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EyesWeb Graphical Development
Environment (GDE)
User Guide
TRIL Centre's BioMOBIUS™ Research Platform: an Open, Shareable Softwareand Hardware System
Audience
Platform development engineers, biomedical engineers
Purpose
To describe the EyesWeb GDE and how to use it.
Pre-requisitesIt is recommended to have read the Architecture Document and the Anatomy of a
Block before reading this.
Version: 1.0
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1 Graphical Development Environment (GDE) ............................................. 4
The GDE Environment........................................................................... 4 2 The Catalog View ................................................................................. 5 3 The Properties View.............................................................................. 7
3.1 Params Sheet ................................................................................ 8 Appearance Settings............................................................................. 8 Signature Settings................................................................................ 8 Scheduling Settings.............................................................................. 9 Settings Settings.................................................................................. 9
1.1 Descr(iption) Sheet........................................................................10 4 The Patch View ...................................................................................12
4.1 Dragging a Block onto the Patch View...............................................13 Status ...............................................................................................13
4.2 Connecting Blocks to one another ....................................................13 5 Message Console.................................................................................14 6 Other Views .......................................................................................15
6.1 Status Bar ....................................................................................16 6.2 Navigator .....................................................................................16 6.3 Open File Tabs ..............................................................................16
7 The Menu Bar .....................................................................................16 7.1 The File Menu................................................................................17
New ..................................................................................................17 Close.................................................................................................17 Revert ...............................................................................................17 Save .................................................................................................18 Save As .............................................................................................18 Save All .............................................................................................18 Print, Print Preview, Print Setup ............................................................18 Recent Files x 4 ..................................................................................18 Exit ...................................................................................................18
7.2 The Edit Menu ...............................................................................18 Undo .................................................................................................19 Redo .................................................................................................19 Cut ...................................................................................................19 Copy .................................................................................................19 Paste.................................................................................................19 Delete ...............................................................................................19 Select all............................................................................................19 Order ................................................................................................20 Design...............................................................................................20 Orientation.........................................................................................20 Rotate ...............................................................................................20 Locate ...............................................................................................20 Activate .............................................................................................20
7.3 The View Menu..............................................................................20
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7.4 The System Menu..........................................................................21 7.5 The Tools Menu .............................................................................21
Profiling .............................................................................................22 Kernel Properties ................................................................................22 External Tools.....................................................................................22 Options..............................................................................................23
7.6 The Window Menu .........................................................................24 Close.................................................................................................24 Close All ............................................................................................24 Next..................................................................................................24 Previous ............................................................................................24 Tile Horizontally ..................................................................................25 Tile Vertically......................................................................................25 Open patches x N................................................................................25 Windows............................................................................................25
7.7 The Help Menu ..............................................................................25 About ................................................................................................25
8 Toolbars ............................................................................................27 8.1 The Main Toolbar ...........................................................................27 8.2 The Window Toolbar.......................................................................28 8.3 The System Toolbar .......................................................................29 8.4 The Design Toolbar ........................................................................29 8.5 Status Bar ....................................................................................30
9 Find Out More.....................................................................................30 10 The Development Process..................................................................30
10.1 Design Time...............................................................................31 10.2 Initialisation Phase .........................................................................31 10.3 Execution...................................................................................31
Appendix A ..............................................................................................32
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Note: ‘BioMOBIUS™’ in this document refers to the entire software system for thecreation of BioMOBIUS™ applications, and is built on the EyesWeb graphicaldevelopment environment, the GUI development tool, the block libraries,
catalogs, etc.
The BioMOBIUS™ platform also contains hardware components, these are notincluded in the scope of this document. For information on the hardware
components please refer to the hardware section of the BioMOBIUS™ webite:
www.biomobius.org Note: BioMOBIUS™ builds on the EyesWeb initiative by the University of Genoa.
Many of the technical details of BioMOBIUS™ reflect those of the EyesWeb
system.
1 Graphical Development Environment (GDE)BioMOBIUS™ applications are created using the EyesWeb Graphical DevelopmentEnvironment (GDE). The GDE provides a workspace where blocks can be selected,
configured and combined into BioMOBIUS™ applications.
The GDE includes
1 An application for the design and implementation of patches2 A server on which patches execute
3 A large portfolio of functional blocks, from which the component blocks of the patch, can be selected.
The GDE builds a patch from scratch. It requires access to the block portfolio, and
a running EyesWeb kernel.
The output of the GDE is a patch, ready to deploy. Typically, the user interface for
the patch will be added once the patch is complete, using the GUI Designer (see
the Architecture document and the GUI Designer User Guide for details).
The GDE Environment
The GDE includes a graphical workspace for building the patch. It consists of fourmain elements or ‘views’ – the catalog view , the properties view , the patch
view and the message console. Various other elements of the GDE workspacecan be made visible as required, see the View Menu description below for details.
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properties
view
catalog
view
message
consolepatch view
Figure 1 - The GDE
The GDE installation also contains a number of utilities which enable the user to
add new blocks to the GDE, interface with hardware devices through virtual serialports, etc. See Appendix A for additional information.
2 The Catalog View
In order to create a patch, you must select the blocks which you will combine to
assemble the patch. The blocks are presented in a collection of libraries called ‘catalogs’ (strictly, catalogs are the DLL files containing block code, while libraries
are collections of blocks which have been grouped together for the convenience of the user of the GDE).
The various libraries can be expanded in the familiar ‘explorer’ or ‘tree’ viewermanner.
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Figure 2 - the top level libraries
Figure 3 - expanding the libraries
A ‘search’ window option is available to help the user find a particular block. Thissearch function matches the search query against the block name; itseffectiveness relies to a large degree on the naming of the blocks themselves.
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Figure 4 -the search area
Having found the block which you want to use, simply drag it across onto thepatch view area of the GDE workspace.
The properties of the block appear in the properties view and can be configured
immediately.
3 The Properties View
The properties view enables various settings to be configured for whatever patch
element is currently selected. To select a block in the patch view, simply click
upon it. (A block cannot be configured in the catalog view)
The properties view has two sheets, accessed via their respective tabs. Settings
in the properties view are set using the Params sheet. The description, licence,developer credits, etc. of the block are set using the Descr(iption) sheet.
Note that the bottom of the properties view shows the value domains for settings.
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3.1 Params Sheet
A block has the following settings, arranged in groups. It should be noted thatwhile all blocks have the following groups of settings, many blocks also have
additional settings, which reflect the functionality of the particular blocks. To see
the full collection of settings for a block, consult its documentation in the BlockReference Document.
The order in which settings are shown can be changed by the user – you can optto have the settings grouped according to function, or listed A-to-Z. This section
assumes that the functional grouping has been selected.
Where setting names are provided in bold, the values can be edited.
Some settings are shown in semicolon-separated lists. These lists can beexpanded by clicking on the button beside the setting. The values in thesesettings can be changed either as lists or one by one. If you change the value of
the settings using the list, all settings are changed at once by the system; if youchange the settings one by one, the changes are applied one by one as well. In
some circumstances this may lead to different behaviour depending on how you
changed the settings values.
Appearance Settings
▪ Position: There are two position settings, X and Y; these settings controlwhere the block is displayed on the patch view. X is the number of pixels
between the top left corner of the block and the left hand edge of the patchview. Y is the number of pixels between the top left corner of the block and
the top edge of the patch view.
▪ Orientation: this controls which way the block is ‘facing’. Left-to-Right (the
default) means that the input pins for the block are on the left hand edge,and the output pins are on the right hand edge. Other alternatives are
Right-to-Left, Top-Down and Bottom-Up. These are useful if the chain of blocks in a patch is very long, and needs to ‘wrap’.
▪ Size: this setting controls the height and width of the block as displayed on
the patch view.
Signature Settings▪ Class: this describes the class of functions to which the block function
belongs.
▪ Catalog: this names the catalog DLL in which the code for the block resides.
▪ Label: this is the (unique) name of the block.
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▪ Show SyncIn: whether or not the block displays the SyncIn pin in thepatch view.
▪ Show SyncOut: whether or not the block displays the SyncOut pin in the
patch view.
Scheduling Settings▪ Active: This indicates whether or not a block has been deactivated by the
developer. See the next setting for details.
▪ Activate: this can be used to disable a block without removing it from thepatch. When de-activated, a block is shown with a red ‘x’ across it.
▪ Run level: specifies the run level of the block.
▪ SyncIn mode: specifies how the SyncIn pin affects activation of the block.If the mode is ‘exclusive’, block activation is triggered solely by the SyncIn
pin. If the mode is ‘Additive’, block activation is triggered by the SyncIn pinor the usual activation process for the block. If the mode is ‘Ignore’, block
activation is not affected at all by the SyncIn pin.
Settings Settings
▪ Number of inputs: the number of input pins on the block. This needs to
be set if you want to use more than the default number of inputs. Forexample, the string concatenation block has two input pins by default, and
concatenates the two strings that arrive at these pins. However, if you wishto concatenate three strings, an extra input pin can be put in place by
increasing this setting from 2 to 3.
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Figure 5 - the params sheet
Note that blocks may have (many) more settings than the ones listed above. Forexample, output blocks will have settings controlling their appearance (e.g. font
type and size). For full details of the settings for any particular block, see thatblock’s documentation.
1.1 Descr(iption) Sheet
This second sheet of the properties view contains administrative information
about the block. This includes▪ The short description, including label (name), class, inputs, outputs and
parameters.▪ The long description, including all the short description values, plus
catalog, full path, textual descriptions of the block and each pin, etc.▪ The credits, with information about the developers of the block▪ The software licence
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Figure 6 - credits
Figure 7 - short description
Figure 8 - the software licence
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Figure 9 - long description
4 The Patch View
The patch view is the largest element of the GDE workspace. This is where youdrag the blocks in order to link them together and so assemble a patch.
Note that the assembly of a patch takes place at design time. During runtime, thepatch cannot be modified, although some parameters of the constituent blocks
may be modifiable (depending on the nature of the blocks).
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4.1 Dragging a Block onto the Patch View
When you drag a block onto the patch view, it is displayed with an icon or textinside (to give some idea of what it does), and with its input, parameter and
output pins.
The black rounded rectangles are the pins – pins inside the block are input orparameter pins, while pins on the outside surface of the block are output pins.
Input pinOutput pin
Parameter pin
▪ Input pins represent the data arriving at the block from another block, in
order for the block to process it.▪ Output pins represent data being sent from the block to some other block,
after processing.▪ Parameter pins represent information or data arriving at the block, which
in some way affects the processing work carried out by the block.
Status
Once a block is visible on the patch view…▪ hovering the mouse pointer over the block causes the status bar to display
label, class and catalog information for the block▪ hovering the mouse pointer over a pin (pointer becomes a small upward-
pointing arrow) causes pin type, name and datatype information to appearin the status bar
4.2 Connecting Blocks to one another
Blocks can be linked to one another by piping the output pin of one block to theinput or parameter pin of another block. This is done by bringing the mouse
pointer close to the output pin (a small upward-pointing arrow appears), clickingand then dragging it to the input or parameter pin. A line appears as you drag the
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mouse pointer.
In the example below, the output pins of two text input blocks are bound to theinputs of a text concatenation block. That block then joins the two texts together,
and sends the result, via its output pin, to the input pin of a text display block.The values ‘one’ and ‘two’ are set with the Params sheet of the two text input
blocks.
Figure 10 - Linking blocks together
Where the output of one block is of a different type to the input pin to which you
are trying to link it, a ‘forbidden’ icon will appear and the operation will not
complete.
Where you try to link two output pins to an input pin, a ‘forbidden’ icon willappear and the operation will not complete.
Figure 11 - 'forbidden' icon
The patch view can be zoomed in and out using the ‘+’ and ‘-‘ keys.
5 Message Console
The message console is where the EyesWeb server, the patch and the blocks senddebug and control information to be viewed by the developer.
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Figure 12 - message console example
The activity of the message console can be adjusted using the ToolsMessages
menu (see the Menu Bar section below for details).
6 Other Views
The GDE supports a number of additional views which can be enabled by the userto facilitate the development process. These are described here.
SearchNavigator
Open File Tabs
Status Bar
Figure 13 - additional views
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6.1 Status Bar
This provides a small amount of information which reflects the context (usuallythe mouse pointer location). Particularly useful to quickly find out information
about a block or a pin – placing the mouse pointer over a block or pin in the
patch view makes relevant information appear in the status bar.
6.2 Navigator
Navigator: this shows a schematic of which part of the overall patch view is
currently visible. If the patch view is very large (e.g. for a complex patch), orzoomed in very close, the navigator shows where the visible area is, relative tothe rest of the patch view, by providing a rectangular outline. This outline can be
dragged, in order to rapidly move around the patch view.
6.3 Open File Tabs
These small tabs appear at the top edge of the patch view. One tab appears for
each patch file currently open in the GDE. Clicking on a tab makes the relevantpatch visible in the patch view.
7 The Menu Bar
The GDE offers the usual menus to the user:
▪ File
▪ Edit
▪ View
▪ System
▪ Tools
▪ Window
▪ Help
In many cases, not all menu options are available at all times. For example, youmust have at least two blocks selected in order to invoke the EditDesign
command, which aligns the edges of selected blocks.
The status bar provides information about many menu items when you hover
the mouse over the menu item.
In addition to the usual menus, as outlined above, the Menu Bar also sometimes
shows an ‘eye’ icon, which can be used to manage the windows in which patches
appear on the patch view. This is duplicated by the Window menu.
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7.1 The File Menu
Figure 14 - file menu
New
This allows you to create a new patch. The patch view is cleared and you can
start to work on the new patch immediately. If you have any other patch open,this remains accessible via the Open File Tabs or the Window menu.
Close
This allows you to close the patch you are working on. If you haven’t saved your
patch since you last changed it, it prompts you to do so.
Figure 15 - save prompt
Revert
This allows you to roll back all changes to the last saved version of the patch. If
there are changes that will be lost, the system prompts you to confirm that this isyour intention.
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Figure 16 - confirmation prompt
Save
This allows you to save the patch you are working on in the patch view.
Save As
This allows you to save the patch under another name. By default, a patch is
saved in the .eywx format, which is an XML format; however, you can save asplain text or other formats.
Save All
This allows you to save all open patches.
Print, Print Preview, Print Setup
These are the usual print management options in Windows. It should be notedthat print preview can alert you to how large (or now) the patch will appear when
printed out, and that it may not be fully accurate.
Recent Files x 4
The File menu shows the last four patches you were working on. Clicking any of
these files causes the file to open in the patch view. If the file is already open, asecond copy is not loaded.
Exit
Closes all patches and closes the GDE. If any patches have unsaved changes, youare prompted to save them.
7.2 The Edit Menu
The edit menu offers the usual cut and paste options, as well as a range of editoptions for individual blocks and how they are shown on the patch view. The
usual windows shortcuts apply (ctrl-z for undo, ctrl-c for copy, etc.).
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Figure 17 - edit menu
Undo
This allows you to undo the last action you took
Redo
This allows you to re-do an action that you just un-did.
Cut
This allows you to remove selected blocks, and retain them on the clipboard
Copy
This allows you to copy selected blocks onto the clipboard
Paste
This allows you to place the contents of the clipboard onto the patch view
Delete
This allows you to remove selected blocks, without retaining them on the
clipboard.
Select all
This allows you to select all the blocks on the patch view.
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Order
This allows you to move selected blocks on top of others on the patch view. This
is useful where several blocks occupy the same patch view real-estate. This isanalogous to the CSS attribute ‘z-index’
Design
This allows you to align selected blocks. At least two blocks must be selected.
They can be aligned by top edge, left edge, etc.
Orientation
This allows you to set the orientation of a single block. Left-to-Right (the default)means that the input pins for the block are on the left hand edge, and the outputpins are on the right hand edge. Other alternatives are Right-to-Left, Top-Down
and Bottom-Up. These are useful if the chain of blocks in a patch is very long,and needs to ‘wrap’.
Rotate
This allows you to rotate a single block through 90 or 180 degrees.
Locate
This useful function finds the selected block in the catalog view. While you can
invoke this command with more than one block selected, it only works for one of those blocks.
Activate
This changes the activation status of the selected block.
7.3 The View Menu
This makes the various views of the GDE visible or invisible. It consists of a series
of checkboxes, these refer to various views described above.
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Figure 18 - view menuThe view menu also allows you to zoom the patch view.
7.4 The System Menu
The system menu allows you to start, stop, pause and step through your patch. Itmay be noted that the message console view reports on each System operation.
Figure 19 - system menu
7.5 The Tools Menu
The tools menu allows access to several settings which impact on the operation of
the underlying EyesWeb server. It also enables or disables performance profiling
of blocks, which records their performance in great detail, and supports theintegration of external applications into to GDE.
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Figure 20 - tools menu
Profiling
This turns performance profiling on or off. When profiling is turned on, a ‘profiling’
sheet appears in the properties view. Performance profiling is available at theblock level, as well as for the patch as a whole.
Figure 21 - patch performance profile
Kernel PropertiesThis allows you to export the properties of the EyesWeb kernel on which the GDE
is running. It also allows you to import a set of kernel properties. A third and final
option is to reset the current kernel properties to the default values.
External Tools
This allows you to set up external programs, which can be invoked from within
the GDE. Such tools, once set up, appear in the Tools menu. The example below
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shows where Adobe Acrobat was set up
Figure 22 - tools menu
Options
Figure 23 - options
This gives you access to a range of options governing the activity of the GDE:
▪ General: settings governing opening, closing and saving patches
▪ Editor: settings governing the grid on the patch view, and some defaultvalues
▪ Catalog View : settings for filters for how to select blocks in the Catalog
view
▪ Messages: settings to configure which messages appear in the message
console and how/where/whether they are logged to a file
▪ Search: settings to configure the fields included in the search function
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▪ Advanced: settings controlling threading, catalog class enable/disable, andvarious kernel settings.
7.6 The Window Menu
This menu allows you to manage multiple patches at the same time. Each
patch is presented in its own window.
Figure 24 - window menu
Close Closes the current patch. Note: does not prompt to save changes.
Close All
Closes all open patches. Does not prompt to save changes. The GDE remainsopen (i.e. this is not the same as FileExit).
Next
Hides the patch currently visible on the patch view, and displays the next one.
Previous
Hides the current patch currently visible on the patch view, and displays the
previous one.
Cascade: shows all open patches as cascaded windows within the patch view.
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Tile Horizontally
Shows all open patches as horizontally tiled windows within the patch view.
Tile Vertically
Shows all open patches as vertically tiled windows within the patch view.
Open patches x N
Lists all the open patches. Click any patch to bring it to the front in the patch view.
Windows
Opens a dialog that allows you to select one or more patches and
Activate/Save/Close/Cascade/Tile/Minimise them.
Figure 25 - Windows dialog
7.7 The Help Menu
The Help Menu has only one option: About
About
This pops up a dialog with general information about the system. Dedicatedscreens show the software license and provide information about the
development team.
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Figure 26 - About screen
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8 Toolbars
The EyesWeb GDE offers several toolbars. These are made visible and invisibleusing the View Menu. The ticked items in the illustration below are all toolbars.
Figure 27 – toolbars
8.1 The Main Toolbar
The main toolbar is shown below. It offers the usual Windows options; these will
be familiar from Word or other desktop applications. These are shortcuts to menuitems described above.
From left to right, these are
▪ New – equivalent to FileNew
▪ Open – equivalent to FileOpen (the small downwards triangle to
the right offers a menu with the four most recently loaded patches)
▪ Save - equivalent to FileSave
▪ Save As - equivalent to FileSave As
▪ Save All - equivalent to FileSave All
▪ Print - equivalent to FilePrint
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▪ Cut - equivalent to EditCut
▪ Copy - equivalent to EditCopy
▪ Paste - equivalent to EditPaste
▪ Delete - equivalent to EditDelete
▪ Undo - equivalent to EditUndo
▪ Redo - equivalent to EditRedo (multiple redos at once are possible)
▪ Zoom in - equivalent to ViewZoomZoom in
▪ Zoom out - equivalent to ViewZoomZoom out
▪ Percent – allows you to set the percentage zoom.
8.2 The Window Toolbar
The window toolbar is shown below. It offers the usual Windows managementoptions and are shortcuts to the commands on the Window menu.
From left to right, these are
▪ Close W indow – equivalent to WindowClose
▪ Close All – equivalent to Window Close All
▪ Previous - equivalent to Window Previous
▪ Next - equivalent to Window Next
▪ Cascade - equivalent to Window Cascade
▪ Tile Horizontal - equivalent to Window Tile Horizontally
▪ Tile Vertical - equivalent to Window Tile Vertically
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8.3 The System Toolbar
The system toolbar is shown below. It offers shortcuts to the patch controls (start,
stop, pause, step through), as well as an execution timer and a trigger for theperformance profiling function.
From left to right, the options are
▪ Operating Mode – changes the operating mode of the patch from
design to production, or vice versa. This change of mode is automatic whenyou edit a patch or when you use SysteStart or press F5, but it can be
manually triggered from here. For more information about operating modes,see Appendix A: The Development Process
▪ Start – starts the patch. Equivalent to System Start
▪ Step - steps through the patch. Equivalent to System Step
▪ Pause - pauses patch execution. Equivalent to System Pause
▪ Stop - halts patch execution. Equivalent to System Stop
▪ Timer - displays the running time of the patch.
▪ Profiler - enables the system performance profiler. Equivalent to ToolsProfiling
8.4 The Design Toolbar
The design toolbar is shown below. It offers shortcuts to the design options,which format two or more blocks tidily within the patch view. These shortcutsonly become active when you have selected two or more blocks in the patch view.
From left to right, the options are
▪ Align Left – Aligns the left edges of the selected blocks
▪ Align Right – Aligns the right edges of the selected blocks
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▪ Align Top – Aligns the top edges of the selected blocks
▪ Align Bottom – Aligns the bottom edges of the selected blocks
▪ Same width – Makes the smaller block the same width as the larger
one
▪ Same height – Makes the smaller block the same height as the larger
one
▪ Same size – Makes the smaller block the same width and same height
as the larger one
8.5 Status Bar
This “toolbar” is described above in section 7.1
9 Find Out More
▪ More information on the GDE is available from the Reference Manual andfrom the Programmer’s Guide
▪ Information about the structure of blocks is available in the Anatomy of aBlock document
▪ Information about creating graphical user interfaces for patches is providedin the GUI Designer User Guide
10 The Development Process
This section describes the manner in which patches are initialised. Moreinformation about the internal details of how EyesWeb runs patches is available in
the Programmer’s Guide
The development of EyesWeb patches is a two-stage process – the patch goes
through two modes of operation:
2 Design time, during which the patch is created and can be modified and
3 Run time (also referred to as Production time) during which the patch isread-only and the system activates the blocks which make up the patch.
The running of the patch can be started and stopped during run time; thepatch remains in run time until it is next edited.
The BioMOBIUS™ system also carries out a series of operations during the
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initialisation phase between design time and run time, to support thedevelopment of patches.
10.1 Design Time
The EyesWeb system starts at design time, during which time patches can be
created and edited. As a block is dragged onto the patch view, a new instance of
the block is created this allows block parameters and variables to be set.
10.2 Initialisation Phase
The first step in initialisation involves the system verifying that all blocks have theinputs and outputs they require. Having passed that first check, the EyesWeb
system begins the Init() and Check() methods of the blocks. Each block isinitialised in turn, so that blocks which require input from other blocks are not
initiated until the blocks which feed them have provided the system with the datawhich they require. Thus, the main job of each block during the
initialisation phase is to initialise itself and to provide the necessary
information to initialise its output, in some cases using data from its inputs
10.3 Execution
Once initialization has been performed, the system enters run time but executiondoes not start yet. Actual execution is started by choosing the SystemStart
menu command, and is signalled to all modules by calling their Start() method.
Now the patch is running and the schedulers periodically activate theircorresponding modules. The activation sequence is implied by the logical
order of the interconnections between blocks, i.e. by the patch
topology. If block A has an outgoing connection towards block B, then block Awill be executed before block B.
Execution continues until the user stops it. Again, this is signalled to allmodules by calling their Stop() method; the system remains at run time,
even if the patch is not being executed. The patch may be started and stoppedany number of times. It only leaves runtime when it is unlocked to return to
design time. This last operation is signalled to all blocks by the system callingtheir Done() method.
It is worth noting that the system can go through many start/stop
phases while remaining at run time, and modules should be builtaccordingly: after the Init()/Check() methods are called, there can be anindeterminate number of calls to Start/Stop, before the patch is de-initialised
(Done). Also, it should be kept in mind that modules must keep their state during
the different Start/Stop phases, sort of a resume/pause sequence. The re-initialisation is performed only after the patch is unlocked and then locked again(this results in a call to the Done() method and then to the Init() and Check()
methods).
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Appendix A
EyesWeb Control Panel Tool
The EyesWeb Control Panel may be accessed by double clicking on thefile ”EywControlPanel.cpl” situated in the standard BioMOBIUS™ installationdirectory.
The EyesWeb control panel provides a means to specify how EyesWeb virtualdevices are mapped to the physical hardware devices available on the current PC.
Figure 28: The EyesWeb Control Panel Tool
For example, if you are developing a patch that can be tested on a laptop with asimple webcam, but it must also run at a different location with on a desktop
computer with a high quality video-camera, you can map each camera as avirtual device using the EyesWeb Control Panel tool, and refer to a single virtual
device on the patch. So, on the laptop computer the virtual devicename ”InputCamera” will be referring to the webcam while on the desktopPC ”InputCamera” will be referring to the high quality video-camera. This allows
the patch to be moved from one PC to the other without the need to change thehardware parameter settings in the patch.
To add a new virtual device into the EyesWeb control panel tool, simply select the
hardware device (shown in the left window list in Figure 28) that you desire to
map to a virtual device, click the ”Add (+)” button and type the referring virtualname (”InputCamera” in this example) into the new list item, and the pressthe ”Save & Exit” button to apply the new changes, as shown in Figure 29. To
remove an item from the EyesWeb control panel listing, simply select thecorresponding item and press the ”Remove (-)” button, then the ”Save &
Exit” button. These settings will not take effect until the next time that Eyesweb
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is restarted after the settings have been saved.
Figure 29: The EyesWeb Virtual Device mapping
fter these operations, the new virtual device, may be referred to
Figure 30:Virtual mapping example
A
as ”InputCamera” in all patches by setting the Device parameter value of thevideo input blocks as shown in Figure 30.