The TPTP Data Collections Framework provides a structure in which a tool application (client) can interact with one or more data-provider applications (agents) in a uniform manner and without regard for the location. This framework consists of a client interface, agent-management process, agent interface, and a few generally-useful agents. The agent-management process is known as the Agent Controller. It is this component that allows a client application to separate itself from the details of finding and starting various data providers on local or remote machines that may or may not be the same platform type (OS and CPU architecture) or language (C/C++, Java).
The client application uses the framework's client interface API to request the services of an agent on a particular system. It is then the job of the Agent Controller to get an instance of that agent running (or share an instance that is already running) according to the configuration settings for that agent and the request parameters given by the client. The details of establishing communication and launching the agent process are handled by the framework. The client then uses the API to create and send requests to the agent using a set of commands (in XML format) defined by the agent.
The agent (data-provider application) does not need to know anything about the client requesting its data. The developer of the agent defines a set of commands (in XML format) that it will respond to with regard to whatever services it provides. The services do not have to be data collection. They can simply perform an action on behalf of the client.
For an application to be an agent in this framework, it must register itself with the agent controller and then listen for requests that will come through the Agent Controller. The framework provides an implementation for the general needs of the agent so that it does not have to be concerned with the details of setting up communication. It merely needs to accept the commands it has defined and act on them. The client and agent can use the framework to define a path on which data can flow between them as well. The format for this data is not restricted.
The Agent Controller is designed to be flexible and as such, a configuration file exists that allows an administrator to control how it performs certain actions. Refer to the configuration file overview for more information.
The following is a more comprehensive description of the components included in the data collection framework:
Related tasks
Data Collection Conceptual Model
Backwards Compatibility in the Agent Controller
Administering The Agent Controller
Copyright (C) 2005, 2007 Intel Corporation.