Format Independent Viewer (FIV)
Client’s Name (Country):
Italtel
The Challenge:
The client required the implementation of a system, which could operate as an information service center targeted to small and medium sized companies. This new system had to be able to function as an extension of the existing company network, while acting as an interchange node for information written in different formats, and distributed over a disparate network. Finally, it had to be compatible with various types of client terminals (PC, telephone, fax, network PC, TV) to be able to store and display information.
The Solution:
AT Software specialists used a "Network Centric" paradigm to enable information exchange and the common and distributed usage of services. As a result the Format Independent Viewer (part of the Multimedia Service Center) was developed. This new software product is designed to allow various documents, written in different formats and hosted on different sites of heterogeneous networks, to be displayed on any commercial device available. The FIV provides homogeneous access to documents in different ASCII formats, including texts and images (RTF, Postscript, HPGL) from different types of client terminals (PC, Unix WS). The user interface was implemented as a Java applet working under all Internet browsers. The user doesn't have to adjust browser settings as the FIV transparently manages the various formats. In order to obtain platform-independent code, most of the FIV client components were written in Java, while the server control components were written in Perl. However, some server-side parts contain components done in C (for example, the Postscript interpreter code, which enhances performance).
Tools and Technologies:
Java 1.0, Microsoft Visual Studio 5.0, GCC, Internet browsers
Project Duration (months):
7 months