Christoph App Status

Development Status and Prioritized To-Do List for Christoph’s WebGL Application
(rev 3 jbc, 3/14/2015, after Corvallis Meeting March 6, 2015)

system can be run from: https://github.com/TaylorMutch/valcex_project

Below is A) prioritized “to do list” for Taylor, B) list of bugs and observations from Christoph, C) Immediate Next Steps, and D) Kendra’s status list from August 2014.

Note: Christoph will not have time to work much on this before March 20, or after April 13. Try to get Priority 1 items completed by April 13.

A. prioritized “to do list” for Taylor

Priority 1: Complete the ground work for Development:

  1. Review status of current version as installed on Christoph’s server and make sure it is the most current; this is the deployed version of the software. (it appears that he has an older version). Refine list of what is working (and what is not).  See bug list below).
  2. deployed version on Christoph’s server
  1. Connect with Christoph to make sure he is knows how to run the application and understands what you mean by each item in your bug list and to confirm your list of “What’s working”. Then, connect again to ask for any issues. Revise the bug list. Copy source code for the working version onto his server (as a backup).
  2. Documentation exists but will need to be updated as changes are made. Revise documentation to jive with the current deployed version.  See Kendra’s User Guide at:  http://selenga.oce.orst.edu/documentation/ Ask Christoph if this is the best place for it?
  3. Set up a development environment (at Willamette).   Check with Nik: There should be 3 instantiations of the software running at any point in time. The development and deployed versions should run on a different servers:
    1. deployed version on dev server (I’m not sure we need this – but it seems useful that you could run a demo of working software whenever – without having to go to christoph’s server);
    2. development version (one you are working on) on dev server.
  1. Work with Nik to put Git on the development server for source code control and move source for deployed and development versions (these are the same now?). Using Git will simplify editing/maintaining the application for current and future developers on this project.  THIS IS IMPORTANT because we want version control over what christoph and taylor running at any given time.

Note:(for Chad?).  Server is moving to Chad Higgin’s lab at BEEE OSU. It might have a different name and IP address.    When?  Christoph needs to connect Taylor and Chad and Jenny and Nik.

Priority 2:

  1. Move several test files (Christoph’s data) onto the development server, and open up a version of the software (WHERE?) that can be run by anyone; this will allow YOU to test the software, and allow for anyone interested in the software to try it out. Post image(s) of what the output should look like.
  2. BEFORE YOU IMPLEMENT ANY ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONALITY: Start using jQuery, for ALL new development which will help with cross-browser compatibility. This should help make the graphical interface more closely uniform over browsers that support WebGL (Chrome/Firefox). This will have the effect of making the tool easier to use. Tell Christoph what you are doing (easier to do over a skype call).
  3. New File format: Rather than Taylor implementing a file converter that reads Christoph’s data and outputs a file that is faster for the application to read, CHRISTOPH WILL write a file converter (see below) after March 20 and before April 13, TALK FIRST ABOUT WHETHER THESE WILL BE ASCII FILES OR MATLAB BINARIES.  pro’s of binaries :  faster. pro’s of ascii – can see the input. This will likely have the effect of vastly improving the speed of the application. Christoph – would like to display other variables – now only doing wind speed and direction – down the road he wants to make more use of the data in the data files.  Christoph might need to strip down a version of the SDR files.  This would have several advantages a) stripped down (smaller) file, and (b) eliminates the BAD DATA, and c) his reformatting would also eliminate some variables that he would never use.  Christoph would write this in MatLab.
  4. Allow the user to save settings.
  5. See Christoph’s list below in B

Note: SDX version of the files have only the essential data.   STRUCTURE IS VERY SIMILAR BUT HAS FEWER ROWS/PARAMETERS and no error observations.  SDR files have all the data, even the BAD DATA.  Error codes are not currently being used by Kendra’s app.

Other Notes: slow file reading caused one of the bugs Kendra could not find; apache timed out the app on a file read. This is a PHP config default. Another issue to watch out for is the browser caching the file – Nik and Kendra added a timestamp that forced a read of the file – not from the cache. There is a better way to accomplish this – use a versioning scheme to change the path so old cached versions won’t load.  Priority 4: When software is working well on both Christoph’s server and the development server, put pointers (in the VISTAS web site) to the working version on the dev server.

Priority 3:

  1. When software is working well on both Christoph’s server and the development server, put pointers (in the VISTAS web site) to the working version on the dev server.
  2. Consider Kendra’s to do list below; work with Christoph to update this list with next steps.

Priority 4: Investigate (with Jenny/Judy/Mike/Nik) using Azure or Amazon Cloud for both development and demos. The code repository should be on this server.

B. Current Bugs and Christoph’s observations :

  • nice splash screen to begin, with some directions
  • the interface has been changed, and some are good
  • Log showing what is happening is great
  • On his Mac, display window is WAY TOO SMALL.
  • Wants a window with time step of image currently displayed
  • Wants a process for uploading files to the server. ssh and ftp are cumbersome.  Note: issues with security on the server might make this complicated.
  • user profiles – SAVE current configuration at the end of a session  (high priority);  it would be nice to be able to name a given configuration that he would be able to use with different projects.  user x, session y.  we will want security so only certain users can save configs?

C. Immediate Next Steps:

  1. Taylor gets newest version from Kendra
  2. Taylor and Nik work on getting source onto github, with version control.
  3. Taylor (with Nik?) installs a working version on Christoph’s server (Selenga?)
  4. Christoph starts work on file conversion to a new format, after we decide together whether it is binary or ASCII.

D. Kendra’s List from August:

Completed:

  •    corrected wind direction calculations
  •    column showing vector origins

Working, no user control:

  •    add a scaling factor to the arrow size
  •    ability to add or remove stations
  •    user selectable colors
  •    ability to manipulate station locations according to lat/lon

In-Progress:     animation (Now done?)

To Do:

  •    display time stamp in the main view
  •    add a ruler to the column giving the height values for each measurement
  •    change how files are read in so that the user can define the directory
  •    export the animation to a series of images or if possible, a movie file
  •    add height labels to contour line view
  •    add directional information for the two cameras
  •    lock the two cameras