[Rxtx] to flush or not to flush, that is a question

[Dr. Douglas Lyon]

Hi All,
Let me see if I can summarize the discussion on flushing so far:

1. Manual Flush: A close is just a close vs.
2. Automatic Flush: A close is a flush and then a close.

On the one hand we can define a close for a serial port
so that it closes the serial port and has no other role. If
data has been left in the buffer, it will be lost unless a flush
is done explicitly.

While it is the case that this would seem to speed up
the close method, some might argue that the loss of data is
not good software engineering, thus impacting system reliability.
People will use:
sp.flush();
sp.close();
as a serial port idiom, if close does not automatically flush.

If flush does not precede close,
the possible loss of data should be taken into
account at the programmers' level, or it is a semantic error.

Others argue that a slow serial line will delay the delivery of
data for so long that the close will appear stalled.

Corner-point: The emperor has no close.

Suppose the serial device gets all stuffed up and data
cannot be delivered. In such a case, the close will never
finish with the flush and the serial port will never be released.

In such a case, other programs (and users) who need the resource
will be unable to access it.

Digression: once I went to a wedding on a boat where the head
was all stuffed up. Users were unable to flush and the
OutputStream never closed... :(

A serial port is a system wide resource for which many applications
may contend. Once it is assigned to a process, in theory, no other
application may usurp it.

Wont deadlock from unreleased resources impact system reliability?

So, on the one hand we adversely impact system reliability with
increased chance of deadlock, or adversely impact system reliability
with increased chance of data loss.

To address the corner-point, the flush might need a time-out. Perhaps
this can be computed as a function of the serial port data rate and the
amount of data in the buffer.

Please let me know if I am missing something.

Thanks!
  - Doug