Speaker
Description
MDSplus is a suite of tools for data acquisition and analysis; one of these tools is an interactive data visualization tool. The webScope project aims to modernize our visualizer’s capabilities using web-based technologies. Currently, MDSplus offers two visualization tools, which are showing limitations as they age and as computing expectations have evolved since they were first written. We intend to consolidate the features from the data visualization tools and provide a modern platform that can be extended with new functionalities.
WebScope aims to be fast, portable, lightweight, and easily maintainable.
* Fast: Webscope uses websockets: a single connection is made and maintained for requests to the server, eliminating the need to reopen a tree with each new request.
* Portable: web browsers are ubiquitous. Real-time monitoring can be made more convenient by enabling access to the wide range of modern devices that have them.
* Lightweight and maintainable: webScope is written using vanilla JavaScript with as few additional packages as reasonable, reducing breakable dependencies.
As the MDSplus user base has grown, so has demand for web-based tools. The native web-based architecture of webScope provides modern creature comforts right out of the box: display scaling for modern screen resolutions, whole-screen zooming, plugins for dark mode, and more.
The web-based platform also creates myriad possibilities for future added functionality: zoom history to allow users to quickly reset the view, highlight sections of a trace to focus the viewers' attention--especially useful for presentations and papers, and integration into a suite of Web applications such as an electronic notebook.
