Laserfiche WebLink
<br />e <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />003H~ <br /> <br />computer types. Different computer types and their associated operating <br />systems and software will be able to support different sets of capabilities that <br />CRDSS will need to provide. A matrix showing how well user interface types <br />and computer types match is presented in Table 2. Each of these platforms <br />assumes the standard operating system, Mainframes are not explicitly <br />mentioned in the matrix. <br /> <br />Table 2: User Interface Type/Computer Type <br /> <br /> PC with X <br /> Basic PC Windows Maclmosll.. . Workstationl <br /> Tenninal <br />Command Line ./ ./ ./ ./ <br />Fonn Based ./ ./ ./ ./ <br />interactive Graphics ./ ./ ./ <br /> <br />It will be difficult. if not impossible, to support a full range of capabilities for <br />all computer types. One reason is that some machines may not support <br />graphics, while others may not do so at sufficient resolution or speed to be of <br />much use. <br /> <br />There are a number of solutions to this problem. One is to only provide the <br />functionality that can realisIically be supported on a given machine, One <br />problem with this is that these decisions might have to be made on a case by <br />case basis and might also depend on the users' expectations of what acceptable <br />performance is. Another problem with this is that it might entail multiple <br />development paths. which would increase the time and cost of both <br />development and maintenance. In addition. it would be difficult to guarantee <br />that all programs performed consistently across all machine types, <br /> <br />Another solution is to develop a machine independent kernel that can be used <br />as a foundation for all interfaces. Thus, the developers could build a consistent <br />non-graphical core with a predefined interface to any of the application <br />programs that might need to built on top of it. This would allow each platform <br />to utilize the subset of functionality that it was able, <br /> <br />One last solution is to use a platform independent interface subroutine library, <br />These are commercially available and are supposed to be able to allow a single <br />line of development in a interface independent environment. This approach, if <br />successful. would provide a more maintainable end product and a cleaner <br />development. <br /> <br />Advances in software and hardware over the past decade have made a <br />continuum of system configurations feasible. At one end of the continuum are <br />centralized "systems, at the other are stand alone systems. These"configurations <br />can be applied to processing and data. The remainder of this section discusses a <br /> <br />Discussion <br /> <br />System <br />Configuration <br /> <br />DAMES& MOORE/CADSWES.24 <br />