem. I'm not sure if it's an
Apple's interest to be actually helpful in providing a solution to
this, but my own solution and guess goes along the lines I describe.
IT may become useful to identify such computers if only to maximize the
tasks assigned or expected given the CPU's or other identified
components a system may have.
I am doubtful that all the potential of the PowerPC has been exploited
or that the benefits of Intel's technology are all that compelling.
Even so an application to distinguish and identify them for maximum
effectiveness of getting work done utilizing their known strengths from
the point of view of the task itself is a "good" problem. There is
another question of whether OS X is the best OS to use (if the problem
is complex enough); one may really need to consider Yellow Dog Linux.
If one is using Yellow Dog Linux, at least, an object can be developed
to export instructions for Intel if necessary. One's options remain
open and flexible. However, if one utilizes OS X the current tools are
all being maximized to convert to Intel; developing something for the
PowerPC could be a dilemma.
If the task is complex enough one may have to consider that as a server
OS X is very much slower than Linux. Yellow Dog Linux may be the best
OS to use to preserve functionality across the different architectures
if the task of the computer AS A SERVER is important. Also C++ under
YDL doesn't have the bottlenecks as it would under OS X.
An independent analysis studying OS X in comparison to Yellow Dog Linux
was posted to this list sometime ago and may be of interest:
From: Marc Van Olmen <email@hidden>
Date: September 2, 2005 8:37:31 AM EDT
To: email@hidden
Subject: mySQL benchmark on OS X and Linux (same 2.5ghz G5 hardware)
hi,
Interesting findings:
<http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2520>
mvo
My answer really depends if my understanding of what you are attempting
is accurate. First the issue is what programming language to use. I'm
partial to C++ because objects are easy to develop and update regarding
what your tasks are. Also objects, if their relationships are
correctly designed, can actually identify distinctions faster than
non-object oriented languages and determine appropriate choices based
on defined relationships and decision trees and thereby approach
elements of intelligent behavior expected from systems comprising
Artificial Intelligence methodologies.
For instance an object capable of capturing select data fields similar
to which the Apple Utility System Profile collects, could be
constructed. System Profile for example collects specific information
within the Machine Model, CPU Type, Number of CPUs, CPU Speed, Boot ROM
version, Sudden Motion Sensor and Sudden Motion Sensor Version Fields.
Building a C++ library to compare a combination of these fields would
be a starting place which could identify a particular Apple laptop or
other Apple computer. Of course, identifying the actual variable names
used could be a bit of a research challenge, but it is not an
impossible one as it is documented somewhere.
The real challenge is determining what you want the object to do once
it has the necessary fields. Once the data in the fields have been
copied into the object then what the object does next depends on the
decision tree. The object should know enough to behave differently
with a Pismo, than with a MiniMac, versus an Aluminum G4, versus a
Titanium G4. It would be trivial to tell an object for instance to
check on available RAM, CPU Type, etc as additional information becomes
necessary to do something for a certain purpose; nonobject oriented
languages would have more of a problem with on the fly additions as
certain changes to an overall task becomes clearer.
The suggested fields could be enough for an object to identify these
computers; what the object does with that assessment once made depends
on the decision process desired and other actions to be engaged upon by
the object as determined by you. If one has chosen to work with
objects then the objects become more useful not only distinguishing
which computers are present, but also what is to be done with them all
or any one of them.
Best wishes....
On Oct 9, 2005, at 11:04 AM, Shaun Wexler wrote:
What is the Apple-approved method for determining the portability of
the local host hardware? I need to enforce certain behavior if the
host is a laptop, and other behavior if the host is a tower/desktop.
My first thoughts were to parse 'compatible' for "PowerMac" and
"PowerBook", but I want to remain forward-compatible. Is this the
correct approach?
-- Shaun Wexler
MacFOH
http://www.macfoh.com
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