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Base version:


Concept document
GENIVI Application Framework

7th July 2016
Document Author: Simon McVittie
Document Reviewer: Sjoerd Simons
Document Reviewer: Philip Withnall
Document Reviewer: Guy Lunardi
Document Owner: Collabora - Guy Lunardi
E-mail: guy.lunardi@collabora.com
Tel: : \+1-801-200-3848
Collabora Document Number: GEN0001
Collabora Document Version: v0.3 (draft)
Author Date Version Change Approved
SM 29-06-2016 0.1 Initial version SM
SM 04-07-2016 0.2 Revised internal version SS
GL 23-06-2016 0.3 First draft shared with GENIVI GL
link to the document : Application Framework scope and requirements


Application Framework scope and requirements

This document outlines requirements relevant to the GENIVI Application Framework effort. However some of these requirements may well be considered out of scope for requirements to the GENIVI Application Framework due to overlap with other GENIVI initiatives. They are included here as they are perceived to be within the context of an application framework. This document does not aim to specify a particular implementation for any requirement. The terms privilege, privilege boundary, confidentiality, integrity and availability have their usual information-security meanings (for definitions, please refer to Apertis Security design). This document is authored by Collabora. The content of this document is made available under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license (CC BY-SA 4.0).


 

Table of Contents


 


What's in an app

NOTE: Initial IDs are assigned equal to the line number in the original document.

 

copy here


 

IDText
25There are two commonly-used definitions of an "app": either a user-facing launchable
program (an entry point) such as would appear in launcher menus, or a user-installable
package or bundle such as would appear in an app store.
 Comments: 
GN - info - Within GENIVI scope, 'Managed Apps' and 'Native Applications' has been defined
GA: A fair assumption is that a bundle will never contain both managed and
native apps and an app is either native or managed. I think we are fine
with the current definitions and they can be used in combination with the
defintions here without any conflict between them.
GA: A clear definition of "bundle" would help here (because of later usage e.g. entry-points)
GM: Please clarify how this definition is related to "Managed Applications" and "Native Applications" as defined inside the GENIVI Reference Architecture
GM: Also "package or bundle" should be better defined (notice that the GENIVI Compliance Specification already defines a "Package Manager")
PW: ‘bundle’ is defined on line 27 as a concept similar to an app on Android, for example. The definition is refined over the course of the document. We could try and expand the summary here a bit.
GA: This week 2016-11-08 it seems we said that Bundle = A collection of zero or more
executable files, zero or more libraries and zero or more meta-data files (for the last case imagine for example a "Skinning/theming bundle containing Icon graphics and configuration files only.". In an app store what would be presented to the user as one app would technically be downloaded as one bundle of files.
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
28A user-installable bundle would most commonly have exactly one entry point. However, it
might not have any entry points at all, for example if it is a theme or some other extension
for the operating system. Conversely, it might have more than one entry point: for example,
a user-installable bundle for an audio player might contain separate menu items for music
and audiobooks, launching different executables or the same executable in different modes
to provide an appropriate UX for each use-case.
 Comments:
GN : Ok, Multi entry points for Apps need to be translated into requirement.
GA: Put definitions at top, e.g. what is a bundle according to our previous discussions.
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
34In this document, when we need to distinguish between the two meanings,
we will say that a user-installable bundle contains zero or more entry
points. Entry points are similar in scope to Android activities.
 Comments:
GN :OK
GA: I am still not sure that the Android comment helps.
From android docs: "An Android Activity is an application
component that provides a screen with which users can interact in order to
do something". Activity requires a graphical view? Is that also required
for each entry point? Let's put down an actual definition table at the
start of this document - for bundles, entry-points, etc.
PW: You're right. Entry points do not require a graphical view. I agree with
putting a definition of entry points at the start of the document.
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
37Some vendors might decide to restrict the apps available in their app
stores to have at most one entry point, but that is a policy decision by
those vendors and should not be reflected in the more general app
framework.
 Comments:
GN : Should vendor specific config be a part of manifest?
PW: Vendor-specific configuration should be a part of the vendor’s platform policy, which will be encoded in their app store guidelines, and implementations of vendor-specific components in the platform. Manifests contain metadata, which should be kept separate from policy. It would be redundant to encode a general vendor-wide policy of “maximum number of entry points” in the manifest for each app.
Type: INFO.
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
40Entry points might be written as native code (for example compiled from C
or C++), or they might run under an interpreter or JIT in a runtime
environment that provides GUI functionality analogous to native code (for
example if the app is written in Java, Python, or JavaScript for the
node.js, gjs or seed runtime environments), or they might run in a HTML5
runtime environment. We treat all of these as fundamentally similar: they
result in the execution of app-author-chosen code.
 Comments:
GN : OK
GA: OK
GM: OK
Type: INFO
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
46(Note that whether an app is written in native code has no bearing on
whether it is what GENIVI calls a native application, which is an app that
is built into the platform, or a managed application, which is one of the
user-installable apps discussed here: either may be written in either
native code or an interpreted/JITted environment.)
 Comments:
GA: Good paragraph but I would consider if the words "compiled code" are
any help here.
PW: I suspect that ‘compiled code’ was chosen against, because a large variety of programming languages are ‘compiled’, even if the end result is managed or native code. The term ‘native code’ is loosely defined on line 40 — does the definition need to be bolstered?
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
50The app framework must be capable of running native-code (C or C++)
executables.
 Comments:
GA: Policy decision? If we're aiming for one framework to rule them all, I
guess I agree. If we are aiming for a shared requirement set for many
different environments, it might not be true.
PW: The approach we’ve taken is that applications written in interpreted or managed languages are treated as the combination of their interpreter and the code, where the interpreter is invariably native code. So native code support is always required. However, this would be an unnecessary complication on systems which only have managed/interpreted apps. This could be changed to be a policy detail; I don’t know what the consequences would be for the rest of the document.
GN : OK
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
51The app framework must be capable of running programs that require an
interpreter/JIT-based runtime environment such as Java or Python. It may
require that the runtime environment provides suitable library
functionality to work with the framework (for example, if the framework
uses D-Bus for IPC, then it does not need to support runtime environments
that do not have a D-Bus implementation or binding).
 Comments:
GA: See previous
GN : OK
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
56
  • The app framework must be capable of running programs that run in a
    HTML5 runtime environment: in other words, it must be possible to package a
    web application into a form suitable to be an app bundle. The entry points
    to an app might include GUIs and/or background services (agents, daemons).
 Comments:
GA: See previous
GN : OK
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
59
  • It must be possible for an app to contain zero or more GUI entry
    points. Each of these Application framework concept document might appear
    in menus (see App launching) and/or be available for launching by other
    means (see Document launching, URI launching, Data sharing).
 Comments:
GA: See below
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
64
  • It must be possible for an app to contain zero or more background services with no
    GUI, which can be launched for purposes such as Data sharing. For example, a search
    provider for a global search feature similar to GNOME Shell search or Unity Lenses,
    such as the one described in Apertis Global Search design, might be implemented in
    this way.
 Comments:
GA: So the definition is that these are not entry-points. Entry-points
require a GUI is the definition
PW: No, the definition on line 59 is that entry points may be GUIs or background services. The definition on line 26 does not contradict this, but could be clarified as it currently sounds like an entry point must have a GUI. That’s not the case.
PW: Note that we could cross-reference this to ~line 28.
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
69
  • It must be possible for the GUIs and background services to be implemented by the
    same executable(s) run with different options, or by separate executables.
 Comments:
GA: OK
GM: OK
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
71Some vendors might decide to restrict the apps available in their app stores to have
at most one executable, or to have at most one GUI and one non-GUI executable, but
that is a policy decision by those vendors and should not be reflected in the more
general app framework.
 Comments:
GA: OK
GN : OK
GM : OK
Type: INFO
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
75Each bundle should have bundle metadata to represent the app in situations like an app
store, a system settings GUI or a prompt requesting app permissions.
 Comments:
GA: OK
GN : OK
GM : OK
Type: Requirement
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
77
  • As a minimum, this metadata should include a globally unique identifier, an icon,
    and an international (English) name and description.
 Comments:
GA: OK
GN : Need to define a minimum set as mandatory requirement including privileges/permissions
Type: REQ
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
79
  • Additionally, app bundles should be able to contain translations (localization) which
    replace the international name and description, and any other fields that are marked
    as translatable (internationalization), when displayed on devices configured for a
    specific language and/or country.
 Comments:
GA: OK
GN : OK
GM : OK
Type : REQ
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
83
  • The metadata fields in an entry point should be in line with what is typically present
    in other interoperable package metadata specifications such as freedesktop.org
    AppStream and the parts of Android manifests that do not relate to a specific
    <activity>.
 Comments:
GA: OK
GN: OK
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
87
  • The base set of metadata fields should be standardized, in the sense that they are
    described in a vendor-neutral document shared by all GENIVI vendors and potentially
    also by non-GENIVI projects, with meanings that do not vary between vendors. For
    example, AppStream XML would be a suitable implementation.
 Comments:
GA: OK
GN:OK
Type:REQ
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
91
  • We anticipate that vendors will wish to introduce non-standardized metadata, either
    as a prototype for future standardization or to support vendor-specific additional
    requirements. It must be possible to include new metadata fields in an entry point,
    without coordination with a central authority.
 Comments:
GA: OK
GN:OK
Type:REQ
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
95
  • For example, this could be achieved by namespacing new metadata fields using a
    DNS name (as is done in D-Bus), namespacing them with a URI (as is done in XML), or
    using the X-Vendor-NewMetadataField convention (as is done in email headers, HTTP
    headers and freedesktop.org .desktop files).
  
 Comments:
GA: Discussion point. Shall we define this and if so what to choose?
PW: It should be standardised if and only if the metadata
format is standardised, as discussed on line 87. If so, we recommend
AppStream XML, plus ancillary files for custom metadata.
GA: OK. I propose we make AppStream XML a recommended format. Are there any other format proposals?
PW: None from me. For reference, here's the Apertis specification for it: https://appdev.apertis.org/documentation/bundle-spec.html#bundle-metadata
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
99Apps are expected to be numerous.
  • The app framework must be designed such that it does not need to place an arbitrary
    limit on the number of apps installed on the system, as long as their total size on
    storage (flash) fits within the available space.
 Comments:
GA: OK
GN: OK
Type: REQ
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
103
  • The app framework must be designed such that it does not need to place an arbitrary
    limit on the number of apps running at the same time, as long as their total size in
    RAM fits within the available space.
 Comments:
GA: OK
GN: OK
GM: OK
Type: REQ
 Extracted requirement:

 


 

Data management

 

IDText
107The app framework must provide a location where app programs can write their private
data.
 Comments:
GA: I would rephrase "location" to mechanism. There are several ways to do
this, one would be through a defined interface, like GENIVI Persistence
Client Library
GN : Is this expected to have a separate set of API's.
PW: We used ‘location’ because Apertis does not require use of a persistence library (robustness is left to the file system and kernel to implement), but it could be rephrased to ‘mechanism’. The only API defined here is the existence and path of the shared location.
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
109Open question: is this in-scope for the app framework, or is there some other platform
component that does it?
 Comments:
GA: The deep implementation of persistence must be a platform issue. The
API for applications should be defined here. We must discuss the solution
and the app-to-platform interface
  • if every app interaction shall be over IPC for example, then some kind of
    persistence daemon is required?
    GN : Since persistence management  from platform takes care of this. In my opinion this is a requirement for platform. but if some filtering to be done about the api's exposed,
    then its need to be handled appropriatelyPW: If the API for this needs to be defined in the application framework design, then I suggest defining the private data location for each application, which it can then pass to the persistence library. I am not sure how apps interacting over IPC (or not) fits in with this — what is your query?
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
111The framework should provide a location that is treated as private data in which to store
cached data, defined as data that can be recovered in a straightforward way by downloading
it from the Internet or computing it from non-cached data.
 Comments:
GA: OK
GN: should be ok.
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
114
  • The framework may delete files from the cached data area at any time to free up
    storage space, and apps should be written to expect this.
 Comments:
GA: OK. (This is a requirement on the framework but also needs to also go into app writing guidelines)
GN : OK.
GM : OK
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
116
  • For app author convenience, the framework may also provide conventional locations
    for other sub-categories of private data such as configuration (data that has a useful
    default, but can be reconfigured by the user, and whose deletion would be considered
    to be data loss) and state (data with no useful default, whose deletion would likewise
    be considered to be data loss).
 Comments:
GN : OK
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
121The app framework must provide a mechanism by which an app program's private data can
all be deleted by another system component, for example as part of removal or a factory
reset.
 Comments:
GN : Ok as requirement.
GA: OK
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
124The app framework should provide a mechanism by which all app programs' private data
can be deleted in a single operation during a factory reset, so that the factory reset
procedure does not need to enumerate app programs and iterate through them.
 Comments:
GA: OK
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
127Deleting per-user data and per-device data during a factory reset is also anticipated to be
necessary, but is outside the scope of this framework.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:

 


 

Sandboxing and security

 

IDText
130App processes should run in a sandbox which partially isolates them from the rest of the
system.
 Comments:
GA: OK
GN : OK
GM : OK
Type : Info ?
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
132We anticipate that each app bundle will act as a security domain, similar to the concept of
an origin on the Web: in other words, there is a security boundary between each pair of appbundles,
but for simplicity there is no privilege boundary within an app bundle (for example
between two programs in the same app bundle).
 Comments:
GA: OK
GN: OK
GM: OK
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
136Each app is assumed to store private data which is specific to that app. On a multi-user
system, this private data is also specific to a user: in other words, there is one private data
location per (app, user) pair.
 Comments:
GA: The later descriptions are clearer. I might suggest rewriting this first
paragraph.
GN: same as above
Type : REQ
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
139
  • Any data with this access model is considered to be private data, whether it is in files
    directly written by the app, files written by platform libraries used by the app, or other
    data stored on behalf of the app by platform services (for example accessed via interprocess
    communication).
 Comments:
GN : Is this list final or only an example?
PW: It’s meant as an example.

Type :
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
143
  • Private data availability: when a specific user runs a program that is part of a specific
    app, that program can read and write the data owned by that (app, user)
    pair.
 Comments:
GN :OK
type : REQ
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
145
  • Private data confidentiality and integrity: an app must not be able to read, add, change or
    delete data owned by a different app and the same user without the other app
    specifically sharing it. The program must also not be able to read, add, change or
    delete data owned by the same app but a different user.
 Comments:
GN :OKtype : REQ
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
149Note that the App confidentiality requirement below imposes a stronger requirement
than this: the first app must not even be able to know that the second app's private
data exists.
 Comments:
GN :OKtype : REQ
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
152Some categories of data might be specific to a single app but common to all users. We call
these per-app data.
 Comments:
GN :OKtype : Info
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
154
  • The app framework may have support for per-app data. If it does, the availability,
    confidentiality and integrity requirements are analogous to those for private data.
    The per-app data is considered to be jointly owned by all users, therefore there is no
    expectation of confidentiality or integrity for the per-app data of programs from the
    same app bundle running as different users.
    Some categories of data are not necessarily specific to a single app; instead, they might be
    shared between all apps. We call these per-user data. For example, the user's address book
    (contacts) and the user's calendar (appointments) might be among these
    categories.
 Comments:
GN :OK
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
162
  • Any data with this access model is considered to be per-user data, whether it is in
    files directly written by multiple apps, files written by platform libraries used by
    multiple apps, or other data stored on behalf of multiple apps by platform services
    (for example accessed via inter-process communication).
 Comments:
GN : Is this list final or only set of way of handling?
PW: It’s an example.
Type :
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
166
  • We anticipate that in practice, per-user data would most commonly be kept outside
    apps' sandboxes and accessed via inter-process communication to a shared service.
    For example, Android contacts provider services, GNOME evolution-data-server and
    KDE Akonadi all use this model for address books.
 Comments:
GN : OK
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
170
  • User data availability (read): the apps that require access to this per-user data must be
    able to read it. For example, a messaging application might require access to the
    address book so that it can read the thumbnail photos representing contacts and
    display them in its user interface.
 Comments:
GN : OK
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
174
  • User data availability (write): the apps that require write access to this per-user data
    must be able to add, change and delete it. For example, a messaging application
    might require write access to the address book so that it can add contacts' instant
    messaging addresses to it.
 Comments:
GN: OK
GA: "Write" is general. As requirements go, additional precision might be needed, e.g. delete != modify?
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
178
  • User data confidentiality with least-privilege: an app must not be able to read per-user
    data without user consent, other than what that app needs to carry out its normal
    function. For example, a compromised messaging app would still be able to read the
    address book until the compromise was somehow detected, but would not be able to
    read (for example) the user's appointments calendar.
 Comments:
GN : OK
type : REQ
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
183
  • User data integrity with least-privilege: an app must not be able to modify per-user
    data without user consent, other than what that app needs to carry out its normal
    function. For example, a compromised messaging app would still be able to modify
    the address book until the compromise was somehow detected, but would not be
    able to modify the user's appointments calendar.
 Comments:
GN : OK
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
188Some categories of data are not necessarily specific to a single app or to a single user;
instead, they might be shared between all apps and between all users, like Android's
/sdcard. We call these per-device data.
 Comments:
GN: OK
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
191
  • The app framework may have support for per-device data. If it does, the availability,
    confidentiality and integrity requirements are analogous to those for per-user data,
    except that there is no expectation of confidentiality or integrity for per-device data.
    The user might install a malicious app that has been written or modified by an attacker, or
    the user might install an app with a security flaw that leads to an attacker being able to
    gain control over that app (referred to below as a compromised app). Either way, the attacker
    is assumed to be able to execute arbitrary code in the context of that
    specific app.
 Comments:
GN: OK
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
198
  • The requirements stated above for private and user data confidentiality and integrity
    mitigate this attack by restricting what the malicious or compromised app
    can do.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
200
  • App integrity: a malicious or compromised app must not be able to modify the
    executables and static data of other apps.
 Comments:
GN : OK
type : REQ
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
202
  • App confidentiality: in general, a malicious or compromised app must not be able to
    list the other apps that are running on the system or the other apps that are
    installed, either by their bundle names, by their entry points, or by inferring their
    presence from private or per-app data that they have written. Both are potentially
    sensitive information that could be used to "fingerprint" a particular user or class of
    users (for example customers or employees of a particular organization).
 Comments:
GN:OK
type : REQ
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
208
  • Note that if an app has written per-user data or per-device data, then it has
    potentially given up its own app confidentiality, in the sense that a malicious or
    compromised app could potentially identify it from the per-user or per-device data
    that it has written out. We recommend minimizing the number of apps able to write
    per-user and per-device data for this reason, and preferring to use content selection,
    document launching and data sharing to satisfy the use-cases for which other
    platforms would use a per-device filesystem.
 Comments:
GN: OK
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
215
  • Similarly, in general an app must not be able to communicate with other apps
    without user consent. Controlled exceptions to this general rule might exist for use
    cases such as data sharing.
 Comments:
GN: OK
type: REQ
GA: Needs some more details. Eg. is (direct) communication between apps even possible? User consent is a policy
question?
PW: We could expand on this a bit, but
since this section is about file system access, it would be a bit
distracting to devote a lot of discussion to inter-app communication. The
idea in Apertis is that apps cannot talk directly to each other — any
communication is mediated via an IPC service for ‘data sharing’ which can
enforce permissions on which apps can talk to each other. These permissions
might involve user consent (the precise policy is, as you say, a question
of vendor policy).
GA: OK, I think that makes sense.
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
218
  • System integrity: a malicious or compromised app app must not be able to violate the
    integrity of the system as a whole (for example by modifying the executables or static
    data of the system, or by altering the system's idea of what is a trusted app source).
 Comments:
GN : OK
type : REQ
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
221Resource limits: A malicious, compromised or buggy app might use more than its fair share
of system resources, including CPU cycles, RAM, storage (flash) or network
bandwidth.
 Comments:
GN : OKtype : REQ
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
223
  • Each app must have its own limit for these various metrics, for example by using
    cgroup resource controllers.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
225
  • If this limit is exceeded, the vendor may choose how to respond to this. Options
    include killing or freezing the app, rate-limiting requests, denying requests, and/or
    reporting the app to the app-store as potentially malicious.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:

 


 

App permissions

 

IDText
229A very simple app, for example a calculator or a simple to-do list, might not need to do
anything other than the operations allowed to all apps: display a GUI when launched, run
code in a sandbox, store its own private data up to some reasonable limit, and so on.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
232To carry out its designed purpose, a more complex app might need permission to carry out
actions that can compromise confidentiality (user privacy), integrity, or availability (the
absence of denial-of-service). For example, a more elaborate to-do list app might be able to
synchronize the to-do list to a cloud service, requiring it to have Internet access which
would make it technically able to copy whatever data it can read to a location not under the
user's control; it might ask to read the user's geographical location, to provide locationbased
reminders; and it might support attaching photos to its to-do items, requiring it to
read files that are not its private data.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
240Some permissions have technical constraints that makes it impractical to request user
permission before they are used. For example, one possible permission flag is "has
unrestricted Internet access", which might be used for a voice-over-IP client app. To support
this control, the life-cycle manager would need to launch the app program with unrestricted
Internet access either allowed or forbidden: it cannot be adjusted later.
 Comments:
GA: "before they are used" really means "on-demand" or "interactively"?
Internet access, system might also ask consent on first use.
PW: Yes. In this case, we’re talking about situations where an entire session in an app would need to be torn down and recreated in order to change its behaviour after being granted/denied permission.
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] Its agreed to change to "on demand". Provide possibility for having permissions before launch and after launch.
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
245
  • App bundles must be able to specify permissions without which they will not work,
    given in bundle metadata.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
251
  • The user might be asked whether to grant those permissions on installing that app
    bundle or on launching any entry point from that bundle, or the framework might
    automatically grant certain permissions based on approval from an app-store
    curator without user interaction.
    Some permissions can usefully be granted or denied at runtime. For example, address book
    access on Android works like this: the permissions framework can be configured to prompt
    the user on each attempted access.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
254
  • Operations that cross a privilege boundary between processes should include a step
    where a platform security framework is queried, to check whether the user's
    permission for the privileged action has been given. This should have at least three
    possible policy outcomes: allow, deny, or ask the user.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
258Some operations that cross privilege boundaries naturally include an opportunity for the
user to reject the operation. To minimize driver distraction, the system should provide that
opportunity instead of having a separate permission prompt.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
261
  • If an operation will naturally result in the user being prompted for a decision of some
    sort, there should not be an additional prompt for whether to allow the action.
    Instead, the user can indicate lack of consent by declining to make the requested
    decision. For example, content selection could use this approach: the user implicitly
    indicates consent to open or attach a file by selecting it, or indicates lack of consent
    by cancelling the file-selection dialog.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
267
  • The framework might require that particular privilege-boundary-crossing operations
    are declared in advance even though they imply an opportunity for the user to reject
    the operation, for example if those operations are considered to be particularly
    sensitive or vulnerable to social engineering attacks. If it does, then it may make
    attempts to invoke those operations fail unconditionally, as if the user had canceled
    them but without prompting the user at all.
 Comments:
GA: I would say framework shall require all privilege-boundary-crossing operations
to be declared... (why not?). I mean they need to be declared - not every
operation might be in the category that requires user acceptance. User
acceptance and declaration are orthogonal concepts in my view of this.
PW: I see no problem with declaring them all in advance. As you say, declaring which permissions an application might request is orthogonal to whether those permissions are actually granted at request time.
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] : agreed
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
273
  • Operations that cost money might be considered to be particularly sensitive — for
    example, a parent installing apps on behalf of a child is likely to want to prevent
    them — so the framework implementor might wish to ensure that operations like
    "send SMS" and "make in-app purchases" must be declared in advance.
 Comments:
Type: Information
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
277
  • Access to online accounts (such as social media) might be considered particularly
    susceptible to social engineering (since a user might not recognize when a request to
    fill in their social media account/password is or isn't legitimate), so the framework
    implementor might wish to ensure that operations involving these accounts must be
    declared in advance.
 Comments:
GA: As indicated above, I would change "declared in advance" to "require
user acceptance" or similar. Discuss and improve.
PW: I think we can treat declaring permissions as orthogonal to user authorisation of an app requesting those permissions in this case too. In this case, an example permission would be “let this app use my Facebook account to upload a photo”. If the permission is declared for the app, there are several policies which could be used at the time the app actually tries to start the upload: unconditionally allow the request, unconditionally deny the request, always ask the user, or ask the user if this is the first time the permission has been requested and use the answer from last time otherwise. I would agree with you, but I suspect that we should leave the exact policy to the vendors.
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] similar to ID-267
 Extracted requirement:

 


 

App launching

 

IDText
283A bundle may contain zero or more entry points. These are typically started from a launcher,
which might take the form of a home screen, main menu or application list.|
 Comments:
GA: OK, although I think it's a little unclear with reference to the
defintion. OpenDocument(mimetype) is also an entry point right? At least
if it brings up a GUI, but it won't be on the home screen. Only some
entrypoints will?
PW: Correct, that’s why it says ‘typically’ rather than ‘always’. We could rephrase this to ‘for example, these might be started from…’?
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] : Have the entry point topic collated together and make it explicit.
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
285
  • A launcher must be able to list all of the visible, available entry points in any installed
    bundle, together with enough metadata to display them in its menus. As a minimum,
    this would typically include a multilingual/localized name and an icon. Other
    metadata fields, such as categories, could be useful or unnecessary depending on
    the launcher's UX.
 Comments:
GA: Only those entrypoints that are not OpenDocument() type...
PW: There seems to be some confusion here over entry points which handle opening content by its content type (equivalently, its MIME type). Any entry point, including those which are listed in the launcher, can declare that it handles a list of content types. An entry point does not have to be listed in the launcher to declare that it handles a list of content types, either. For example, the Apertis music application has four entry points: three (artists, songs, albums) are listed in the launcher and don’t handle opening content; and a fourth (the ‘now playing’ view) is not listed in the launcher but does handle opening content (audio/mpeg, etc.). Different entry points within the same applications bundle can advertise different lists of content types they handle. Phrased differently, the set of entry points which handle opening content and the set of entry points listed in the launcher do not have to be disjoint or equal.
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] : As agreed above wrt to entry points.
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
290
  • The metadata fields in an entry point should be in line with what is typically present
    in other interoperable menu-entry specifications, such as freedesktop.org .desktop
    files or the <activity> element in Android manifests.
 Comments:
GA: OK
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
293
  • The base set of metadata fields should be standardized, in the sense that they are
    described in a vendor-neutral document shared by all GENIVI vendors and potentially
    also by non-GENIVI projects, with meanings that do not vary between vendors. For
    example, .desktop files would be a suitable implementation.
 Comments:
GA: First part is OK but decision needs discussion. Does .desktop imply also the syntax? E.g. ini-file style...?
PW: .desktop implies the syntax, standard field names and semantics, and rules for defining custom fields. http://standards.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/latest/
GA: OK. Let's make .desktop format a recommended format. Are there any other proposals?
PW: I have no other proposals. For reference, here's the Apertis specification for it: https://appdev.apertis.org/documentation/bundle-spec.html#entry-points
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] : agreed.
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
297
  • We anticipate that vendors will wish to introduce non-standardized metadata, either
    as a prototype for future standardization or to support vendor-specific additional
    requirements. It must be possible to include new metadata fields in an entry point,
    without coordination with a central authority.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:

 

IDText
301For example, this could be achieved by namespacing new metadata fields using a
DNS name (as is done in D-Bus), namespacing them with a URI (as is done in XML), or
using the X-Vendor-NewMetadataField convention (as is done in email headers, HTTP
headers and freedesktop.org .desktop files).
 Comments:
GA: Yes. Needs discussion, to decide something.
GA: Did anyone make notes from previous call discussion? I don't understand what
people prefer here - make proposals, vote, and reach a conclusion.
PW: Guru said he was taking notes, but they haven't materialised here yet. From what
I remember, this question is determined by the choice of metadata format for entry points.
So since we've decided to go with .desktop files, the namespacing must use the
X-Vendor-NewMetadataField scheme.
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] : Agreed.
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
305
  • Because of the requirement that ordinary app bundles are not allowed to enumerate
    other app bundles or entry points, if a launcher is implemented as a user-installable
    app bundle (as is sometimes done on Android), it must have a special permissions
    flag allowing it to carry out that restricted action.
 Comments: GA: OK. Not sure if this is a
requirement from any OEM (to have a use-installable launcher). It could be
implemented using an app permission, or by having "native"
privileged APIs not available to any app.
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] PW : e.g. third party call on system bus may not be allowed.As this needs fine
grain access control. This can complicate or make things complex. GA : Agreed to go ahead with the existing
requirement
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
309Some entry points might be flagged to not be visible in menus. For example, an app that is a
viewer for some file type such as PDF might register itself as a handler for files of that type,
but might not have anything useful to do if it appears in menus otherwise.
 Comments:
GA: This seems to be a policy question. Requirement is only to make this possible?
GA: (I need another discussion on definition of entry point, visible vs
background apps etc...)
PW: It’s not really a policy question, it’s more of an implementation question for the app developer. In the case of an entry point for handling PDF files, if the app doesn’t do anything unless given the path to a PDF file, it’s not going to make sense to display that entry point in menus on any vendor’s system.
JK: OK for another use case (e.g. hide an app icon from the launcher w/o removing)
but agreed w/ Gunnar. The use case above is based on the assumption that an entry
point to handling PDF shall be defined as other entry points having an icon,
which needs discussion.
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] : This should be left to the policy handling
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
312
  • Entry point metadata must indicate whether the entry point is to be
    visible in menus.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
313
  • The mechanism used by the launcher to list entry points may either include or
    exclude invisible entry points. If it does include those entry points, it must also
    provide the launcher with an indication that they are to be made invisible.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
316When the user selects an entry point, the expectation is that the program that implements
that entry point should be launched.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
318
  • If the program that implements the entry point is not already running,
    the system must run it. (See also life-cycle management.)
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
320
  • The program might implement more than one entry point. It must be told which entry
    point was launched, for example via command-line arguments or an inter-process
    communication call.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
323We do not anticipate that ordinary (non-launcher) app bundles would have a reason to
launch specific entry points in this way: we expect that if app bundles need to
communicate, they will do so via document launching, URI launching or data sharing. This
does not preclude one executable in a bundle from running another executable in the same
bundle directly.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
328
  • Open question: Do ordinary app bundles need to be allowed to launch other bundles'
    entry points by name? If so, why?
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
330
  • Android does allow this, but Android does not appear to provide app
    confidentiality.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
331
  • One possible use-case for a program launching a program outside its bundle would
    be to bring up the system settings. For example, Android apps that make use of
    location services often have a shortcut button to bring up the Location panel in the
    built-in Settings app, because the user-installable app would not be able to enable
    location itself, but its author wishes to make it easy for the user to do so.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
336However, a vendor-specific Settings app is part of the platform rather than being a
user-installable app bundle, so the constraints applying to it and the APIs that can be
used with it do not have to be the same as for app bundles.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
339This would also be easy to implement without launching the Settings app by name:
the built-in Settings app could register for URI launching as the launcher of a URI
scheme, similar to the way the iOS Settings app used to register the prefs URI
scheme, and the user-installable app could launch a URI of that scheme.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:

Document launching

IDText
344Some app entry points will provide handlers for particular file types.
 Comments:
GN :
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
345
  • An entry point must be able to identify the file types that it can receive. For example, a
    document viewer might register itself to receive Microsoft Word documents, Open
    Document Text files, and PDFs.|
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
348
  • We recommend that these are identified via IETF media types (also known as content
    types or MIME types), because the IETF media types are an extensible standard, are
    ubiquitous in existing operating system environments such as Windows, OS X,
    Android and freedesktop-based environments such as GNOME, and are part of key
    Internet technologies such as HTTP and email.
 Comments:
GN : This needs to be translated into requirement.
GA: IETF, but a human readable name also needed right?
PW: We assume that there is a separate mapping from IETF media types to human readable names for the file types. This exists as the Shared MIME-Info database on Linux systems.
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] : Agreed
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
353
  • The app framework must be able to identify the format of a file on secondary storage
    (flash), for example via its extension or "magic number". Unidentified files must be
    considered to have a documented generic format, for example application/octetstream
    in the IETF media type system.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
357
  • Open question: it has been suggested that app-bundles should be able to define
    their own new file types. Is this a requirement?
 Comments:
GN :Could you
provide a use case why such a requirement is needed?
PW: This would be needed if an app needed to save files in
a format which does not currently have a standard content-type, and then
have those files launch it when they are selected in the file manager.
i.e. The cases where an app needs to register a new entry in the MIME
magic database. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
GA: IMHO the possibility to do it is a requirement. To allow it or not is OEM policy.
PW: Agreed, if we want to allow it at all (see the discussion below).
JK: Agreed
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] : Agreed.
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
359
  • This requirement seems unwise from the point of view of system integrity: if an appbundle
    can define its own file types with their own extensions and/or "magic
    numbers", then it can introduce a conflict with other app-bundles or even alter the
    interpretation of existing files.
 Comments:
GN :Could you
provide a use case why such a requirement is needed?
PW: The use case for preventing this is to prevent
applications from assigning conflicting content types to existing files. A
file can only have one content type, and if the MIME magic database is
coerced into assigning the wrong type for it, the file will end up being
opened with the wrong application. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
GA: Let's dig deeper into the risks/opportunities of this. Mitigation for
conflicts? Do you mean can
be defined at run-time or can be defined in manifest?
PW: MIME type associations would have to be defined in manifests. They cannot be defined at application run-time because the system needs to know the magic bytes for a file type before it can work out which application to launch it with. However, manifests are trusted to have been audited when the application was submitted to the vendor, so we should be able to trust that each manifest only defines MIME types for file formats under control of that application’s author. And hence we should be able to guarantee there are no conflicts. So overall, I think I disagree with this part of the document (that allowing new MIME types to be defined is a risk), and think we should be able to allow it safely.
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] : GA : Rephrase as a recommendation to the policy maker. PW - Agreed.
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
363If this is implemented at all, we recommend that it should be tightly controlled by
app-store curators.
 Comments:
GA: Supplementary text / guideline. OK.
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
365
  • Choice of document handler: When a file is activated (for example by tapping its icon)
    from a non-app context such as the home screen, the app framework must locate the
    entry points that are able to handle that file. It must either choose one of those entry
    points for use, or prompt the user to choose one.
 Comments:
GN : Ok
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
369
  • When a file is activated from the context of an app (the initiating app), for example if
    the user activates an attachment in an email app, the app framework must behave
    similarly. It may opt to follow a different policy for choosing the correct entry point in
    this case; for example, it might prompt the user for confirmation even if there is only
    one possible handler.
 Comments: 
GN : OK as Requirement
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
374
  • System vendors must be able to force a particular app to handle particular file types.
    For example, a vendor might wish to make their video player handle all
    videos.
 Comments:
GN : OK as requirement.
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
376
  • If no handler is available for the selected file type, the app framework should arrange
    for a suitable fallback to be displayed. For example, it might show an error message,
    or it might launch its app store user interface with a search query for the handlers for
    that file type.
 Comments:
GN : Error handling requirement and choice should be left to vendor/OE specific handling
PW: I think the intention here is that the error handling is left as a policy decision for the vendor.
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] : Vendor specific. OK
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
380
  • No feedback to initiator: It should do this itself or by interacting with other system
    components instead of feeding back an error code to the initiating app (if any),
    because otherwise the initiating app would be able to use this as an "oracle" to gather
    information about the set of installed app bundles.
 Comments:
GN : Ok as requirement.
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
384
  • User confirmation: If exactly one handler is available for the selected file type, the app
    framework may launch it directly, or ask the user for confirmation. If the user cancels
    a request for confirmation, the app framework should neither launch the handler nor
    feed back an error code to the initiating app.
 Comments:
GN : Error handling
requirement and choice should be left to vendor/OE specific
handling
PW: All behaviour apart from what is
required here is left as a policy decision for the vendor. The features
mandated in this line are needed for security — not feeding back an
error code is required to prevent acting as an oracle for the number of
apps installed which can handle the given content type, which is an
indicator of which apps the user has installed (especially for uncommon
content types).
GA: The possibility of user confirmation seems to be repeated from previous text. Simplify?
PW: Are you referring to line 369? I don’t think there’s any harm in explicitly repeating the possibility here.
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] OK
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
388
  • If more than one handler is available for the selected file type, the app framework
    may launch a preferred handler directly, or ask the user to make the choice. If the
    user cancels a request for app choice, the app framework should neither launch a
    handler nor feed back an error code to the initiating app.
 Comments:
GN : Error handling requirement and choice should be left to vendor/OE specific handling
PW: See my comment for ID 384.
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] OK
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
392
  • The app framework must arrange for the file's content to be made available in a
    location where the chosen app can read it (see sandboxing and security).
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
394
  • If the program that implements the entry point is not already running, the system
    must run it. (See also life-cycle management.)
 Comments:
GN : Could this be a vendor specific. It could be that system has not reached a state
/ condition which is a prerequisite for the launch an any app.
PW: We were assuming that the system would either pause the app launch until it is in a state to launch apps, or not allow entry points to be spawned until that time. i.e. That it can synchronise on its own state.
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
396
  • The program must be told that it was launched to open a file, and given the filename
    of the file to open, for example via command-line arguments or an inter-process
    communication call. The filename that it is given might differ from the original file
    that was activated, for example if the file had to be copied or linked across a privilege
    boundary to be made available in the program's sandbox. The program must be able
    to distinguish between this action and ordinary app launching.
 Comments:
GN : What could be a requirement for App FW?
PW: I suggest the final sentence becomes the requirement.
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] : OK
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
402
  • Programs should be careful not to treat documents received in this way as
    executable code, or assume that the source of the document is trustworthy. For
    example, macro languages in "office" document formats should be disabled, and if
    arbitrary code execution in a program can be triggered by a malformed document,
    this should be considered to be a security vulnerability.
 Comments:
GN : OK.
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
407
  • We do not anticipate a need for the initiating app to be able to influence the choice of
    launched app.
 Comments:GN :OK, what requirement can be framed from this?
PW: I don’t think there is a concrete requirement in either direction here.
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] : Info text
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
409
  • If the initiating app could influence the choice of launched app, a malicious app
    could potentially use this to break or undermine app confidentiality. For example,
    suppose org.example.Secret opens .secret files. If the app com.example.Spy wanted to
    determine whether org.example.Secret was installed, it could register an entry point
    com.example.Spy.SecretHandler which also opens .secret files, create a .secret
    document, and launch that document specifying org.example.Secret and
    com.example.Spy.SecretHandler (in that order) as the preferred handlers. If
    com.example.Spy.SecretHandler was launched, then com.example.Spy could be sure
    that org.example.Secret was not installed. Conversely, if
    com.example.Spy.SecretHandler was not launched, then com.example.Spy could infer
    that org.example.Secret was likely to be installed.
 Comments:
GN : OK
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
420Apertis Content Hand-over Use Cases contains some similar requirements-capture that
was carried out for the Apertis platform.
 Comments:
GN:OK
 Extracted requirement:

URI launching

IDText
423Some app entry points will provide handlers for particular URI schemes such as https,
mailto or skype.|
 Comments:
GN:OK
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
425
  • file URIs must not be included in this mechanism. Instead, they should be decoded
    into filenames and processed via document launching.
 Comments:
GN:OK
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
427
  • An entry point must be able to identify the URI schemes that it can receive. For
    example, a multi-protocol voice-over-IP client might support receiving sip and xmpp
    URIs.
 Comments:
GN : Can this be a requirement?
PW: Yes. In general I think that anything phrased as ‘must’ in the document should become a requirement.
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] : GN : Its a part of manifest field, PW - Yes its a std key
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
430
  • When a URI is activated, the app framework must locate the entry points that are able
    to handle that URI and choose one for launching, much like file type handling. The
    same points about choice of handler, user confirmation, and lack of feedback to the
    initiating app apply equally here.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
434
  • As with URI schemes, system vendors must be able to force a particular app to
    handle particular URIs. For example, a vendor might wish to make their built-in web
    browser handle all http and https URIs.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
437
  • If the program that implements the entry point is not already running, the system
    must run it. (See also life-cycle management.)
 Comments:
GN : Could this be a vendor specific. It could be that system has not reached a state
/ condition which is a prerequisite for the launch an any app.
PW: See my comments on ID 394.
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] : OK
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
439
  • The program must be told that it was launched to open a URI, and given the URI to
    open, for example via command-line arguments or an inter-process communication
    call. The program must be able to distinguish between this action, document
    launching and ordinary app launching.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
443
  • As with document launching, we do not anticipate a need for the initiating app to be
    able to influence the choice of launched app, but system components might need to
    do so.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
446
  • Programs should be careful not to interpret URIs in a way that a malicious or
    compromised initiating app could use to violate integrity, confidentiality or
    availability. For example, telephone calls and text messages (SMS) could cost money,
    distract the driver, or divulge sensitive information to a third party. As a result, an
    app that acts as a tel: URI handler may respond to URI launching by offering the user
    a choice of actions to carry out (for example "call" and "send SMS" buttons, perhaps
    with a text input widget pre-filled with SMS text taken from the URI), but must not
    actually initiate the call or send the SMS until the user requests it.
 Comments:
GN : How this can be achieved? or is this always routed through system UI. Can this be a vendor
specific for how to handle?
PW: I think this needs to be URI-scheme-specific for how to handle it. It could be vendor specific, but vendors will likely come up with the same approaches since the problems are fairly constrained. I don’t have any more suggestions for how this could be achieved beyond what’s in the examples.
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] : OK. PW : Need to extract req from this.
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
454Similarly, if a URI scheme is designed in such a way that dereferencing a URI can
cause content to be modified or deleted (an unsafe request in HTTP terminology),
then the program interpreting the URI should ask the user before
proceeding.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
457Apertis Content Hand-over Use Cases contains some related requirements-capture that was
carried out for the Apertis platform.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:

Content selection

IDText
460App programs might wish to interact with data stored in locations that are not naturally
accessible to the app. For example, an attachment to an email would be private data for the
email app as run by the user whose email account is accessing it.
However, we would like to avoid such data passing through a per-device data storage area
that is shared between all apps (similar to Android's /sdcard), because in practice data
passed between programs will typically include sensitive data such as photos and
documents.
 Comments:
GN : OK
type : REQ
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
467The solution that is used in Apple's iOS and planned for the Flatpak system is to have an API
call that creates a file-opening or file-saving dialog. While visually presented as if it was
part of the requesting app, this dialog actually exists outside the app's security context (it
is privileged), and it is able to browse all of the user's files. iOS calls this the Document
Picker, while Flatpak calls it the Document Portal.
 Comments:
GN : OKtype : INFO
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
472
  • The app framework should provide a way to ask the user to browse for a file to open
    for reading, similar in principle to the conventional "Open" dialog on desktop
    operating systems.
 Comments:
GN : OKtype : Info
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
475
  • If the user does so, the framework must make this file available to the app program
    for reading.
 Comments:
GN:OK
type : REQ
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
477
  • If the user cancels this prompt, the framework must indicate this to the requesting
    app, and must not grant it any additional access to any files.
 Comments:
GN : OKtype : REQ
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
479
  • The app framework should provide a way to ask the user to browse to a location in
    which to write a file, and simultaneously choose a name for that file.
 Comments:
GN : OKtype : REQ
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
481
  • As above, depending on the user's choice, the framework must either provide a way
    for the app to write to that location and name, or indicate cancellation and not
    provide any additional access.
 Comments:
GN : OKtype : REQ
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
484
  • If the user selects an existing file outside the app's sandbox, it must be overwritten
    atomically if the underlying filesystem supports that.
 Comments:
GN : OK
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
486
  • The app framework may provide specialized versions of this functionality for specific
    file types, in particular images/photos.
 Comments:
GN : What do yo mean by specialized versions? what probably can be covered?
PW: For example, by providing an image preview in the file selection dialogue. This can be clarified in the text.
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] : GA : Replace functionality with more explicit info.
PW : OK
 Extracted requirement:

Data sharing

IDText
489The system might require the ability to enumerate the implementations of a particular
service or set of functionality. In this document we will refer to that set of functionality as
an interface. One use-case for this is that a global search facility within the platform needs
to discover a list of background services (entry points) within app bundles that can provide
search results in response to user queries entered into some global search UI; for example,
a Spotify client could use the search term to match artists or songs.
 Comments:
GN:OK
type : UseCase
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
495
  • Suitably privileged components of the system must be able to enumerate the
    implementations of an interface.
 Comments:
GN : OK
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
497
  • Suitably privileged components of the system must be able to communicate with the
    implementations of an interface.
 Comments:
GN : OK
type : REQ
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
499
  • If the system initiates communication with an implementation of an interface that is
    not already running, the app framework must arrange for the implementation (an
    entry point) to be started.
 Comments:
GN : OK
type : REQ
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
502An app might also require the ability to enumerate the implementations of a particular
interface. One example use-case here is that if an app will display a Sharing menu similar
to the UX seen in Android, it needs to be able to list the apps with which files or data can be
shared, in order to populate that menu. Due to the app confidentiality requirement, this
should only be allowed if the interface in question is one whose implementors are aware
that it will result in other apps being able to enumerate their apps. In this document we will
refer to this as a public interface.
 Comments:
GN : OK
type : UseCase and info
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
509
  • An app with appropriate app permissions must be able to enumerate the
    implementors of a public interface.
 Comments:
GN : OK
type : REQ
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
511
  • Depending on the system and the interface in question, a special permission flag per
    public interface might be required to list the implementors, or that information
    might be available to every application.
 Comments:
GN : OK
type : REQ
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
514
  • An app with appropriate app permissions must be able to communicate with all of
    the implementors of a public interface, for example via an inter-process
    communication channel such as D-Bus.
 Comments:
GN : OK
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
517
  • If an app initiates communication with an implementation of an interface that is not
    already running, the app framework must arrange for the implementation (an entry
    point) to be started.
 Comments:
GN : similar to ID 499
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
520The Apertis Interface Discovery design and Apertis Data Sharing design describe use-cases,
requirements and proposed implementations for this topic in the Apertis
system.
 Comments:
GN : OK
type : info
 Extracted requirement:

Sharing menu

IDText
523One specific use-case for data sharing is a menu for sharing content with other users, for
example via social media, email or real-time communications, similar to the Android
Sharing menu.
 Comments:
GN : OK
type : UseCase
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
526Two possible UXs for this facility are presented in the Apertis Sharing design. Each UX
motivates rather different requirements for how this facility interacts with apps, and in
particular its impact on app confidentiality.
 Comments:
GN : OK
type : info
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
529Open question: Is this in the scope of the application framework? If it is, which UX do we
intend to support?
 Comments:
GN : Ux is not in the scope of App FW. However any interface that need to be exposed to UX
should be taken care of.
PW: UX is not in scope, indeed; but we need to know which of the UXs needs to be supported (both?), as it affects the underlying API.
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] : OK, agreed.
 Extracted requirement:

Life-cycle management

IDText
532Under various circumstances (including those described in app launching, document
launching, URI launching and data sharing), the system must be able to start a program
provided by an app bundle.
 Comments:
GN : OK
GM : OK
type : REQ
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
535This topic overlaps with the functionality of the GENIVI Node Startup Controller, and more
generally the GENIVI Lifecycle cluster. It should potentially be considered to be an
orthogonal topic outside the scope of the App Framework design. Some requirements in
this area are outlined here in the hope that they can be used to clarify the division of
responsibilities.
 Comments:
GN : OK
GM : OK
type : info
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
540The possible states of a program in an app are as follows:
 
  • Not installed
 
  • Inactive (installed but not running)
 
  • Running
 
  • Paused
    The valid state transitions move linearly through that list in single
    steps, as follows:
 
  • Not installed → inactive: install app bundle
 
  • Inactive → running: start (launch), see this section
 
  • Running → paused: pause, see this section
 
  • Paused → running: unpause, see this section
 
  • Running → inactive: stop (kill, terminate), see this section
 
  • Inactive → not installed: remove app bundle
 Comments:
GN : When in the Running state how the background or foreground of an app is handled? If this is left to the App how
App FW will not about which apps been shown in foreground and which are in background?

PW: It’s assumed that the foreground/background state of an application is basically orthogonal to its inactive/running/paused state, to the extent that inactive apps have no processes running; running apps can be in the background or foreground; paused apps can be in the background or foreground (but the (paused, foreground) state probably only makes sense transitionally). Multiple apps could be (running, foreground) if the vendor supported presenting multiple apps on the screen at once (i.e. a tiling window manager).
type : REQ
[App FW telco - 15-11-2016] : PW : this is covered in LCM f/w, GA, GN : Its a different philosophy. Here we need it at the App Level. agreed.
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
552Transitions do not skip a step: for example, a paused app process cannot be stopped
without first unpausing it, and an app bundle cannot be removed until all of its processes
have been stopped.
 Comments:
GN : OK
GM : OK
type : REQ
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
555Open question: some GENIVI documents have the concept of "activating" a program, which
appears to be distinct from launching it. Does this correspond to selection, similar to
single-clicking an icon in a desktop environment where double-clicking
would cause launching; or does it represent a transition away from an intermediate state where a newly
installed app is unavailable until an activation, enabling or licensing step has been
performed, similar to the concept of activating a Windows installation; or is it something
else?
 Comments:
GA: Please reference the document in question.
PW: I’m not sure which document Simon was referring to. I’ll try to find out.
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
562As a prerequisite for sandboxing and security, app processes must be
identifiable.
 Comments:
GN : OK
GM : OK
type : REQ
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
563
  • The app framework must be able to start processes, either directly or by asking a
    separate service manager such as the Node Startup Controller to start
    them.
 Comments:
GN : Can this be a vendor specific?
PW: I suspect the mechanism for starting processes will be vendor-specific. The requirement that the app framework must be able to start processes is a requirement for all vendors.
type : REQ
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
565
  • Process tagging: each process executing code from an app bundle must be marked
    with the unique identifier of that bundle (for example by placing it in a suitably
    named cgroup or by running it under a suitable LSM context).
    Those processes and their child processes, whether running the same or a different
    executable from the app bundle or running an executable provided by the system,
    must not be able to enter a state where they are no longer identifiable as belonging to
    their bundle.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
572
  • Depending on the vendor's UX design and the app author's UX design, the entry point
    might start in a default state, or it might start by restoring the last-used context. The
    app framework should be able to send a hint that indicates which of these modes is
    preferred (see the section on Last-used context).
 Comments:
GN: OK
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
576The application launch has various interactions with the graphical user interface. See
Apertis Compositor Security design for more detailed requirements-capture for the
interaction between the GUI shell and apps. The Apertis design assumes that the
compositor and the GUI shell are combined, as was done in Apertis' Mildenhall reference UI
and in GNOME's GNOME Shell. In a system where the GUI shell and compositor are separate,
those requirements should be read as being requirements for the combined system
consisting of the GUI shell and the compositor.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
583
  • Processes may request that windows (surfaces, layers) are displayed. The GUI shell
    must be able to identify the app bundle to which a window belongs, so that it can
    instruct the compositor (layer manager) to display it (or not display it) according to
    its UX policy.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
587
  • The GUI shell must be able to identify which windows belong to the same user-facing
    app, so that they can be associated visually, and so that it can prevent apps from
    setting up misleading situations like a dialog from one app drawn over another app's
    window.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
591
  • The GUI shell might have an application-switcher similar to the one in Android. It
    must be possible to mark each app's collection of windows with a name and icon as
    is done in Android. This is important for the integrity of the UX — otherwise, it would
    be impossible for the user to tell which app is producing a given window, for example
    to see which app is responsible for an advertising popup (output integrity), or which
    app is requesting entry of a password (input integrity).
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:
IDText
597
  • If application launching is in progress but no window has been displayed yet, the
    framework must avoid focus stealing: in other words, it must ensure that input
    intended to go to the previous foreground window in a particular screen area is not
    inadvertently directed to a window presented by the newly launched
    application.
 Comments:
 Extracted requirement:

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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