Cinema simple web server

April 1, 2021 ยท View on GitHub

This is a basic server requested by Kitware, Inc. for inclusion in the next release of ParaView. The module will enable users to view Cinema databases with pvpython, using python's module execution option.

Requirements

  1. The Cinema Simple Web Server can serve a viewer type and one or more cinema databases using python's -m <module> capability.
  2. The server can be started from the command line in any directory
  3. The server can serve Cinema databases that are accessible (through file permissions) to the user, accessed by a relative path
  4. The server can serve databases that are accessible (through file permissions) to the user, accessed by an absolute path

Implementation

Command Line Args

$ python -m cinemasci.server --help
usage: __main__.py [-h] --data DATA --viewer VIEWER [--port PORT]
                   [--assetname ASSETNAME]

Run a Cinema Viewer

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --data DATA           database to view
  --viewer VIEWER       viewer type to use
  --port PORT           port to use
  --assetname ASSETNAME
                        asset name to use

Examples

When the module is invoked with python, it will print out a URL, then start the server. The user can then paste the URL into a browser. The following examples have been tested in Firefox, Chrome and Safari.

To perform the tests, there is a script in the testing area that prepares a separate work area for running tests in testing/scratch:

shell> ./testing/make_url_tests
shell> cd testing/scratch/url
shell> open test-url.html (or other command, per OS)
shell> python -m cinemasci.server --viewer explorer --data data/sphere.cdb --port 8200
       http://127.0.0.1:8200/?viewer=explorer&databases=data/sphere.cdb

       (now, click the links in the browser that shows the test-url.html page)

These are examples that can be run using the test-url.html file, or by pasting the URL written to the shell into a browser.

    (cinema explorer, with a single relative database)
    python -m cinemasci.server --viewer explorer --data data/sphere.cdb --port 8200
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/?viewer=explorer&databases=data/sphere.cdb


    (cinema view, with a single relative database)
    python -m cinemasci.server --viewer view --data data/sphere.cdb --port 8200
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/?viewer=view&databases=data/sphere.cdb


    (cinema view, with two relative databases)
    python -m cinemasci.server --viewer view --data data/sedov1.cdb,data/sedov2.cdb --port 8200
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/?viewer=view&databases=data/sedov1.cdb,data/sedov2.cdb