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VNC - the internal ORL version
Some of the functionality of the distributed VNC system is limited when
compared to the version we use within ORL. This is not because we
wish to deprive the rest of the world of a more sophisticated system, but
because we want VNC to be easy to download and set up, and this extra functionality
would make that process more complicated without offering major gains to
most users.
So this information is given partly for interest's sake, and partly
to explain some things you may find in the source code. If there is overwhelming
demand for these features we may make them available, but this is not currently
planned.
CORBA
Many of our systems are now linked together using CORBA. We didn't
find a commercial implementation of CORBA which met our requirements, and
so we wrote our own, omniORB,
which we have also made freely available. The VNC servers have a CORBA
interface which allows them to be controlled by remote systems. In
particular, the interface exposes the name, address and other details of
the server, allows control of the client connections, can perform remote
shutdown, and initiate outgoing connections.
Outgoing connections
The simplest mode of operation for VNC is when a viewer initiates a connection
to the server, but it can also operate in reverse. Some of our clients
can be put into a 'listening' mode where they wait for connections from
the server which are initiated and closed down using the CORBA interface.
External
control
This means that desktops can be displayed and hidden under the control
of other systems. In particular we use information from our Active
Badge system to display a users' desktop on a nearby monitor when they
click one of the buttons on the badge, and with our Ultrasound
Location System we can make your desktop appear simply by walking up
to a display!
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