Applying a toolkit for dissemination and analysis of near real-time data through the World Wide Web: integration of the Antelope Real Time System, ROADNet, and PHP Robert L. Newman, Kent G. Lindquist†, Frank L. Vernon, Todd Hansen, Steve Foley, Jennifer Eakins, John Orcutt Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0225 ROADNet † IN13A-1078 Lindquist Consulting, 59 College Rd. Suite #7, Fairbanks, AK 99701 I. Abstract 3. Architecture & Example Applications The ROADNet project has enabled the acquisition and storage of The schematic diagram below illustrates the architecture underlying a diverse data streams through seamless integration of the An- variety of applications (and the applications themselves) developed with css 3.0 telope Real Time System (ARTS) with (for example) ecological, the ARTS Datascope relational database framework, Datascope Interface Datascope to PHP, PHP and associated libraries and CSS, Javascript, images and rt 1.0 : stanotes seismological and geodetic instrumentation. The robust system images 1.0 Databases architecture allows researchers to simply network data loggers HTML. The diagram is divided into three distinct areas - server-side with relational databases; however, the ability to disseminate processes, those server side libraries used by each application, and the GD Graphics Library these data to policy makers, scientists and the general public has client (presentation) side. Bullet points beneath each respective applica- tion screenshot briefly decribe the key Datascope functions employed. Datascope.so (until recently) been provided on an ‘as needed’ basis. The recent Orb.so Datascope development of a Datascope interface to the popular open source Key concepts in developing this architecture were extensibility, separa- sysinfo.so Interface to PHP JpGraph OO Library scripting language PHP has provided an avenue for presenting tion of content from layout, and ‘plug and play’ generalized libraries. near real time data (such as integers, images and movies) from within the ARTS framework easily on the World Wide Web. The PHP Extension & SERVER interface also indirectly provided the means to transform data Application Respository PHP types into various formats using the extensive function libraries that accompany a PHP installation (such as image creation and manipulation, data encryption for sensitive information, and XML creation for structured document interchange through the World Wide Web). Using a combination of Datascope and PHP DATASCOPE, ORB, GD DATASCOPE, GD, JpGraph DATASCOPE, GD DATASCOPE, ORB, GD, Jp- DATASCOPE DATASCOPE, PEAR Mail_Mime DATASCOPE DATASCOPE library functions, an extensible tool-kit is being developed to al- Graph, PEAR Calendar LIB low data managers to easily present their products on the World Wide Web. The tool-kit has been modeled after the pre-exist- Parameter Files (.pf) Cascading Style Sheets (.css) JavaScripts (.js) Images (.gif) ing ARTS architecture to simplify the installation, development How is your server configured? Where are your databases located? Allows separation of content and layout. Essentially makes every application ‘skinable’ Client side functions, AJAX Logos, backgrounds, etc and ease-of-use for both the seasoned researcher and the casual user. The methodology and results of building the applications Dynamic Plotting of Active Stations Instrument Response Functions RealTime ImageBank State of Health Plots for Stations Site Comments State of Health Plots for Stations Installed Site Photo Viewer Online Database Explorer that comprise the tool-kit are the focus of this presentation, including procedural vs. object oriented design, incorporation of the tool-kit into the existing contributed software libraries, and case-studies of researchers who are employing the tools to present their data. - A companion to the state-of- - An images database consisting health plots, this application is ac- of photographs taken of new or CLIENT cessible to station administrators. existing sites, and equipment in- - Allows comments (or notes) to stallation and/or servicing. be created for a station (or series - Administrative users can add of stations) that describe problems 2a. Summary of the ROADNet project metadata to the database for each and/or solutions. image, such as imagetype (equip- The ROADNet project enhances researchers, policy makers and - Open site database to determine - Uses dbresponse and eval_re- - Displays images and movies col- - Nightly generation of 8 graphs - Uses custom written generic li- - Datascope Mail schema database - Web-enabled verion of the An- ment, field crew, site) and image the general public’s capacity to monitor and respond to changes which stations should be return- sponse to return values from an lected from deployed real-time of 21 state-of-health channels for brary stanote.inc. This library con- stores emails related to station telope Database Explorer (dbe). caption. ing data (active & decommis- instrument response text file cameras throughout Southern Cal- each station (currently 64). sists of a series of functions to installation and updates. - Displays database tables and a in our environment by developing both the wireless networks - Currently under redevelopment; sioned stations). linked to the database ifornia. - Loads waveform data into a add, edit or delete station notes. - Online email interface split into paginated record view. functionality to allow station op- and the integrated, seamless, and transparent information man- - Orbselect, pforbstat, split_src- - Plug values into embedded Jp- - Configuration in a parameter trace object database (trloadchan). - State-of-health application (left) three panes (frames, cf. Squirrel- - Allows basic user defined que- erators/engineers to upload new agement system that delivers seismic, oceanographic, hydro- name to determine data packets Graph PHP script to dynamically file (pf) that is customizable. Pf - Extracts an array of waveform displays if a station has applicable Mail). ries to subset data. photos. (channels & latency) being re- generate response curve graphs functions include pfupdate (en- data for plotting (trextract_data). notes with a double dagger adja- - Mail archive can be searched us- - Uses dbgetv, dbfind, dbsubset. logical, ecological, and physical data to a variety of end users in - Uses dbgetv, dbextfile, dbaddv. ceived now. for each instrument. sures fresh read of file) and pfget - Free the trace object pointer cent to the station name. ing dbsubset. real-time. - If any changes in data latency (return the variable defined in the (trfree). - MIME type messages displayed from last update, recreate map of pf). - Plot graphs with GD and Jp- and attached files decoded with stations and assign status color to - Also dbextfile, dbgetv, and db- Graph. the PEAR library Mail_Mime. station name in table. find. - Online calendar from PEAR Cal- 2b. Antelope Real Time System (ARTS) endar library. The ARTS software package is a state-of-the-art real-time sensor network monitoring and recording environment. Although pri- marily developed for seismic data acquisition, the software suite has proven robust and extensible enough to accommodate the 4. Web Application Design Framework 6. Case Study: Real Time Imagebank 7. Conclusions acquisition and storage of a wide variety of data types. Within ARTS, data is buffered and transported through a mechanism The PHP applications written can be split into two groups: If an application is considered general enough to be applicable to other sensor A good tool-kit allows easy and rapid construction of applications. We be- known as an Object Ring Buffer (ORB). (1) Applications specific for single use (such as the RealTime ImageBank). network operators, the project is added to the Antelope Contributed Software lieve that the combination of ARTS, Datascope, and PHP provides an unpar- (2) Applications that are more generalized in nature (multi-use). repository. This repository is freely distributed with an install of ARTS. alleled ability to build robust software applications that allow users to inter- The latter are typically a library of functions that execute a similar set of op- The RealTime ImageBank was contributed to this repository approximately six act with their near real-time data in a meaningful way. PHP - with its simple 2c. PHP Hypertext Processor (PHP) erations to a database. If an application is deemed general, it is installed in a months ago and was recently installed by a researcher outside the core team yet powerful HTML-embedded syntax, procedural and OO architecture, ex- PHP is a widely-used general-purpose scripting language that general ‘library’ directory which can be used within any PHP application with of ROADNet developers. As such, it was a good test to determine ease-of-in- tensive libraries and strong community support - provides a strong glue for is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded an include() function call. stallation, usability, and ease-of-customization for someone not familiar with rapid web-based application development. into HTML. It has been widely adopted as a interface between the nuances of the software suite. databases and webpages, with a expansive suite of library tools 5. Software Architecture: OO vs. Procedural Code The resulting experience taught us many lessons in building robust muli-tiered 8. Future Plans that encompass database interaction, image creation and ma- web-based software applications.