GUI interface to an embedded system

Hi:

I'm developing am embedded system with Ethernet, USB and Serial
ports.  I want to provide a GUI interface which the user can use to
configure and program the system.  One approach is to use java and
deliver a compiled/compressed file to a browser that provides that gui
interface.

My question is are there alternatives to this approach that I can use
with either the USB or Serial interfaces?
What I'm trying to avoid is writing software that needs to be
installed on a users system.

thanks
george

On 2007-06-05, GMM50 <gfm5050@gmail.com> wrote:

> I'm developing am embedded system with Ethernet, USB and
> Serial ports.  I want to provide a GUI interface which the
> user can use to configure and program the system.  One
> approach is to use java and deliver a compiled/compressed file
> to a browser that provides that gui interface.
>
> My question is are there alternatives to this approach that I
> can use with either the USB or Serial interfaces?

Sure.  Put a web server in your device.  You can use either
a normal HTML interface, JavaScript, or Java.

> What I'm trying to avoid is writing software that needs to be
> installed on a users system.

-- 
Grant Edwards                   grante             Yow! If I had a Q-TIP, I
                                  at               could prevent th' collapse
                               visi.com            of NEGOTIATIONS!!

On Jun 5, 2:14 pm, Grant Edwards <gra...@visi.com> wrote:
> On 2007-06-05, GMM50 <gfm5...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I'm developing am embedded system with Ethernet, USB and
> > Serial ports.  I want to provide a GUI interface which the
> > user can use to configure and program the system.  One
> > approach is to use java and deliver a compiled/compressed file
> > to a browser that provides that gui interface.
>
> > My question is are there alternatives to this approach that I
> > can use with either the USB or Serial interfaces?
>
> Sure.  Put a web server in your device.  You can use either
> a normal HTML interface, JavaScript, or Java.

And can I download and run that software using the USB or serial
ports?

gm

On 2007-06-05, GMM50 <gfm5050@gmail.com> wrote:

>>> I'm developing am embedded system with Ethernet, USB and
>>> Serial ports.  I want to provide a GUI interface which the
>>> user can use to configure and program the system.  One
>>> approach is to use java and deliver a compiled/compressed file
>>> to a browser that provides that gui interface.
>>
>>> My question is are there alternatives to this approach that I
>>> can use with either the USB or Serial interfaces?
>>
>> Sure.  Put a web server in your device.  You can use either a
>> normal HTML interface, JavaScript, or Java.
>
> And can I download and run that software using the USB or
> serial ports?

Sure. Set up a PPP connection and point a web browser at the
thing.

-- 
Grant Edwards                   grante             Yow! UH-OH!!  We're out
                                  at               of AUTOMOBILE PARTS and
                               visi.com            RUBBER GOODS!

GMM50 wrote:
>
>Grant Edwards wrote:
>
>>GMM50 wrote:
>>
>> > I'm developing am embedded system with Ethernet, USB and
>> > Serial ports.  I want to provide a GUI interface which the
>> > user can use to configure and program the system.  One
>> > approach is to use java and deliver a compiled/compressed file
>> > to a browser that provides that gui interface.
>>
>> > My question is are there alternatives to this approach that I
>> > can use with either the USB or Serial interfaces?
>>
>> Sure.  Put a web server in your device.  You can use either
>> a normal HTML interface, JavaScript, or Java.
>
>And can I download and run that software using the USB or serial
>ports?

The phrase "download and run" leads me to believe that you 
aren't quite getting it.  When you enter some information 
so as to buy something from a website on the Internet, do you 
"download and run" that webpage?  That's not the phrase that
most people would use to describe doing that.

Controlling an embedded system from your web browser is the 
same as ordering a book from Amazon.com.  The only difference
is the content of the information you enter (commands to the
embedded system vs. your credit card number) and the URL you
use to access the page.

The program on your embedded system that serves up the *.html
webpage, reads the info the user inputs to the webforms, and
provides the URL that you type into your browser is called 
a "web server", and is a pretty easy thing to program into 
an embedded system.

Accessing the web page through Ethernet, USB or Serial is done
the same way you would access any web page that is at the other
end of one of those connections.  Again, the program on your 
embedded system that does that is called a "web server."

Or you can treat it like you would treat a *.HTML file on disk
and put a simple network file server in your embedded system.
That's harder to do, unless your system is already serving up
files.

Once you get the basics of serving up a web page with a web 
form on it, you can get fancy with JavaScript, Java or even
Flash or (spit!) VBScript -- but keep in mind the capabilities 
of all of the browsers that will be accessing the web page. 

-- 
Guy Macon
<http://www.guymacon.com/>  

"GMM50" <gfm5050@gmail.com> wrote in message 
news:1181068872.313050.19060@p77g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
> On Jun 5, 2:14 pm, Grant Edwards <gra...@visi.com> wrote:
>> On 2007-06-05, GMM50 <gfm5...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > I'm developing am embedded system with Ethernet, USB and
>> > Serial ports.  I want to provide a GUI interface which the
>> > user can use to configure and program the system.  One
>> > approach is to use java and deliver a compiled/compressed file
>> > to a browser that provides that gui interface.
>>
>> > My question is are there alternatives to this approach that I
>> > can use with either the USB or Serial interfaces?
>>
>> Sure.  Put a web server in your device.  You can use either
>> a normal HTML interface, JavaScript, or Java.
>
> And can I download and run that software using the USB or serial
> ports?

To get USB to work you need device drivers that understand your device. You 
could use a USB-Serial chip, which looks like a serial port to a PC - though 
it still may need a driver (from the chip supplier) there. At that point you 
can use USB like a com port and run PPP/SLIP to get TCP/IP. Now you 
implement a web server in you machine, accessible over the COM port from a 
web browser.

If you have ethernet, then this is the way to go because the PC side will 
already have all it needs. The complication is configuring the device TCP/IP 
setup e.g. when the PC connects to the device via routers and firewalls.

Peter

On Jun 5, 11:01 am, GMM50 <gfm5...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi:
>
> I'm developing am embedded system with Ethernet, USB and Serial
> ports.  I want to provide a GUI interface which the user can use to
> configure and program the system.  One approach is to use java and
> deliver a compiled/compressed file to a browser that provides that gui
> interface.
>
> My question is are there alternatives to this approach that I can use
> with either the USB or Serial interfaces?
> What I'm trying to avoid is writing software that needs to be
> installed on a users system.
>
> thanks
> george

Snip:
> I want to provide a GUI interface which the user can use to
> configure and program the system.  One approach is to use java and
> deliver a compiled/compressed file to a browser that provides that gui
> interface.

Why not CGIs? they are more robust and can do complex things. In this
case users don't need to have anything (jre) installed on their
machines.

ali