The new interface to the NON-SMOKER results offers the same features as
the previously used interface which used a
simple
HTML form.
Additionally, it offers plots of the downloaded cross sections and
reaction rates. It is even possible to compare multiple plots on one
screen.
This added functionality makes it superior over the previous HTML
interface. Only users who cannot or do not want to run Java applets on
their computers
should resort to continue using the old version.
System Requirements and Restrictions
The new interface is a code written in Java 1.1 and running
as an applet on your machine. The size of the applet is optimized so
that it can also
be used on screens with a moderate resolution. This results in the
following system requirements:
- A web browser which understands Java 1.1 (the recent
versions of Internet Explorer and Netscape are compatible, and so are
some other
browsers)
- Java has to be enabled (with Netscape and Internet
Explorers you can switch that in the Preferences/Options menus)
- The screen resolution should be at least 800x600 but a
higher resolution is recommended
- A color screen should be used to make sense of the plots
- The applet needs some memory to store the plot information
but if you can run a Java enabled browser on your machine, memory size
should be no issue
- The same is true for CPU speed
- Try not to use a proxy when accessing the data base
Since the applet is run as "untrusted code" the controlling browser
sets some strict limits on what the code is allowed to do. It CANNOT
read
or write files or other information from your disks. It is only allowed
to established an internet link to the machine where it was downloaded
from. Thus, the user does not have to worry about security.
On the other hand, these security issues also lead to restrictions in
the performance of the applet:
- On some machines/browsers the applet cannot open the
separate plot window, even if the appropriate box (see below) is
checked. If this happens
to you, you can try to relax the restrictions in one of the
Options/Preferences menus of the browser. If that does not help, you
have to use the
small viewport in the middle of the applet to view plots.
- When it starts, the applet tries to determine the
resolution of the screen it is currently running on and setting its own
size appropriately.
Some browsers do not even allow the applet to get that information or
to resize itself. Try to proceed as above, if it does not work the
applet
will remain at the size chosen for a 800x600 resolution (i.e. 640x480).
- It is not possible to implement a "Print" button for easy
printing of plots. One has to use some "Print Screen" tool to print the
generated plots.
When downloading the web page, the browser
will download the compiled code and start it in the predefined applet
window. The applet size is initially set to 640x480 but the applet
tries to
expand if a screen with higher resolution is used and the browser
permits it (see the security restrictions above). For each plot request
the code will
establish a HTTP connection to download the data. The conversion of the
data to plots is done offline in real time.
The applet interface appears within a HTML page displayed by
your browser. It is subdivided into three regions:
- The text region on top
- The plot viewport in the center
- The control section at the bottom
The
text region displays the data and messages
resulting from your queries. The scroll bar on the right side can be
used to view
earlier messages. The plots are shown in the
viewport.
The scroll bars on the right and the bottom can be used to view other
portions
of a plot. While the size of the other regions remain roughly the same
regardless of screen resolution, the viewable area in the viewport will
become larger when using a screen with higher resolution. On low
resolution screens the use of a separate plot window (see below) is
recommended.
Finally, the
control region contains all
components to make queries and control the appearance of the plots.
After entering the
required information into the text fields a query and plotting can be
initiated by clicking on the
Plot button. All
entered information will
be deleted by using the
Reset button. The
Clear
button only erases the plot and the text region, leaving the entered
information for further use.
Listing and plotting of data works simultaneously. Enter the required
information (user name, password, element symbol, mass number), select
Cross Sections or
Reaction Rates,
the type of the reaction and the mass formula which should be used in
the
calculation of the resulting values. (The required input is the same as
when using the
old HTML form;
please refer to the
old
documentation
for further information.) Then press the
Plot
button and the request will be sent to the server which will return the
relevant data.
The result of the query is shown in the text region
in a similar format as was previously returned by the
HTML form. However, some
of
the alignments may be slightly different because the formatting
commands returned with the data are ignored. It should be noted that
always three
reaction channels are returned in the listing, even though only one
reaction was selected. These are all possible channels with the same
entrance
channel. The results can be read and understood in the same way as in
the old HTML form. See
the old documentation
for further information.
At the same time when a data listing is successfully returned and
shown, a plot of the selected reaction (and only this reaction
channel!) is generated.
The plot can then be examined in the
viewport section
by using the scroll bars. If the checkbox at
Separate plot
window is selected,
an additional plot window of the size 800x600 pixels will pop up and
also display the plot (see
Requirements
and Restrictions
above for possible restrictions of use).
The buttons Clear and Reset
can be used to clear the plot and data areas or the plot, data and
input fields, respectively.
The scale and axis are chosen automatically so that the curve
will fit into the plot area. Plots of cross sections are always doubly
logarithmic plots,
displaying log10(cross section) on the y-axis and log10(energy) in the
x-direction. Plots of reaction rates are singly logarithmic plots,
displaying
log10(reaction rate) on the y-axis and the temperature (in 109
K) on the horizontal axis.
Only major tick marks are labeled. If on one axis (this usually only
happens on the vertical axis) only one labeled major tick mark is shown
(which
gives the order of magnitude), then and only then unlabeled minor tick
marks (referring to "times 2", "times 3", "times 4", etc.) are drawn.
Minor tick marks
are shorter than major tick marks and minor tick marks are always
unlabeled, contrary to major tick marks.
Cross sections and reaction rates below a certain threshold value may
be
shown in the listing but are not plotted. Currently the limit is set to
1.e-30 for both cross sections and reaction rates.
It is possible to overlay several plots of the same type (i.e. cross
sections or reaction rates). If the checkbox at
Cumulate
plots is NOT
selected, the plot area will be erased before each new plot. To enable
overlays, select
Cumulate plots (it is selected
by default). Subsequent
plots will be drawn with a different color in the same coordinate
system as the first plot. After 10 colors the color cycle will repeat
itself.
Note that the first plot in a series of overlay plots
determines the scale of the x- and y-axis. Subsequent plots will not
change that scale. If you do
not find your second, third, ... curve it may be off scale! Choose the
plotting sequence well.
Using the Clear button erases the plot
area and the text area and will start a new series of overlay plots.
The same happens when the
type selection switches from Cross Sections to Reaction
Rates or vice versa. It is possible, however, to overlay
plots with
different reactions (e.g. (n,g) and (p,a), if that makes any sense).
The title of the optional additional plot window will always
display the last plotted reaction. The color legend can be retraced by
scrolling back in
the text field.
If you want print outs of your plots, use the separate plot window and
some "print screen" tool.
Important note: If no additional plot window was used in a
series of plots and if the additional window is activated in the midst
of a series of
overlay plots, then the axis of the new plot window will not use the
same scale as the axis in the regular plot area. This may make it
impossible
to see the plots and all subsequent overlayed plots in the same way in
both the regular plot area and the additional plot window. If you want
an
additional plot window, activate it BEFORE starting a series of plots.
If you activate it later, you have to use the Clear
button and redo
the series of plots.
- Text Area: This area on top of the
applet shows informative messages resulting from the query inputs as
well as the cross section
or reaction rate data returned by the server.
- Viewport: Through the viewport in the
center of the applet the plotting area can be seen. While it is of
moderate size at low screen
resolutions, the viewport will adapt its size according to the chosen
resolution.
- Control Section: The lower part of the
applet contains all the control elements used for querying and
plotting. These are the input fields
for user name, password, element symbol, mass number, the choice of
plot type, reaction type and mass formula, the Plot,
Clear and Reset buttons,
as well as the checkboxes for choosing a Separate plot window
and if to Cumulate
plots, thereby making overlay plots.
- Text field "Username": Until further
notice one has to register
before using the data base. Enter
your supplied user name here (case sensitive).
- Text field "Password": Each user name
comes with a unique password. Please enter it here (case sensitive!).
- Text field "Element": Enter the one- or
two character element SYMBOL (lower case or upper case) of the target.
- Text field "Mass": Enter the one to
three digit mass number of the target.
- Choice "Type": Select Cross
sections or Reaction Rates.
- Choice "Reaction": Select the desired
reaction to be plotted. Values for all reactions with the same
combination of projectile
and target will be listed but only the selected reaction channel will
be plotted.
- Choice "Mass formula": Select the mass
formula which should be used for calculating the results. The mass
formula enters the
calculation in several ways. Please refer to the NON-SMOKER references and
the old
documentation for further details.
- Button "Plot": This button initiates a
query to the server, submitting the current contents of the text fields
and the choices. The
returned data is displayed in the Text Area and a
plot is made
unless an error message was returned.
- Button "Clear": Clears the plot area and
the Text Area but leaves the input fields
unchanged.
- Button "Reset": Clears all areas
including the text inputs and the selected choices.
- Checkbox "Separate plot window": If
selected, the plots are made in the plot area accessible through the viewport
AND
in a separate plot window of the size 800x600 pixels.
- Checkbox "Cumulate plots": If selected,
the plot area will not be cleared in between plots of the same type
(i.e. reaction rates or cross
sections). This way it is possible to overlay and compare a number of
plots. See above for further instructions.
The error messages returned by the server are the same as for the old
HTML form. If an error is returned no plot is made.
A list of error messages
can be found in the
old
documentation.
Do not use a proxy server when connecting. Otherwise you might
continue
to receive the same error messages or old data even when the error has
been fixed in the meantime.