[NHCOLL-L:9] paleonet Paleodimension: free paleo software

[Tim White]

...fowarded from PALEONET



PaleoDimensions
===============

The PaleoDimensions system provides a standardized format for bringing
paleontology databases from around the world online via the World Wide
Web. The system is designed to enable authorized paleontologists to
query multiple databases [which might be distributed globally*], to
submit
data to their own database, and  to generally facilitate data sharing
and
professional collaboration.

[The system has benefitted from wide experience with a number of
paleontology systems in operation internationally, so that its standards
are widely compatible.*]

The PaleoDimensions system uses underlying Perl code to process all
user input and communicate with all local or remote databases as well
as maintain security. Although a standardized database model is
included with PaleoDimensions, users can modify the system to
interface with any ODBC-compliant database. PaleoDimensions has been
tested on Windows 95, Windows NT and Linux platforms using Access 97
and Oracle databases, but can be extended to other platforms and
applications.

To implement PaleoDimensions, the system must be installed on a local
server. Each local installation will have a table listing all other
sites using the PaleoDimensions system and a table listing authorized
users.

Presently there are two user levels: 'Scientist' and 'Guest'. The names
for the access levels were chosen to represent the type and level of
data to which that the user has access. A user may in fact be a
scientist doing research, but may only have 'Guest' level access to
some databases on the PaleoDimensions system. A user may not be a
working paleontologist, but may have 'Scientist' level access to some
databases. The actions available to a 'Scientist' level user are:
· Scientist query
· Guest query
· View results in either Table or Report format
· Add data to their 'own' database
· Download query result-set as a text file

The actions available to a 'Guest' level user are:
· Guest query
· View results in either Table or Report format
· Download query result-set as a text file.

The PaleoDimensions interface was designed to loosely simulate a
'Windows' interface in functionality. The gray buttons on each screen
represent the available actions from that particular screen. Most
navigation should be done by using these grey buttons. It will, in most
cases, be unnecessary to use the web browser's 'Back' and 'Forward'
buttons.

If a logged-in user does not use the system for a period of time
(usually 20 minutes), they will be automatically logged off. Upon trying
to perform another action, they will be required to log in once more.
This was implemented as a security feature to prevent unauthorized
access to the PaleoDimensions system.

The users themselves only need a web browser such as
Netscape or Internet Explorer versions 3 or higher to access
PaleoDimensions.

Development
>===========
The PaleoDimensions system was developed as a partnership between the
Geological Survey of Canada and the Computer Science Department of
Camosun College. A team of 4 senior computer science students were
assigned to the project and spent 6 months analyzing the "business
requirements" and then coding the software. The project was completed
at the end of June 1998.

In designing the system, the students identified three main
requirements: (1)the system needed to run on a variety of platforms,
(2) it had to be flexible, and (3) it had to be cheap - both from
a software and hardware perspective.

The students examined a variety of options and discovered that if
one of the requirements was met, the others usually were not. The
only solution that fulfilled all the requirements (at the time) was
a custom system written in Perl. Perl is a well known scripting language
and available on a wide variety of platforms (PC, Mac, Unix etc).
It is also *free* and can be easily downloaded from the Internet.


Hardware Requirements
======================
Most of the testing of PaleoDimensions was done on Wintel platforms
(Windows 95 and NT). The system was tested with databases
(Access 97 and Oracle tables) residing on the same server as
PaleoDimensions as well as on different servers. Due to time
constraints, the students could only do some initial tests on the
Unix/Linux platform. They were able to successfully run
PaleoDimensions under Linux Red Hat 5.0 against a test data
model in a Postgress database using the Apache web server.

Tests indicate that the minimum hardware configuration for the server
should be:

        Pentium PC 133Mhz or better
        Windows 95/98, NT (NT recommended) OR Linux Red Hat 5.0
        32 Mb RAM (min 64 Mb recommended for NT)
        approx 50 Mb of free disk space (includes empty Access and
                Oracle tables)
	[Availability of a web server is also required]

Future Plans
============
A new student project has begun on the PaleoDimensions system.
This student project will focus on building a local database
interface to the data model (currently only the Web interface is
available) and clean up some of the usability and functionality
issues within the current system.

Contact
=======
Further information on PaleoDimensions can be obtained from:

Dr. Marla Weston
[Currently on leave in France]
Les Bananiers			| Computer Science Department
21, Bd Marinoni			| Camosun College, 4461 Interurban Rd
06310 Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France	| Victoria, B.C. V8X 3X1 Canada
e-mail: marla.weston at wanadoo.fr	| weston at camosun.bc.ca