Instrumental Software
          Technologies, Inc.

SeisNetWatch GUI Client Manual

Version 2.50
Last updated July 5, 2012
To view the SeisNetWatch GUI Client Revision History, click here.

Introduction

SeisNetWatch is designed as a control and observation tool for seismic networks, to be used by network operators to monitor the state of health of the network and to control the data acquisition software.

The SeisNetWatch system is a three-tiered distributed system of agents, server, and front-end client. Agents collect data and control the acquisition software and communicate over the network to the server. The server is the centralized decision making tool that receives the agent's messages and passes on filtered data to the client.

The client is provided as a Java Applet and Application and the NSI server is a Java Application. The Collection and Control Agents may be written in C++ or Java. The collection agents provided for COMSERV and Earthworm are written in C++ and monitor data from comserv shared memory and datalog files and Earthworm WAVE_RING buffers, respectively. The communications between the agents and the SeisNetWatch server (NSI server) are accomplished using the CORBA Event Service and communication between the client and the NSI are via CORBA objects. If you are interested in running this software, please contact us.


Requirements

Running as an applet within a browser: Running as an application: [Back to Top]

Initialization

The end-user launches SeisNetWatch GUI client from a web page (as an applet) or as an application from the command-line. We refer to the program in both modes of operation here as an app.

At client startup, the agent obtains a CORBA object from the NSI server. After obtaining a link, it downloads information from the NSI server for initialization and begins operation. One of the key parameters passed in the initialization is the Refresh Rate which governs how often the SeisNetWatch app asks for updates from the NSI.

Note for sites running a firewall on the NSI host:  Since the GUI clients open connections back to the NSI server host, you must open up the host's firewall for the port number configured for this purpose.  The 'orbPortNum' parameter for the NSI server specifies which port the clients connect on.  Note that this cannot be port 80 if you are running a web server.

Running the SeisNetWatch GUI client as an application:

To run the GUI client as an application, a command like the following one is used:

java -Xmx256m -jar application.jar
If you would like to view the Map Tab and the OpenMap(tm) station display option (licensed from isti.com), a command like the following one is used:
java -Xmx256m -jar appWithOpenMap.jar
The specified ".jar" archive file must be available in the current-working directory.  The path to a CORBA object reference file (as a local pathname or as a URL address) may be given as a parameter.

It can be helpful to make a shell script or a shell alias to launch the GUI as an application. Here is an example that launches the app using a URL to find the CORBA object reference file:

java -Xmx256m -jar application.jar http://www.isti.com/snw/gui_acceptor_ior.ref
The application will also accept, on the command line, any of the GUI client parameters; "-v" or "--version" to show the program version information; "-h" or "--help" to show a help screen of information; or "--configFileName" to specify the configuration settings file to use.  The "--configFileName" value may be a local pathname or a URL address--when a URL address is used, the default GUI Acceptor "IOR:" file will be "gui_acceptor_ior.ref" in the same web directory as specified in the URL.

Parameters on the application's command line must be preceded by 1 to 2 switch characters ('-' or '/').  Non-boolean parameters must take one of the following forms:  "name value", "name=value" or "name:value".  Boolean parameters must take one of the following forms:  "name", "name-", "name0", "name1", "name=0", "name=1", "name=true", "name=false", "name:0", "name:1", "name:true" or "name:false"; where no parameter or '1' translates to 'true', and a trailing '-' or '0' translates to 'false'.

The following "command" parameters are supported by the application and may be specified as command-line arguments:
   --showStation="stationName"
   --showStationTime=snapshotTime
Specifying a 'showStation' value will result in the display of a detail page for the given station.  The 'showStationTime' value specifies an historical-snapshot time (in seconds after 1/1/1970 GMT) to be associated with the 'showStation' value.  When a value greater than zero is specified and a 'showStation' value is provided, an historical snapshot of the given station will be displayed.  If 'showStationTime' is not specified or a value of zero is specified and a 'showStation' value is provided, a current station-detail page for the given station will be displayed.
     If the 'programSingletonName' and 'commandFileName' parameters are set to non-empty values and an instance of the application is already running out of the same directory, then the "command" parameters will be executed by the existing instance of the application.  Otherwise, a new instance will be launched and it will execute the "command" parameters.

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Main Screen

When the client finishes initialization, the main screen shows a set of three tabs along the top, with the Stations Tab already in the foreground. Behind the Stations Tab is the Performance Tab and the Subset Tab which the user may click on to bring to the foreground.

If the OpenMap(tm) station display option is licensed from isti.com, the main screen shows a set of four tabs along the top, with the Stations Tab already in the foreground. Behind the Stations Tab is the Performance Tab,  the Map Tab and the Subset Tab which the user may click on to bring to the foreground.

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Stations Tab

The Stations reactor panel lists the stations being monitored by the NSI server that was contacted. The station names are listed as NN-SSSSS where NN is the network code of the station and SSSSS is the 3-5 character station name. Adjacent to the station name is a symbol that indicates the Usage Level of the station. Usage Level is the mode in which the station is being operated and is described by the Symbol Key on the lower portion of the screen. The color of the symbol informs the user of the Performance Level of the station at the given Usage Level. The meanings of the Performance Level color values are described in the Symbol Key. To view a screen shot of this tab, click here.

Stations as Buttons

Each station box in the reactor panel is clickable as a button. By clicking on the station, the user requests more information about the station and is shown the Station Detail Tab which is described in detail below. Right-clicking on the station will display a popup menu of options.

The station button is normally displayed with black text but it will by default change to reverse video (white text with a black background, see 'stationChangeColor') if the Usage Level or Performance Level have changed within a recent update from the NSI server. This is to indicate to the end-user that something changed because on a cluttered screen, the changes are not always apparent unless they are dramatic. If the station's levels remain unchanged for a certain amount of time, then the color will revert to normal (black). This time may be specified as a parameter to the program (see 'stationColorChangeMS'). Clicking on the station box will also make its color revert to normal (black).

A station button on the reactor panel may be located by typing characters from the station name on the keyboard. As each character is typed, the matching station button is highlighted by a flickering white border. The full station name (including a leading network code like "NN-") or the station code without the network code may be entered. Station buttons may also be located by repeatedly entering the first character of the station code, which will result in the next matching station button being highlighted with each keypress.

While a station button is highlighted, pressing the spacebar or 'Enter' key will display the station-detail page for the station. The cursor-edit keys may be used to "navigate" the currently-highlighted station button (these keys include: cursor-up, cursor-down, cursor-left, cursor-right, PgUp, PgDn, Home, End). Station buttons on the Performance Tab may also be located via the keyboard.

Information Panel

Below the reactor panel display of stations is an Information Panel containing the Symbol Key, other dynamic information displays, and several buttons. The name of the system being monitored is provided to the user after the label Monitoring Server. Below this is a count of the Good and Bad stations (the extremes of the Performance Level parameter). The local time of the last poll to the NSI server is listed after the Last Updated label. Below the Last Updated label is the actual Refresh Rate being obtained by the app. The total number of stations being displayed on the reactor panel is listed below the Symbol Key.

Stations Tab Buttons

On the right side of the Information Panel are several buttons. The "Reset" button will clear the white text on any of the station boxes that have changed color, setting them back to the normal color (black). If the program is being run as an application, there will also be an "Exit" button. Otherwise, the user may exit the Applet by switching to a different web page or by closing the browser. The "Options" button will display a popup window of options and information for the app. Also on the "Options/Information" window is the "Settings" button, which may be used to bring up a window of settings that may be modified.

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Performance Tab

Note that this tab can be disabled by setting the maxNumPerfValues parameter value to '0'.

The Performance Tab provides the user with a way to see the performance of stations over time. To open this tab, simply click on it. It may also be viewed by right-clicking a station button on any reactor panel or by clicking on the "Performance" item on any Station Detail Tab. The Performance Tab displays the performance for the stations being monitored by the NSI server over time. The Y-axis is scrollable list of stations sorted in the same order as the Stations Tab. The Y-axis is scrollable if all of the stations can not be displayed on the screen. The X-axis is time increasing from left to right. To view a screen shot of this tab, click here.

This tab is updated as station updates are received from the NSI server.

Each station name displayed on this tab is clickable as a button.  By clicking on the station, the user requests more information about the station and is shown the Station Detail Tab which is described in detail below. Double-clicking on a performance bar will also show the Station Detail Tab for the station. Right-clicking on a station or performance bar will display a popup menu of options. Station buttons may be location via the keyboard in the same fashion as for the Stations Tab reactor panel.

On the performance tab, the time display may be zoomed in, either via the right-mouse-click popup menu or by left-mouse-button dragging. While the display is zoomed in, "Out" and "Reset" buttons will appear, which may be used to reverse the zoom of the display. On the right-mouse-click popup menu, the "Zoom Out" and "Zoom Reset View" items may also be used to reverse the zoom of the display.

The mouse-over tool-tips for the performance bars show the "Start" time (minimum time for the performance level), "End" time (maximum time for the performance level), the "Duration" (time difference between the "Start" and "End" times), and the station name. When station-detail items have a performance level lower than the level specified by the perfToolTipLevel parameter, the items will be shown in the tool-tips (up to a maximum of 10 items).

On the bottom of this tab the "Start" time (minimum time for every station displayed), "End" time (the time of the last update to the display), and the "Duration" (time difference between the "Start" and "End" times) are displayed.

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Map Tab

Please note that this tab can be viewed only if the OpenMap(tm) station display option is licensed from isti.com and the JAR contains the necessary files (see the Running the SeisNetWatch GUI client as an application section above.)  Also it is only supported when running the program as an application since external files are needed.

The Map Tab displays all of the stations being monitored by the NSI server that was contacted. On the right side of the map is a list of all of the stations. By clicking on a station the user requests to select the station. The selected station is indicated on the map with an arrow. By double-clicking on the station the user requests more information about the station and is shown the Station Detail Tab (described below). The station names are listed as NN-SSSSS where NN is the network code of the station and SSSSS is the station name. The color of the symbol informs the user of the Performance Level of the station. The meanings of the Performance Level color values are described in the Symbol Key. To view a screen shot of this tab, click here.

When the Map Tab is displayed, the following items may be used in the 'View' menu at the top of the frame:

The map may be configured by clicking on the "Layers" button, which will bring up a "Layers" menu that allows all of the map layers to be configured. Each individual layer may be turned on and off by clicking on the layer-on/off (light bulb) button and may be configured by clicking on the configure button.

In addition the following basic OpenMap(tm) properties can be hand edited into the "conf/openmap.properties" file:
# The default center latitude.
openmap.defaultCenterLat=37.3
# The default center longitude.
openmap.defaultCenterLon=-119.0
# The default scale.
openmap.defaultScale=10000000
# The default zoom in factor (must be < 1.0).
openmap.zoomInFactor=0.5
# The default zoom out factor (must be > 1.0).
openmap.zoomOutFactor=2.0
# The default station list background color.
openmap.stationListBackgroundColor=FFC0C0C0

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Subset Tab

The Subset Tab provides the user with a way to group a subset of stations based on certain attributes. To open this tab, simply click on it. To view a screen shot of this tab click here. The subset may be based on Network code, predefined Groups, Agents, or Performance. To select all stations associated with an attribute, first select the attribute type, and then the value in the right most choice box.

Clicking on the "Stations Subset" button will display a tab containing stations that match the attribute's value. The color of the tab will change to the color of the performance level if all of the stations in the subset are at the same level. The tab will also have a tab icon circle on the left. This tab icon circle will be the color of the lowest performance level of all of the stations in the subset. If you click the tab icon circle the tab will be closed. If you right-click the tab a popup menu will display options to close the tab, close all tabs other than this one, close all tabs, close all Station Detail Tabs (if any are present) or close all Subset Tabs. The right-click popup menu will also contain a selectable "Favorite Tab" item, which, when selected, will prevent the tab from being closed via the "Close all..." menu items.

Clicking on the "Performance" button will display a performance-subset tab containing stations that match the attribute's value. The tab will be similar in functionality to the Performance Tab.

Clicking on the "Map" button will add (or update if already present) a subset layer containing stations that match the attribute's value to the Map Tab. The selected subset layer is turned on and all other station layers (subset and performance) are turned off. Note that this button is only available if the Map Tab option is enabled.

For "Agent" subset tabs, the subset reactor panel shows station performance levels reflecting the voting of only those dynamic parameters that were provided by the agent selected.

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Station Detail Tab

The Station Detail Tab shows information specific to a single station. It can be created by clicking on a station button on either the "Stations" reactor panel or from a station group reactor panel (created from the Subset Tab). If a Station Detail Tab was previously created, clicking on the station in either reactor panel will bring the tab to the foreground. To view a screen shot of this tab, click here.

This tab display provides a list of static and dynamic information items about the station requested, including the station's name, performance level and usage level. Most of the other items come directly from the collection agents that feed the NSI server. Any item that affects the performance level for the station will have a colored circle to its left, where the color's meaning is described in the key at the bottom of the screen. The "lowest" performance level among the items will determine the performance level for the station. Any item names that appear blue in color may be clicked on to display help information about the item.

By clicking on a "Group" item, the user requests a Subset Tab that will display all stations associated with the group. By clicking on the "Performance" level of the station, the user requests more information about the station's performance and is shown the Performance Tab (if enabled.) If you click the tab icon circle the tab will be closed. If you right-click the tab a popup menu will display options to close the tab, close all tabs other than this one, close all tabs, close all Station Detail Tabs, or close all Subset Tabs (if any are present). The right-click popup menu will also contain a selectable "Favorite Tab" item, which, when selected, will prevent the tab from being closed via the "Close all..." menu items.

Right-clicking on the station detail tab panel will display a popup menu of options.

Agent and History Buttons

A button with the letter 'A' on it may appear to the left an information item. This button may be clicked on to display information about the collection agent from which the item came from.

A "plot" or "list" button may also appear to the left of an item. This button may be clicked on to display a history plot or list for the item. On history plots, the "Menu" button may be used to display a menu of functions (print, save, etc.), and the plot display may be zoomed using mouse-dragging actions (down and to the right to zoom in; up and to the left to zoom out). The "Auto Range" item on the menu may also be used to zoom out the axes so that all data-points are visible.

Detecting Changing Parameter Values

The parameter value will change color to white if the value has changed within a recent update from the NSI server. This is to indicate to the end-user that something changed, because on a cluttered screen the changes are not always apparent unless they are dramatic. If the parameter does not change within a certain amount of time, then the font color will revert to normal (black). This time may be specified as a parameter to the program.

Detail Information Panel

At the bottom of the screen is a symbol key for performance levels and a display of the refresh rate and when the last update of the screen happened. To the right of the key are several buttons that may be clicked on. The "DPerf" button will display performance-over-time information for the detail items that affect station performance. The "Reset" button will clear the white text on any of the information items that have changed color, setting them back to the normal color (black). The "Help" button will display an information panel or browser window that contains help information for the particular station. The "Close" button will remove the Station Detail Tab display. If the app has "Control" mode enabled, a "Control" button will be available that allows the usage level of the station to be modified.

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GUI Client Parameters

The following parameters may be specified in a configuration settings file or in the HTML document file that hosts the applet.  The name of a configuration file may specified in the HTML document by using the parameter "configFileName" (see below).

Parameter:  configFileName
     This parameter may be used (in the HTML document file that hosts the applet or on the command line for program running as an applet) to specify the name of a configuration settings file that may contain any of the parameters below.  This value may be the absolute URL address to the file, or a relative path that is assumed to be in the same web directory as the HTML document file that hosts the applet or, when running as an application, this value specifies the location of the configuration file.  If no value is given for this parameter then the program will look for the file "Client.ini" in the same web directory as the HTML document file (if applet) or in the local directory (if application).  Any parameter values specified in the HTML document, on the command line or in the User Settings file will override those in this configuration file.  Note that if a pathname is specified using Windows-style backslash ('\') separators, each backslash must be "escaped" by preceding it with another backslash (i.e., "path\\Settings.ini"). 

Parameter:  appletMode
     On SeisNetWatch systems that feature station usage levels, the applet mode parameter enables the usage level control mode.  (The status of this control mode is displayed at the bottom of the main page of the client.)  If this parameter's value is "Control" then control mode is enabled.  The default value is "Observe".

Parameter:  GUIAcceptorRefFile
     This parameter specifies the location of the file holding the IOR reference to the GUIAcceptor CORBA object for the NSI server.  The parameter value may be a full URL, or, if not a URL, may reference a file using a relative path (starting at the home directory of the HTML document containing the applet).  The default value is "gui_acceptor_ior.ref".

Parameter:  programName
     The program name string to be displayed by the GUI client.  The default value is "SeisNetWatch".

Parameter:  consoleRedirectFileName
     If a filename is given then the "standard" output and "standard" error console output streams are redirected into the given file.  If the given filename is "nul" then all console output will be discarded.  If the 'userHomeSettingsFlag' parameter is 'true' and this parameter is not set to an absolute path then the file will be located in a ".snwclient" directory under the current user's "home" directory.  Note that if a path/filename is specified using Windows-style backslash ('\') separators, each backslash must be "escaped" by preceding it with another backslash (i.e., "path\\ConsoleOut.txt").  The default value is "" (empty string for no redirection).

Parameter:  consoleRedirectAppendFlag
     If true then output to the console-redirect file ('consoleRedirectFileName') will be appended to any existing data in the file.  If false then any existing data will be erased.  The default value is 'true'.

Parameter:  connectionRestartPopupFlag
     If true then a popup is displayed before restarting the connection. The default value is true (enabled).

Parameter:  maxConnAttempts
     The maximum number of initial connect-to-server attempts allowed before an error message is displayed.  A value of zero corresponds to "infinity," meaning that connection attempts will continue indefinitely.  The default value is 25.

Parameter:  userHomeSettingsFlag
     When the program is running as an application, this parameter may be set to 'true' to make the program locate the User Settings and other configuration files in a ".snwclient" directory under the current user's "home" directory.  This can be useful in installations where multiple users are running the program and wish to have separate settings.  The default value is 'false' (put User Settings file in program installation directory).  This parameter setting also affects the 'consoleRedirectFileName', 'programSingletonName' and 'commandFileName' parameters.

Parameter:  settingsFileName
     When the program is running as an application, this parameter may be used to specify the name of the User Settings file used to store parameters that may be changed by the user.  The parameter settings in this file will override those in the configuration file.  If the 'userHomeSettingsFlag' parameter is 'true' and this parameter is not set to an absolute path then the file will be located in a ".snwclient" directory under the current user's "home" directory.  Note that if a pathname is specified using Windows-style backslash ('\') separators, each backslash must be "escaped" by preceding it with another backslash (i.e., "path\\Settings.ini").  The default value is "Settings.ini".

Parameter:  userSettingsFlag
     If true then the loading and saving of User Settings is enabled.  The default value is true (enabled).

Parameter:  persistentTabsFlag
     If true (and the userSettingsFlag parameter is true) then the set of tabs displayed when the program exits will be saved and then restored the next time the program is run.  The default value is false (disabled).  This parameter may be modified in the program via the "Settings" window.

Parameter:  showStationsTabFlag
     If true then the main 'Stations' tab will be displayed.  The default value is true (displayed).  This parameter may be modified in the program via the "Settings" window.

Parameter:  showPerformanceTabFlag
     If true then the main 'Performance' tab will be displayed.  The default value is true (displayed).  This parameter may be modified in the program via the "Settings" window.

Parameter:  startupShowStation
     This parameter specifies the name of a station that the program will, at startup, load and display (showing its station detail page).  The type of display show is determined by the 'showStationAtTime' parameter.  The default value is "" (no station shown at startup).

Parameter:  showStationAtTime
     This parameter specifies an historical-snapshot time (in seconds after 1/1/1970 GMT) to be associated with the 'startupShowStation' value.  When a value greater than zero is specified and a 'startupShowStation' parameter-value is provided, an historical snapshot of the given station will be displayed at startup.  If a value of zero is specified and a 'startupShowStation' parameter-value is provided, a current station-detail page for the given station will be displayed at startup.  The default value is zero (current station-detail page).

Parameter:  autoPopLevels
     When this parameter specifies one or more performance level names (in a comma separated list with optional quotes around the names), the program will "pop up" subset-of-stations tabs of station buttons when all the stations involved go to any of the specified performance levels (assuming the tab is not already displayed).  A subset will not be "popped up" if the number of stations in the subset is less than the 'minimumAutoPopCount' value.  The default value is an empty string (no "pop up" tabs).

Parameter:  autoPopLevelsFlag
     This optional flag parameter may be used to control whether or not the program will "pop up" subset-of-stations tabs of station buttons when all the stations involved go to any of the performance levels specified by the 'autoPopLevels' parameter.  A subset will not be "popped up" if the number of stations in the subset is less than the 'minimumAutoPopCount' value.  The default value is true (enabled) if 'autoPopLevels' contains level names, otherwise false (disabled).  This parameter may be modified in the program via the "Settings" window.

Parameter:  onlyNewAutoPopFlag
     If this parameter is true then tabs for subset-of-stations sets with all stations at one of the 'autoPopLevels' performance levels will only "pop up" when the condition occurs after the client has started.  If false then tabs for subset-of-stations sets that were already at one of the 'autoPopLevels' performance levels will be "popped up" when the client starts.  The default value is false ("pop up" tabs at startup).  This parameter may be modified in the program via the "Settings" window.

Parameter:  minimumAutoPopCount
     This parameter sets the minimum number of stations for any automatically "poped up" subset-of-stations tabs (triggered via the "autoPopLevels..." parameters).  The default value is 2.

Parameter:  allStaUpdateSleepMS
     This parameter specifies the sleep delay time between updates of the "reactor" panel screens, in milliseconds.  The default value is 5000 (5 seconds).  This parameter may be modified in the program via the "Settings" window.

Parameter:  staDetUpdateSleepMS
     This parameter specifies the sleep delay time between updates of the station detail screens, in milliseconds.  The default value is 5000 (5 seconds).  This parameter may be modified in the program via the "Settings" window.

Parameter:  stationColorChangeMS
     This parameter specifies the length of time that the color for a station button on the "reactor" panel will remain changed after a status or usage level change to the station.  The value is specified in milliseconds.  A value of 0 (representing "infinite") will leave the color changed indefinitely (until the user clicks on the station button).  The default value is 30000 (30 seconds).

Parameter:  staDetColorChangeMS
     This parameter specifies the length of time that the color for a station detail item will remain changed after a change in the item's value.  The parameter value is specified in milliseconds.  A parameter value of 0 (representing "infinite") will leave the color changed indefinitely (until the user clicks on the item).  The default value is 30000 (30 seconds).

Parameter:  stationChangeColor
     This parameter specifies the text color that a station button on the "reactor" panel will display with after a status or usage level change to the station.  If this value is "white" then the station button background color will be changed to "black". See the notes below for the possible parameter values.  The default value is "white".

Parameter:  staDetChangeColor
     This parameter specifies the text color that the value of a station detail item will display with after a change in the item's value.  See the notes below for the possible parameter values.  The default value is "white".

Parameter:  staDetHelpColor
     This parameter specifies the text color that the name of a station detail item will display with if it has help text linked to it.  See the notes below for the possible parameter values.  The default value is "blue".

Parameter:  staDetBkgrndColor
     This parameter may be used to specify the background color for the station detail tabs.  See the notes below for the possible parameter values.  If this parameter is not specified or is set to an empty string then the system-default background color will be used.

Parameter:  groupTabColorFlag
     If "true" then the text on a station group tab will change color when all of its stations are at the same status level, with the color representing this status level.  If "false" then then text is always colored black.  The default value is "true".

Parameter:  staDetTabColorFlag
     If "true" then the text on a Station Detail Tab will track the status level of the station.  If "false" then then text is always colored black.  The default value is "true".

Parameter:  noAgentIconsFlag
     If "true" then agent information button icons will not be shown preceding items on the station detail displays.  The default value is "false".

Parameter:  displayUnknownStationsFlag
     If "true" then stations with unknown performance will be displayed. The default value is "true".

Parameter:  noNetworkCodesFlag
     If "true" then the network codes will not be shown on the station buttons on the "reactor" panel.   The default value is "false".

Parameter:  originalOrderFlag
     If "true" then items on the station detail page are displayed in the original order that they are received.  If "false" then the items are grouped by type.  The default value is "false".

Parameter:  alphaSortItemsFlag
     If "true" then items on the station detail page are displayed in alphabetically-sorted order (within their groups).  A case-insensitive sort is used.  The default value is "false".

Parameter:  staParamHistoryUpdateTimeMS
     This parameter specifies the amount of time between updates of the station parameter history plot/list screens, in milliseconds.  The default value is 60000 (60 seconds).  This parameter may be modified in the program via the "Settings" window.

Parameter:  staParamHistoryAutoUpdateFlag
    If "true" station parameter history plot/list screens auto-update when they are first displayed. The default value is "true".  This parameter may be modified in the program via the "Settings" window.

Parameter:  showStaParamHistDatapointsFlag
     If "true" then graph datapoints will be shown on station parameter history plots by default.  The default value is "true".  This parameter may be modified in the program via the "Settings" window.

Parameter:  showStaDetailPerfOverTimeFlag
     If "true" then the performance-over-time information for detail items will be shown whenever a new station-detail page is displayed (same as if the "DPerf" button was pressed).  The default value is "false".  This parameter may be modified in the program via the "Settings" window.

Parameter:  maxHistoryFetchPoints
     Sets the maximum number of data points allowed for a single station-parameter-history fetch from the server.  When more points are requested, multiple parameter-history fetches are used (to reduce the chance of communications-timeout errors).  The default value is 5000.

Parameter:  staParamHistoryGapFactor
     Sets the gap-threshold factor for the station parameter history plots.  If the given value is positive then a line will not be drawn between two data points if the distance between them is greater than the median distance of data points times the given value.  If the given value is not greater than zero then lines will be drawn between all data points.  The default value is 10.0.

Parameter:  timeGMTFlag
     If "true" then date/time values are displayed using GMT.  If "false" then date/time values are displayed using the local time zone.  The default value is "false".  This parameter may be modified in the program via the "Settings" window.

Parameter:  noUsageKeyFlag
     If "true" then the symbol key for usage levels is not shown and usage levels are not used in the app.  The default value is "false".

Parameter:  firstTabFlag
     If "true" then when a displayed tab is closed the Stations Tab will always be displayed; if "false" then the most-recently opened tab will be displayed.  The default value is "false".

Parameter:  stationSortFlag
       This parameter has been replaced by the stationSortType parameter and should no longer be used.  If 'stationSortType' is not specified then:  If this parameter is "true" then station buttons will be sorted using the network code first (straight sort), if "false" then they will be sorted by station name using any leading network code (e.g. "NN-") as a secondary comparison value.  The default value is "false".

Parameter:  stationSortType
     Sets the sort type for the station buttons.  See the description of "station sort type" selections on the "Stations" settings tab for available options. The default value is "station code".

Parameter:  stationColumnFlag
     If "true" then station buttons will be displayed in columns (instead of rows). The default value is "false".  This parameter may be modified in the program via the "Settings" window.

Parameter:  maxNumPerfValues
     The maximum number of performance values per station displayed on the Performance Tab. This value is checked when there is a change in
performance for the station. If there are more values than this maximum the oldest values are removed. If this value is "0" then the Performance Tab is not displayed. The default value is 256.  This parameter may be modified in the program via the "Settings" window.

Parameter:  maxAgePerfValuesDays
     The maximum age (in days) of performance values displayed on the Performance Tab. This value is checked when there is a change in performance for the station. All values older than this age are removed. If this value is "0" then no values are removed because of age. The default value is 3 days. This parameter may be modified in the program via the "Settings" window.

Parameter:  maxAgeDetailPerfValuesDays
     The maximum age (in days) of detail-performance-plot values displayed (via the "DPerf" button) on station-detail tabs. If this value is "0" then no values are removed because of age. The default value is 2 days.  This parameter may be modified in the program via the "Settings" window.

Parameter:  fetchPerfValuesFlag
     Set 'true' to enable the fetching of historical performance values from the server. If this parameter is 'true' when the program starts up then historical performance values will be fetched from the server and displayed on the Performance Tab. The time length of the fetch into the history is determined by the 'maxAgePerfValuesDays' setting. (If 'maxAgePerfValuesDays' is zero then a value of 3 days will be used.) If this parameter is enabled while the program is running then the fetch will happen at that time. The default value for this parameter is 'false'. This parameter may be modified in the program via the "Settings" window.

Parameter:  perfToolTipLevel
     When station-detail items have a performance level lower than the level specified by this parameter then the items will be shown in the mouse-over tool-tips for the graphs on the Performance Tab.  (A maximum of 10 items may be shown in a tool-tip.)  The default value is "Good".

Parameter:  browserCmdPrefix
     This command may be used to set the prefix of the operating system command used to launch a web browser for displaying URLs.  The URL string is placed directly after this prefix (and before the 'browserCmdSuffix') in the command string.  If this parameter is not given or is set to an empty string then a command prefix suitable for the detected operating system will be used (this usually works well).

Parameter:  browserCmdSuffix
     This command may be used to set the suffix of the operating system command used to launch a web browser for displaying URLs.  The URL string is placed directly before this suffix (and after the 'browserCmdPrefix') in the command string.  If this parameter is not given or is set to an empty string then a command suffix suitable for the detected operating system will be used (this usually works well).

Parameter:  rButtonMinWidth
     This parameter specifies the minimum width (in pixels) allowed for a "station" button on any "reactor" panel display.  If all of the stations buttons on a "reactor" panel cannot fit using the minimum width and height then vertical scrolling will be used.  The default value is 70 pixels.

Parameter:  rButtonMaxWidth
     This parameter specifies the maximum width (in pixels) allowed for a "station" button on any "reactor" panel display.  The default value is 100 pixels.

Parameter:  rButtonMinHeight
     This parameter specifies the minimum height (in pixels) allowed for a "station" button on any "reactor" panel display.  If all of the stations buttons on a "reactor" panel cannot fit using the minimum width and height then vertical scrolling will be used.  The default value is 14 pixels.

Parameter:  rButtonMaxHeight
     This parameter specifies the maximum height (in pixels) allowed for a "station" button on any "reactor" panel display.  The default value is 30 pixels.

Parameter:  rButtonFontName
     This parameter specifies the text font name to be used on "station" buttons on the "reactor" panel displays.  The default value is "Dialog".

Parameter:  rButtonFontSize
     This parameter specifies the text font size to be used on "station" buttons on the "reactor" panel displays.  The default value is 11.

Parameter:  rButtonSymbolLeftFlag
     If "true" the symbols will be displayed on the left side of a station button on the "reactor" panel.  The default value is "false".

Parameter:  rButtonPerfTipFlag
     If true then the station-detail items that have a performance level lower than the level specified by the 'perfToolTipLevel' parameter will be shown in the mouse-over tool-tips for the "station" buttons on the "reactor" panel displays.  Note that the Performance Tab must be enabled for the tool-tips to be shown.  The default value is true (enabled).

Parameter:  sButtonSelTimeoutSecs
     Specifies the number of seconds after a "station" button is selected that the button will be automatically unselected.  A value of 0 will specify that station buttons are never automatically unselected.  The default value is 60 seconds.

Parameter:  localGeneralHelpString
     Specifies the "general" help information displayed via the 'Help' button.  The value may be a URL or a path/filename.  If this parameter is not specified or is set to an empty string then the value will be fetched from the server. 

Parameter:  programSingletonName
     Specifies the name of the "program singleton" file, which is used to ensure that only one instance of the program is running out of the same directory (when running as an application).  If this parameter is set to an empty string ("") then multiple instances of the program may be run out of the same directory.  When the program is running as an applet, this parameter is ignored.  If the 'userHomeSettingsFlag' parameter is 'true' and this parameter is not set to an absolute path then the program-singleton file will be located in a ".snwclient" directory under the current user's "home" directory.  The default value is "snw_client" (resulting in a "snw_client.psf" file).

Parameter:  commandFileName
     Specifies the path and file name (or URL) of the "command" file used to send commands to the app.  The status of this file is continually polled by the program (rate set via 'commandFilePollMS'), and when its last-modified timestamp is updated the file is read and processed.  If this parameter is set to an empty string ("") then a command file is not used.  If the 'userHomeSettingsFlag' parameter is 'true' and this parameter is not set to an absolute path then the command file will be located in a ".snwclient" directory under the current user's "home" directory.  The default value is "snw_client_cmd.ini" (when running as an application) or "" (when running as an applet).  The following command-file entries are supported:
   showStation = "stationName"
   showStationTime = snapshotTime
Specifying a 'showStation' value will result in the display of a detail page for the given station.  The 'showStationTime' value specifies an historical-snapshot time (in seconds after 1/1/1970 GMT) to be associated with the 'showStation' value.  When a value greater than zero is specified and a 'showStation' value is provided, an historical snapshot of the given station will be displayed.  If 'showStationTime' is not specified or a value of zero is specified and a 'showStation' value is provided, a current station-detail page for the given station will be displayed.

Parameter:  commandFilePollMS
     This parameter sets the poll rate (in milliseconds) for the "command" file specified via the 'commandFileName' parameter.  If set to zero then the command file will only be polled once at startup.  The default value is 1000 (polled once per second).

Parameter:  progInstanceFavTabsFlag
     If "true" then, when an historical-snapshot instance of the application is launched via a "Launch Stations Snapshot..." menu item, any tabs marked as "favorite tabs" will be displayed automatically on the new instance.  The default value is "true".

Parameter:  showDebugFlag
     If "true" then debug messages are shown on the console output.  The default value is "false".

Parameter:  performanceStationRightFlag
     If "true" the names will be displayed on the right side of the performance plot.  The default value is "false".

Parameter:  timeRangeQuickSelect
     The comma separated list of 1-3 quick selection values for the time range display for history list/plot.  The default value is "1,3,7".

Parameter:  timeRangeUnits
     The time range units (hours, minutes, seconds, days) for the duration when selecting the time range to display for history list/plot. The default value is "days".

Parameter:  GUIAcceptorIOR

     This parameter may be used to directly specify the IOR reference to the GUIAcceptor CORBA object for the NSI server.  If this parameter not used (or is an empty string), the IOR reference is fetched using the "GUIAcceptorRefFile" parameter.  The default value is an empty string.

Parameter:  applicationWidth
     This parameter sets the width (in pixels) of the program's window when running as an application.  When running as an applet, this parameter is ignored.  The default value is 900.

Parameter:  applicationHeight
     This parameter sets the height (in pixels) of the program's window when running as an application.  When running as an applet, this parameter is ignored.  The default value is 700.

Parameter:  username
     This parameter is used when reading the IOR requires authentication. If this value is an empty string the user will be prompted. The default value is an empty string.

Parameter:  password
     This parameter is used if the username was specified. The default value is an empty string.

Parameter:  buttonsTopFlag
     If "true" the buttons will be displayed on the top of the panels that are displayed on the tab.  The default value is "false".

Parameter:  staDetStaticInfoRightFlag
     If "true" the static information will always be displayed on the right side of the station details.  The default value is "false".

Notes:  Within string parameters (surrounded by double quotes), any "special" characters should be "quoted" by preceding them with a backslash ('\').  "Special" characters include the double quote and the backslash.

     For parameters that specify a color, the value may be: a color name ("black", "blue", "cyan", "darkGray", "gray", "green", "lightGray", "magenta", "orange", "pink", "red", "white" or "yellow"); three comma-separated numbers (each from 0 to 255) representing the red, green and blue components of the color; or a single number representing the three components (with the red component in bits 16-23, the green component in bits 8-15 and the blue component in bits 0-7).

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User Settings

Some of the client parameters (referred to as the "User Settings") may be modified in the program's "Settings" panel, which is reached by hitting the "Options" button and then the "Settings" button.  The following items are on the "Settings" panel:

General Tab

All stations update delay (ms):
     Specifies the sleep delay time between updates of the "reactor" panel screens, in milliseconds. See also allStaUpdateSleepMS.

Station detail update delay (ms):
     Specifies the sleep delay time between updates of the station detail screens, in milliseconds. See also staDetUpdateSleepMS.

Station parameter history update delay (ms):
     Specifies the sleep delay time between updates of the station parameter history plot/list screens, in milliseconds. See also staParamHistoryUpdateTimeMS.

Show popup before restarting connection:
     If selected then this program will "pop up" a dialog to allow the connection to be restarted; otherwise the connection will automatically be restarted when needed. See also connectionRestartPopupFlag.

Display times using GMT timezone:
     If selected then date/time values are displayed using GMT; otherwise date/time values are displayed using the local time zone. See also timeGMTFlag

Enable auto-popup of same-performance subsets:
     If selected then this program will "pop up" subset-of-stations tabs of station buttons when all the stations involved go to any of the performance levels specified by the 'autoPopLevels' parameter; otherwise no tabs will be automatically "popped up". See also autoPopLevelsFlag.

Only auto-pop new same-performance subsets:
     If selected then tabs for subset-of-stations sets with all stations at one of the 'autoPopLevels' performance levels will only "pop up" when the condition occurs after the client has started; otherwise tabs for subset-of-stations sets that were already at one of the 'autoPopLevels' performance levels will be "popped up" when the client starts. See also onlyNewAutoPopFlag.

Save/restore displayed tabs:
     If selected then the set of tabs displayed when the program exits will be saved and then restored the next time the program is run. See also persistentTabsFlag.

Show main 'Stations' tab:
     If selected then the main 'Stations' tab will be displayed. See also showStationsTabFlag.

Show main 'Performance' tab:
     If selected then the main 'Performance' tab will be displayed. See also showPerformanceTabFlag.

Station Tab

Station sort type:
     The sort type for the station buttons. (See also stationSortType.) The following selections are available:

If usage levels are enabled (via 'noUsageKeyFlag'==false) then the following selections will also be available:

Display station buttons in columns (instead of rows):
     If selected then station buttons will be displayed in columns (instead of rows). See also stationColumnFlag.

Display unknown-performance stations:
     If selected then stations with unknown performance will be displayed. See also displayUnknownStationsFlag.

Sort station-detail items in alphabetic order:
     If selected then items on the station detail page are displayed in alphabetically-sorted order (within their groups). A case-insensitive sort is used. Note that modifying this setting will not change any currently-displayed detail pages (they will need to be closed and opened again to reflect the sorting change). See also alphaSortItemsFlag.

Station parameter history auto-update by default:
     If selected then station parameter history plot/list screens auto-update when they are first displayed. See also staParamHistoryAutoUpdateFlag.

Show station parameter history datapoints by default:
     If selected then graph datapoints will be shown on station parameter history plots by default. See also showStaParamHistDatapointsFlag.

Show detail items performance over time by default:
     If selected then the performance-over-time information for detail items will be shown whenever a new station-detail page is displayed (same as if the "DPerf" button was pressed). See also showStaDetailPerfOverTimeFlag.

Performance Tab

Max number of values per station (0=disable):
     The maximum number of performance values per station displayed on the Performance Tab. See also maxNumPerfValues.

Maximum age of values (days):
     The maximum age (in days) of performance values displayed on the Performance Tab. See also maxAgePerfValuesDays.

Max. age of station-detail values (days):
     The maximum age (in days) of statil-detail-performance values displayed on the Performance Tab. See also maxAgeDetailPerfValuesDays.

Fetch historical performance values from server:
     Selecting this checkbox will enable the fetching of historical performance values from the server. If enabled when the program starts up, historical performance values will be fetched from the server and displayed on the Performance Tab. See also fetchPerfValuesFlag.


On the "Settings" panel, the "Restore Defaults" button will set all the displayed values to those found in the configuration file (usually "Client.ini").  Any modifications made to the displayed parameter values will be committed after the "OK" button is hit, or ignored if the "Cancel" button is hit.

The User Settings values are saved to make them persistent across executions of the program.  When running as an applet, the settings are stored in a browser cookie (which must be enabled in the browser for it to work).  The HTML page that launches the applet must be similar to those found under the 'client' subdirectory in the SeisNetWatch distribution (including containing 'mayscript' statements and the 'setCookieValue' function).  When running as an application, the settings are saved in a file whose location and name are specified by the userHomeSettingsFlag and settingsFileName parameters (usually "Settings.ini").  The userSettingsFlag parameter may be set to 'false' in the configuration file to disable the saving and loading of User Settings.

Setting the persistentTabsFlag parameter to 'true' in the configuration file (or in the "Settings" panel) will cause the set of tabs displayed when the program exits to be restored the next time the program is run.  When running as an applet, there may be a short delay before the latest change to the displayed tabs is saved.  (In other words, tab changes made just before the applet is terminated may not be saved.  This is due limitations in the browser-cookie implementations.)

When running as an application (and the 'userSettingsFlag' parameter is set to' true'), the size and location of the program's window frame will be saved and restored (via the User Settings file).

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Acknowledgments

The following libraries are used by this program:
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Authors

The SeisNetWatch system was written by Eric Thomas, Kevin Frechette, Jamey Linder, and Paul Friberg with oversight provided by Sidney Hellman and feedback from Ilya Dricker. Philip Crotwell wrote the initial event demo proof of concept software in Java and C++.  We are ISTI.
 

Copyright 2012, Instrumental Software Technologies, Inc.
 
 


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