Support for User Interfaces for Distributed Systems

Friday, April 01 2005 An extensible Java™ software framework supports the construction and operation of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for distributed computing systems typified by ground control systems that send commands to, and receive telemetric data from, spacecraft. Heretofore, such GUIs have been custom built for each new system at considerable expense. In contrast, the present framework affords generic capabilities that can be shared by different distributed systems. Dynamic class loading, reflection, and other run-time capabilities of the Java language and JavaBeans component architecture enable the creation of a GUI for each new distributed computing system with a minimum of custom effort. By use of this framework, GUI components in control panels and menus can send commands to a particular distributed system with a minimum of system-specific code. The framework receives, decodes, processes, and displays telemetry data; custom telemetry data handling can be added for a particular system. The framework supports saving and later restoration of users’ configurations of control panels and telemetry displays with a minimum of effort in writing system-specific code. GUIs constructed within this framework can be deployed in any operating system with a Java runtime environment, without recompilation or code changes.

This program was written by Glenn Eychaner and Albert Niessner of Caltech for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For further information, access the Technical Support Package (TSP) free on-line at www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the Software category. This software is available for commercial licensing. Please contact Karina Edmonds of the California Institute of Technology at (818) 393-2827. Refer to NPO-40464.