TABLE OF CONTENTS In the end the seed took, and from the soil of Australia came forth straight lines and rational curves. Rectilinear offices and hotels. The curve of freeways and the smooth arc of theatre and opera house. Solids of the most intricate and sophisticated geometry.
Michael Frayn
This is a chapter about infrastructure. It is about the Framework's equivalent of the plumbing, electrical, waste, and information systems that entwine the modern world. Unlike the other chapters in this book, the different constructs are united by concept rather than function. They also share a family resemblance brought on by the requirements of the environment. The differences between them are brought upon by the requirements being addressed and the data being processed: most houses receive both electricity and water but mixing the two is not beneficial.
The constructs discussed in this chapter include:
Variables, which serve as the non-volatile repository for system data and as a communication channel with operating systems.
Hand-off blocks (HOBs), which are the main conduit across the PEI to DXE transition.
The data hub, which serves as a repository to accumulate and then disperse data mainly intended for external consumption.
The Human Interface Infrastructure (HII), which centralizes management of the configuration of modules by users and others.
The constructs described here share some qualities:
They are conduits for data. The callable interfaces (protocol member functions, for example) themselves serve only to enable data transfer and management between modules. They do...
