RE: "Getting Ready To Get Ready"

["Albertson, Chris" <CAlbertson@primeadvantage.com>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Glenn Gombert [mailto:glenngombert@hotmail.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2001 2:15 PM

<SNIP>
> 
> 	Question for Chris..Will the Linux Mark IV control 
> program be operational 
> by then??..Say mid-summer or should I plan on using Tom's Quick Basic 
> program for a while to collect data ?? It would be helpful if 
> you could look 
> into your 'crystal ball' and see what you think might be best 
> to use for 
> getting the camera here in Dayton up and running with.


I'm not really going to be able to do the whole job myself.
I've got a lot done but anyone who can program in C, FORTRAN
tcl/tk, Perl or whatever could do productive work.  If one
person helps the rate of progress will double with two helping
it will triple.

What is done is the infrastructure and overall framework.
What is remaining to be done is a set of smaller modules that
"plug in" to the main driver.  Also still to be written are
"nice" user interfaces.  I'm leaning now to using the web browser
for the user interface but any technology could work as the
real time driver talks over tcp/ip.

A web based GUI is pretty cool when you think about a browser
running on a wireless palm pilot or even a web enabled cell phone.
I had always planned on being platform neutral.

(OK, back to April 2001.) The current user interface is text based.
You type "expose 90, image" at a prompt or you create a script 
file to automate it.   Well, OK I have a TCL interface too so you
can write loops and if statments in a script file if you want.

> 
> Mark IV is much 
> more complex than the Mark III and the data issues are also 
> more complex too 
> than those associated with the Mark III.

Yes and no.  The Mk IV is more conventional.  One would think
existing software would "just work" on our Mk IV images.