ADL Docs & samples

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1

hi

I’m new to ADL but have been an embedded C/C++ programmer for over 15 years.

I’ve found it really really hard to get started. I’ve looked at the tutorials I could find and at some of the sample code.

One thing I’ve really missed is a decent overview - the ADL manual contains lots of details but nothing that explained well to me how it all fits together.

Similarly with the WIP stuff - it took ages to work out how to get HTTP POST working properly in a multi-task environment.

I haven’t found anything yet that talks about “best practices” - with ADL & WIP that would be really helpful.

It would also be helpful to have better sample code - how about some “real” applications that contain things like reconnecting to the network, error handling, when/how to open/close connections properly.

I’ve found it so hard to write the s/w so far that I’m considering changing back to accessing the modem via AT commands from an external micro. That would make it easier for the rest of the team to work on the project (since the learning curve would be way shallower) and, I guess, also allow us to change modems more easily. The ADL stuff looked great from outside but… it’s just so cryptic and, in my view, documented in a way that makes it hard to learn.

Peter

2

I thoroughly agree! eg,

viewtopic.php?f=78&t=3772&p=15255#p15255

viewtopic.php?f=78&t=3628&p=14074&hilit=overview#p14074

3

See also: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3766

4

Even though the thread is old I’ll make my first post here to completely agree with the OP, and express my disappointment with the documentation standard.

I’m using a FastTrack Xtend and I fell in love with the device’s capabilities when it was originally described, but when I started looking at the ADL documentation I was horrified! THIS DOCUMENTATION IS VERY POOR, and like Peter I almost turned straight back to the competitors product, as I did not want to spend a lot of time learning this.

Surely Sierra have enough $ to employ a decent technical writer who can speak english. Just the poor wording is enough to make the ADL guide hard to read, but as Peter suggested there’s no overview, few useful examples, no “entry” description of any use.

Richard

5

Unfortunately, I totally agree!

Open-AT is a great thing; it has only 3 problems:

  1. Documentation
  2. Documentation
  3. Documentation
6

I agree with you, learning curve is very step and hard to start.