Due to the fast pace of computer instrumentation and technology, we are quickly approaching an age where on-line use of expensive research facilities will become commonplace. The consequences of this trend will be multifaceted. It will allow scientist and researchers to perform experiments and access data with greater ease without the burden some overhead associated with working onsite. It will allow for the on-line storage and analysis of data. And lastly, an ideal testbed will be provided for integrating intelligent man-machine interfaces in order to reduce labor intensive tasks. This will simplify the control of complicated instruments via automation of the controls whose human control is not essential. Unfortunately, attempts at building a common platform for remote operation will face several problems. First of all, a successful general purpose architecture will frequently need to be extended in order to perform new functions as well as utilize new hardware. Similarly, the continued development of new microscopes, stage controls, etc. will undoubtedly create incompatible interfaces which will break presently working systems. Lastly, the environment that such a system will operate will likely be characterized by heterogeneous hardware and software. Based on the experience of building on-line systems for use of optical and electron microscopes, we propose a scalable system architecture based on the principles of object oriented design and analysis, a machine independent user- interface based on Java, and a software bus that supports distributed objects over the network.
Analysis, design, and implementation of PHENIX on-line computing systems software using Shlaer—Mellor Object-Oriented Analysis and Recursive Design