[AGENT++] XML Configuration for AGENT++

[Frank Fock]

Dear AGENT++ Users,

Those who have followed this list for a while know that one
of the TODOs for AGENT++ is configuration management and
and improved (pluggable) persistency layer.

By discussing these topics with some AGENT++ users the following
ideas came up:

* AGENT++ configuration is currently an open issue because there
is no standard config file format (like NET-SNMP for example).
* XML is widely used and there are plenty tools for XML editing.
* XML can be precisly validated through XML schemas.

What I have in mind for AGENT++, is the following architecture:

High Level XML*  <-----XSLT---->  Low Level XML** <---> AGENT++

*The "High Level XML"  format would be specified by the XML schemas
MIB Explorer v1.6 generates from SMI MIB modules. These XML
schema format is the adaption of the XML schema format libsmi uses and that
was created by the University of Braunschweig. It allows creating XML
documents containing MIB object instance data without the need to specifying
OIDs or, for example, HEX strings for DisplayStrings.
For examples see http://www.mibexplorer.com/export/ietf/

** The "Low Level XML" format would be something "program oriented", thus
containing only native instance syntax representations (i.e., HEX 
strings for all
OCTET STRING values) and fully specified numerical OIDs for object 
instances.

The idea behind the above architecture is, that one could use a XML 
editor or simple
text editor as well as a special tool like MIB Explorer to 
define/provision an
AGENT++ agent configuration. An external tool, could then be used to 
validate and
convert the High Level XML into the Low Level XML format. Which could be
read by AGENT++ without a too high overhead for XML parser/validation code.

This architecture would also allow easy configuration copying from 
existing agents,
as well as replacing the current persistency layer of AGENT++ by a XML based
layer.

What do you, as an AGENT++ user, think about the above architecture?

Any input on this (comments, suggestions, feature requests, etc.) is 
highly appreciated
and welcome!

Best regards,
Frank Fock