ILController

DESCRIPTION

This is the ImageVision Library (IL) controller module. It is not intended to be used in isolation but rather as an alternate executable for a user-defined IL chain.

An IL chain is a tiled image processing operation that exists in a single UNIX process (compared to the multiple processes that IRIS Explorer maps typically use). An IL chain uses a pull model of execution that only processes the image tiles necessary to compute the output; if only a small part of the image is to be displayed, the IL chain can perform significantly less work than the equivalent IRIS Explorer map. Independent of the output size, an IL chain may use a fraction of the temporary storage of an IRIS Explorer map, as it processes images in tiles, rather than creating temporary storage the size of each image.

Because the IL execution model and temporary storage allocation are radically different than the corresponding IRIS Explorer mechanisms, an IRIS Explorer map must undergo special conversion to execute as an IL chain. The ILController module is written to process operations in any IL chain, as well as to handle the interface between IRIS Explorer and the IL chain. All that is left is for you to specify the contents of your IL chain so it may execute within the ILController.

The following are the necessary steps to create an IL chain that uses the ILController module:

Create a map using the relevant IL related modules. These include most *Img modules from the IRIS Explorer Librarian (but note that despite its name, ZoomImg is not an IL module), as well as any module(s) you write based on the ImageVision library. Pfuncs are not allowed between modules in an IL chain.
Select the modules to be combined into an IL chain. No non-IL modules should be selected.
Group the selected modules, promote the necessary input, parameter, and output ports, and edit the group's control panel as desired. Note that the input and output port names of the modules must not be changed during grouping.
Save the group as a map file, for instance foo.map. If the X resource Explorer.saveImagingProcess is True, a corresponding module resource file foo.mres is created in addition to the foo.map file. If the X resource Explorer.saveImagingProcess is False, you will be prompted as to whether to 'Proceed to save as an imaging process?' Clicking on OK will save the corresponding module resource file foo.mres.
This new module is the IL chain using the ILController executable. If you do not see the popup and you have Explorer.saveImagingProcess set to False, or equivalently if no module resource file is written for the IL chain, then you have included a non-IL module in the chain. Check your ILModules.config file (see below).
Note: if the X resource Explorer.saveImagingProcess is True and the X resource Explorer.saveImagingDialog is False, the .mres file will be created without a dialog prompt.
Launch the module resource file just created (with suffix .mres) into the map editor and the IL chain will be executed using the pull model of the IL in a single process. You can check that the IL chain was invoked by using the shell command ps -ef and looking for the name of the IL chain module.
If you wish to incorporate into an IL chain any module other than the standard IRIS Explorer IL modules, you must take additional steps, as follows:
Edit one of the IL configuration files to add the name(s) of your new IL module(s). You may edit either the global configuration file
```
$EXPLORERHOME/lib/ILModules.config
```
or the local file
```
/ILModules.config
```
in your home directory. Add a single line for each module giving the module's name (no filename suffix or spaces allowed). Only modules based on the IL may be added.
Edit the file userOper.C in the ILController source code distributed with IRIS Explorer. Follow the instructions there on adding a new operator. Make sure to add the setInput_* and setParam_* input functions related to input ports and parameter values. These functions define the names of the input ports in the IL chain. The output port name "Img Out" is assumed.
Build a new ILController module and install it into the default search path of the IRIS Explorer session you are running. See the Module Writer's Guide for more information on building and installing a module.
After following steps 6-9, proceed with steps 1-5 above.
Note: the ILController module is not present in every implementation of IRIS Explorer.

INPUTS

Port: Dummy Input
Type: Lattice
Constraints: 1..3-D

WIDGETS

OUTPUTS

Port: Dummy Output
Type: Lattice
Constraints: 1..3-D

Port: Dummy Output2
Type: Pick

KNOWN PROBLEMS

This module does not work in isolation. Only modules related to the ImageVision Library can be incorporated into an IL chain using the ILController.

At the moment, the .mres and .map files of the user-defined IL chain must reside in the same directory.

Parameter functions (pfuncs) and parameter-to-parameter wiring within the grouped modules are ignored in forming the IL chain. You will be warned with a popup if such a feature is being omitted from your IL chain.