Currently, I use AJAX to provide a near-realtime display of data for a device (basically data acquisition and some control). The box contains a 16-bit processor, TCP/IP stack, but no OS (I use timer interrupts the same way car companies use them in engine controllers). The user interface is a table of values read/set, some alarms when something is out of spec., and a few configuration forms. No animation at this point. I was asked if Flash player could be used for the GUI since it maintains a constant connection and doesn't have to be polled like AJAX. After looking at Adobe's web site, it appears that the server (the embedded device in this case) needs to have a desktop/server OS. However, I saw one article about using Flash with a kit from NetBurner and their RTOS. So I was wondering if this really is possible, how to do it, perhaps some example projects, and the Reader's Digest version of how Flash works (nothing quickly found on Adobe's web site)? Now that I think about it, perhaps the first quest I should ask is if the effort is worthwhile? Thanks, Dave
Adobe Flash served by embedded processor w/o O.S.
Started by ●June 8, 2009
Reply by ●June 8, 20092009-06-08
On Jun 8, 10:20=A0am, Dave Boland <dbola...@fastmail.fm> wrote:> point. =A0I was asked if Flash player could be used for the GUI since it > maintains a constant connection and doesn't have to be polled like AJAX.I believe you can open persistent connections in Flash. This is the same general idea as running the UI for your product as Java - since the UI runs on the browser, not the embedded device, it doesn't care whether you have no OS or a full desktop OS on the backend. Not really true that it "doesn't have to be polled like AJAX" though - you'll still have to supervise the connection to make sure it's alive.
Reply by ●June 8, 20092009-06-08
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Dave Boland wrote:> Currently, I use AJAX to provide a near-realtime display of data for a > device (basically data acquisition and some control). The box contains > a 16-bit processor, TCP/IP stack, but no OS (I use timer interrupts the > same way car companies use them in engine controllers). The user > interface is a table of values read/set, some alarms when something is > out of spec., and a few configuration forms. No animation at this > point. I was asked if Flash player could be used for the GUI since it > maintains a constant connection and doesn't have to be polled like AJAX. > > After looking at Adobe's web site, it appears that the server (the > embedded device in this case) needs to have a desktop/server OS. > However, I saw one article about using Flash with a kit from NetBurner > and their RTOS. So I was wondering if this really is possible, how to > do it, perhaps some example projects, and the Reader's Digest version of > how Flash works (nothing quickly found on Adobe's web site)? Now that I > think about it, perhaps the first quest I should ask is if the effort is > worthwhile? > > Thanks, > DaveI've never used flash to maintain continuous tcp connections before so I cannot comment on that. I can say, however, that java applets have really good sockets support, without the hassle of Adobe's proprietary Flash software. - -- Brendan Gillatt | GPG Key: 0xBF6A0D94 brendan {a} brendangillatt (dot) co (dot) uk http://www.brendangillatt.co.uk -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (MingW32) iD8DBQFKLVzZrlc7Stqch40RAlbqAJ9HmZkZOzvwOJ3JZ6vH9kIxb1LanACgyXM3 1+YqOvY41OsAOEiY+ZRq4pI= =B/GB -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----