21.2 The XploRe Quantlet Client

The XploRe Quantlet Client can be initiated in two different ways. The way depends on whether the XQC is supposed to run as a standalone application or as an applet embedded within an HTML page. The XQC comes packed in a single Java Archive (JAR) file, which allows an easy usage. This JAR file allows for running the XQC as an application, as well as running it as an applet.

Running the XQC as an application does not require any programming skills. Provided that a Java Runtime Environment is installed on the computer the XQC is supposed to be executed on, the xqc.jar will automatically be recognized as an executable jar file that opens with the program javaw. If the XQC is embedded in a HTML page it runs as an applet and can be started right after showing the page.


21.2.1 Configuration

Property files allow configuring the XQC to meet special needs of the user. These files can be used to manage the appearance and behavior of the XQC. Any text editor can be used in editing the configuration files. Generally, the use of all information is optional. In its current version, the XQC works with three different configuration files. The xqc.ini file contains important information about the basic setup of the XploRe Quantlet Client, such as server and port information the client is supposed to connect to. It also contains information about the size of the client. This information can be maintained either relative to the actual size of the screen by using a factor or by stating its exact width and height. If this information is missing, the XQC begins by using its default values.

The xqc_language.ini allows for setting up the XQC's language. This file contains all texts used within the XQC. To localize the client, the texts have to be translated. If no language file can be found, the client starts with its default setup, showing all menus and messages in English.

The xqc_methodtree.ini file finally contains information about the method tree that can be shown as part of the METHOD/DATA window, see Section 21.3.2. A detailed description of the set up of the method tree will be part of Section 21.3.3.


21.2.2 Getting Connected

After starting the XQC the client attempts to access and read information from the configuration files. If no configuration file is used error messages will pop up. If server and port information cannot be found, a pop up appears and enables a manual input of server and port number, as displayed in Figure 21.1.

Figure 21.1: Manual input for server and port number.
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The screenshot in Figure 21.2 shows the XQC after it has been started and connected to an XploRe server. A traffic light in the lower right corner of the screen indicates the actual status of the server. A green light means the client has successfully connected to the server and the server is ready to work. If the server is busy, computing previously received XploRe code, the traffic light will be set to yellow. A red light indicates that the XQC is not connected to the server.

Figure 21.2: XQC connected and ready to work.
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