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/*!
\page sensors-backend-topics.html
\title Qt Sensors Backend
\brief Describes how to use the Qt Sensors backend.

The Qt Sensors backend connects the Qt Sensors API to the platform services or
hardware sensors.

\tableofcontents

\section1 Overview

QSensor instances talk to a backend object. Backends are usually supplied
with the Qt Sensors library for a specific device, although third-party
backends may be used as well. A backend can talk directly to hardware, or
it can talk to a system service. In some instances it can even talk to
another sensor. An example of this is the orientation sensor backend that talks
to an accelerometer to determine the device orientation.

\section1 Backend Classes
If you are making sensors available through the Sensors API, these are the
classes to use.
\annotatedlist sensors_backend

\section1 Backend Topics

\list
\li \l{Creating a sensor plugin}
\li \l{Determining the default sensor for a type}
\li \l{Dynamic Sensor Backend Registration}
\endlist
*/

/*!
\page creating-a-sensor-plugin.html
\title Creating a sensor plugin

\section1 How a Sensor Plugin is Loaded

Since sensor backends are created on demand, the sensor plugin is loaded and asked
to register the sensor backends it handles. The plugin should implement
QSensorPluginInterface::registerSensors() and call QSensorManager::registerBackend()
to register available backends. Typically the plugin will also inherit from
QSensorBackendFactory and implement
QSensorBackendFactory::createBackend() in order to instantiate backends it has registered.

The simplest plugin will have just once sensor backend although there is no reason
that multiple sensor backends cannot be in a plugin.

An example follows.

\snippet sensors/plugin.cpp Plugin

*/

/*!
\page determining-the-default-sensor-for-a-type.html
\title Determining the default sensor for a type

\section1 Multiple Sensors Can Exist for a Type

Sensors was designed so that multiple sensors could exist for a given type. Why?
Consider this example.

The N900 has an accelerometer built-in. It also features bluetooth and can pair
with a gaming controller that features an accelerometer. To a developer writing
a game these two devices are conceptually the same type.

\section1 Default Sensor for a Type

To avoid the need to know (or check) what the default sensor for a type is, the
system will use the default sensor for a type. Most of the time this is what the
app developer wants to do. If the app developer wants to select a specific sensor,
he needs to call the QSensor::setIdentifier() method before starting the sensor
so that the appropriate backend is used.

From a system perspective though, selecting which sensor should be the default
gets tricky.  The sensors library uses the first registered identifier as the
default. This means that the order in which the sensor backends are registered,
is important so the system will allow a config file to determine the default
instead.

\section1 Sensors.conf

The config file that determines the default sensor for a type is called Sensors.conf.
If present, it is located in /etc/xdg/QtProject. It has the standard formatting
of an ini file.

The settings live in the Default group and the general format is:
\code
type = identifier
\endcode

An example: Sensors.conf ensures that the N900 accelerometer is used by default,
not considering the order in which backends were registered.

\code
[Default]
QAccelerometer = n900.accelerometer
\endcode

If Sensors.conf specifies an identifier that is not registered, the system will
fall back to the first registered identifier as the default.

Note that there is a special case logic to prevent the generic plugin's backends
from becoming the default when another backend is registered for the same type.
This logic means that a backend identifier starting with \c{generic.} will only
be the default if no other backends have been registered for that type, or if
it is specified in \c{Sensors.conf}.

*/

/*!
\page dynamic-sensor-backend-registration.html
\title Dynamic Sensor Backend Registration

\section1 Static Backend Registration

Sensor backends are generally registered statically. The registration happens
when the sensors library is first used and the registration remains in effect
while the program runs.

\image sensors-static.png

Statically registered backends may still exhibit some dynamic behaviour as the
QSensorBackendFactory is free to return 0 to indicate that a backend cannot be
created.

\section1 Dynamic Backend Registration

Although static registration is fine for most backends, there are some situations
where this is problematic.

The clearest example is backends that represent non-fixed hardware. For example,
a game controller that is connected via Bluetooth. As there may be more than one
game controller in range of the phone, the program wants to record that a specific
game controller should be used. If the backend had been registered statically
there would have been no unique information about the controller. Instead, the
registration is delayed until the controller is seen.

\image sensors-dynamic.png

\section1 Suggested Registration Policy

A backend for fixed hardware should be registered immediately. Applications can
see that the sensor can be used.

A backend for remote hardware should not be registered immediately. Applications
can see that the sensor cannot be used. When the remote hardware becomes available,
the backend should be registered. Applications can see that the sensor is available now.

If it is necessary to return 0 from a factory for a backend that was registered,
the backend should be unregistered. Applications can see that the sensor is no
longer available. If the factory can create the backend again, it should be re-
gistered. Applications can see that the sensor is available again.

When the underlying hardware is no longer available, the backend should be
unregistered. Existing instances of the backend should report error states to
the application but should handle the situation gracefully.

*/
