diff --exclude-from=exc -uprN tsp.cvs_tree/configure.ac tsp/configure.ac
--- tsp.cvs_tree/configure.ac	2005-04-23 19:24:45.000000000 +0200
+++ tsp/configure.ac	2005-04-22 22:44:45.000000000 +0200
@@ -173,6 +173,27 @@ fi
 ### End OpenGL part for TSP consumers
 #######################################
 
+######################################
+# Build XMLRPC for command transport
+######################################
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(xmlrpc,   [  --enable-xmlrpc              enable xmlrpc for TSP commands  (this feature is ALPHA and _disables_ RPC usage)],
+	      BUILD_XMLRPC=$enableval,
+	      BUILD_XMLRPC="no")
+if test "$BUILD_XMLRPC"  = "yes"; then
+	AC_CHECK_PROG([XMLRPC_CONFIG],[xmlrpc-c-config],[`which xmlrpc-c-config`],[notfound],[$PATH],[rej])
+	if test "$XMLRPC_CONFIG" = "notfound"; then
+	  AC_MSG_RESULT([NOK: xmlrpc-c-config script (xmlrpc-c-devel package) not found we'll use RPC instead])
+	  BUILD_XMLRPC="no"
+	else
+	  AC_MSG_RESULT([Ok])
+	  AC_MSG_CHECKING([enabling XMLRPC usage (disabling RPC)])
+	  BUILD_XMLRPC="yes"
+    fi    
+fi
+#######################################
+### End XMLRPC for command transport
+#######################################
+
 ################################
 # BlackBoard part of TSP
 ################################
@@ -418,6 +439,7 @@ AC_SUBST(XML2_CONFIG_USER)
 AC_SUBST(GTK_BASED_CONSUMER)
 AC_SUBST(LEX_YACC_PARSER)
 AC_SUBST(TSPPROVIDER)
+AC_SUBST(BUILD_XMLRPC)
 
 
 # Config for outputed files
diff --exclude-from=exc -uprN tsp.cvs_tree/make/Makeparams tsp/make/Makeparams
--- tsp.cvs_tree/make/Makeparams	2005-04-23 19:18:43.000000000 +0200
+++ tsp/make/Makeparams	2005-04-23 11:58:02.000000000 +0200
@@ -62,6 +62,16 @@ BUILD_XML2_CONFIG_USER	 = yes
 BUILD_LEXYACC_PARSER  	= yes
 BUILD_BB		= yes
 BUILD_SCRIPT_BINDING 	= no
+USABLE_OPENGL           = 
+USABLE_OPENGLUT         = 
+BUILD_XMLRPC 		= yes
+
+# Setup xmlrpc-c environnement if needed
+ifeq ($(BUILD_XMLRPC), yes)
+        LDLIBS +=  `xmlrpc-c-config abyss-server --libs` `xmlrpc-c-config client --libs`
+        CFLAGS += -DBUILD_XMLRPC -I$(TSP_BASE)/src/core/xmlrpc
+        CPPFLAGS += -DBUILD_XMLRPC -I$(TSP_BASE)/src/core/xmlrpc 
+endif
 
 # ----------------
 # customize
diff --exclude-from=exc -uprN tsp.cvs_tree/make/Makeparams.in tsp/make/Makeparams.in
--- tsp.cvs_tree/make/Makeparams.in	2005-04-23 19:24:48.000000000 +0200
+++ tsp/make/Makeparams.in	2005-04-22 23:30:17.000000000 +0200
@@ -64,6 +64,14 @@ BUILD_BB		= @BB@
 BUILD_SCRIPT_BINDING 	= @SCRIPT_BINDING@
 USABLE_OPENGL           = @GL_OK@
 USABLE_OPENGLUT         = @GLUT_OK@
+BUILD_XMLRPC 		= @BUILD_XMLRPC@
+
+# Setup xmlrpc-c environnement if needed
+ifeq ($(BUILD_XMLRPC), yes)
+        LDLIBS +=  `xmlrpc-c-config abyss-server --libs` `xmlrpc-c-config client --libs`
+        CFLAGS += -DBUILD_XMLRPC -I$(TSP_BASE)/src/core/xmlrpc
+        CPPFLAGS += -DBUILD_XMLRPC -I$(TSP_BASE)/src/core/xmlrpc 
+endif
 
 # ----------------
 # customize
diff --exclude-from=exc -uprN tsp.cvs_tree/src/core/ctrl/Makefile tsp/src/core/ctrl/Makefile
--- tsp.cvs_tree/src/core/ctrl/Makefile	2005-04-23 19:18:45.000000000 +0200
+++ tsp/src/core/ctrl/Makefile	2005-04-20 18:22:46.000000000 +0200
@@ -19,8 +19,6 @@ OBJECTS=$(SOURCES:%.c=$(DIROBJ)/%.o) 
 
 TARGET=$(DIRLIB)/libtsp_provider.a
 
-CPPFLAGS += -I../rpc -I ../misc_utils
-
 # -----------------------------------------------------------
 # No label all:: because it's in Makeparams and calls build::	
 # same thing for clean:: that calls destroy::
diff --exclude-from=exc -uprN tsp.cvs_tree/src/core/ctrl/tsp_provider.c tsp/src/core/ctrl/tsp_provider.c
--- tsp.cvs_tree/src/core/ctrl/tsp_provider.c	2005-04-23 19:18:45.000000000 +0200
+++ tsp/src/core/ctrl/tsp_provider.c	2005-04-22 23:55:06.000000000 +0200
@@ -340,11 +340,13 @@ void TSP_provider_request_close(const TS
 } /* End of TSP_provider_request_close */
 
 void  TSP_provider_request_information(TSP_request_information_t* req_info, 
- 			      TSP_answer_sample_t* ans_sample)
+									   TSP_answer_sample_t* ans_sample)
 {
   int ret;
   TSP_LOCK_MUTEX(&X_tsp_request_mutex,);
   
+  STRACE_IO(("-->IN"));
+
   ans_sample->version_id = TSP_VERSION;
   ans_sample->channel_id = req_info->channel_id;
   ans_sample->status = TSP_STATUS_ERROR_UNKNOWN;
@@ -388,7 +390,7 @@ void TSP_provider_request_sample_free_ca
 }
 
 void  TSP_provider_request_sample(TSP_request_sample_t* req_info, 
-			 TSP_answer_sample_t* ans_sample)
+								  TSP_answer_sample_t* ans_sample)
 {
   TSP_LOCK_MUTEX(&X_tsp_request_mutex,);	
   STRACE_IO(("-->IN"));
@@ -441,7 +443,7 @@ void  TSP_provider_request_sample(TSP_re
 } /* End of TSP_provider_request_sample */
 
 void  TSP_provider_request_sample_init(TSP_request_sample_init_t* req_info, 
-				       TSP_answer_sample_init_t* ans_sample)
+									   TSP_answer_sample_init_t* ans_sample)
 {  
   int start_local_thread;
   TSP_LOCK_MUTEX(&X_tsp_request_mutex,);    
@@ -451,6 +453,7 @@ void  TSP_provider_request_sample_init(T
   ans_sample->channel_id = req_info->channel_id;
   ans_sample->status = TSP_STATUS_ERROR_UNKNOWN;
  
+
   if(req_info->version_id <= TSP_VERSION)
     {
       ans_sample->version_id = req_info->version_id;
diff --exclude-from=exc -uprN tsp.cvs_tree/src/core/ctrl/tsp_request.c tsp/src/core/ctrl/tsp_request.c
--- tsp.cvs_tree/src/core/ctrl/tsp_request.c	2005-04-24 10:44:43.000000000 +0200
+++ tsp/src/core/ctrl/tsp_request.c	2005-04-20 18:16:53.000000000 +0200
@@ -209,7 +209,8 @@ TSP_provider_rqh_manager_refresh(void) {
 		  if(rqh_p->status == TSP_RQH_STATUS_RUNNING)
 		    {
 		      rqh_manager_if.nb_running_rhq++;
-		      STRACE_INFO(("Request handler # %d started with URL %s", rank, TSP_rpc_request_url(rqh_p)));
+		      /*FIXME: should not reference rpc explicitely */
+		      /*STRACE_INFO(("Request handler # %d started with URL %s", rank, TSP_rpc_request_url(rqh_p)));*/
 		    }
 		  else
 		    {
diff --exclude-from=exc -uprN tsp.cvs_tree/src/core/ctrl_init/tsp_provider_init.c tsp/src/core/ctrl_init/tsp_provider_init.c
--- tsp.cvs_tree/src/core/ctrl_init/tsp_provider_init.c	2005-04-23 19:18:45.000000000 +0200
+++ tsp/src/core/ctrl_init/tsp_provider_init.c	2005-04-22 23:14:36.000000000 +0200
@@ -40,9 +40,14 @@ Purpose   : Function calls to launch a T
 
 #include "tsp_provider.h"
 #include "tsp_request.h"
-#include "tsp_server.h"
 #include "tsp_provider_init.h"
 
+#ifdef BUILD_XMLRPC
+#include "tsp_xmlrpc_server.h"
+#else
+#include "tsp_server.h"
+#endif
+
 int TSP_provider_init(int* argc, char** argv[])
 {
 
@@ -72,7 +77,11 @@ int TSP_provider_run(int spawn_mode)
   if(TSP_provider_is_initialized())
     {            
       /* build and install default request handler (RPC) */
+#ifdef BUILD_XMLRPC
+      TSP_provider_rqh_manager_install(0,TSP_xmlrpc_request);
+#else
       TSP_provider_rqh_manager_install(0,TSP_rpc_request);
+#endif
 
       if (spawn_mode & TSP_ASYNC_REQUEST_DYNAMIC) {
 	/*
diff --exclude-from=exc -uprN tsp.cvs_tree/src/core/driver/tsp_consumer.c tsp/src/core/driver/tsp_consumer.c
--- tsp.cvs_tree/src/core/driver/tsp_consumer.c	2005-04-23 19:18:45.000000000 +0200
+++ tsp/src/core/driver/tsp_consumer.c	2005-04-23 19:12:44.000000000 +0200
@@ -427,12 +427,12 @@ TSP_provider_t* TSP_consumer_connect_url
       else p = url_tok; /* may start of string be the hostname ?! */
 
       /* no protocol specified, use default */
-      protocol = strdup(TSP_RPC_PROTOCOL);
+      protocol = strdup(TSP_PROTOCOL);
    }
   else
     {
       /* protocol should be OK (start of URL), set p to hostname field */
-      if(p == url_tok) protocol = strdup(TSP_RPC_PROTOCOL);
+      if(p == url_tok) protocol = strdup(TSP_PROTOCOL);
       *p = '\0';
       p += 3;
     }
@@ -567,7 +567,7 @@ void TSP_consumer_connect_all(const char
 	  STRACE_DEBUG(("Trying to open server No %d", i));
 
 	  /* Is server number 'i' alive ?*/ 
-	  if(TSP_remote_open_server(  TSP_RPC_PROTOCOL,
+	  if(TSP_remote_open_server(  TSP_PROTOCOL,
 				      host_name,
 				      "",
 				      i, 
diff --exclude-from=exc -uprN tsp.cvs_tree/src/core/include/tsp_const_def.h tsp/src/core/include/tsp_const_def.h
--- tsp.cvs_tree/src/core/include/tsp_const_def.h	2005-04-23 19:18:45.000000000 +0200
+++ tsp/src/core/include/tsp_const_def.h	2005-04-23 18:56:44.000000000 +0200
@@ -225,7 +225,11 @@ typedef struct  TSP_otsp_server_info_t T
 
 /*-------- RPC --------*/
 
-#define TSP_RPC_PROTOCOL "rpc"
+#ifdef BUILD_XMLRPC
+#define TSP_PROTOCOL "xmlrpc"
+#else
+#define TSP_PROTOCOL "rpc"
+#endif
 /**
  * base RPC PROG_ID that will be used 
  * to calculate the PROG ID for each server
@@ -244,6 +248,14 @@ typedef struct  TSP_otsp_server_info_t T
  */
 #define TSP_MAXHOSTNAMELEN 255
 
+/* ------- URL LENGTH ----*/
+
+/**
+ * Max url length, 4096 looks like a sane value
+ * see http://www.faqts.com/knowledge_base/view.phtml/aid/329
+ */
+#define TSP_MAX_URL_LENGTH 4096
+
 /*-------- MACROS --------*/
 
 #define TSP_CHECK_ALLOC(p, ret) \
diff --exclude-from=exc -uprN tsp.cvs_tree/src/core/Makefile tsp/src/core/Makefile
--- tsp.cvs_tree/src/core/Makefile	2005-04-23 19:18:45.000000000 +0200
+++ tsp/src/core/Makefile	2005-04-18 16:02:04.000000000 +0200
@@ -2,8 +2,14 @@ include $(DEVBASE)/make/Makeparams
 #----------------------------------------------------------
 # core is only compiled for native host target and not java
 #----------------------------------------------------------
+	
+SUBDIRS = include misc_utils
 
-SUBDIRS = include misc_utils rpc
+ifeq (${BUILD_XMLRPC}, yes)
+	SUBDIRS += xmlrpc
+else
+	SUBDIRS += rpc
+endif
 
 ifeq (${BUILD_PROVIDER},yes)
 	SUBDIRS += ctrl ctrl_init