Overview of Application Architecture
3 levels of abstraction separate the user and the controller: the UI (User Interface), the API (Application Programming Interface), and the Controller. Each level has its own importance not only to allow the user to effectively control the microscope, but also to allow easy modifications of the controller software in the future without changing the User Interface the user currently enjoys. User
The user is the application scientist who will be operating the microscope. The scientist doesn't need to know how the software works. He or she only needs to know what the microscope does when they use it. User Interface
The UI is the software that communicates between the User and the API. It can be written in any programming language (Visual BasicR, Java™, Dos, LabView™), and converts the actions from the user into API function calls. API
The API is the communication interface between the software and the controller. Its job is to make it easy to create a software interface in any language by taking care of all of the abstraction and convolution created by the controller software. Any programming language can call our API without having to fully understand the controller. This results in less confusion and fewer bugs. The API also allows for changing the controller software at the base level with out ever changing the UI. If we need to change the controller software, it is only necessary to change how the API interacts with the controller. The change is transparent to the UI which continues to function with the new changes. Controller
The controller is the last level of abstraction between the microscope and the user. The controller collects information supplied by the API with each call. It sends corresponding electrical signals to the microscope that tell it what motors to run and how to collect data from the microscope to pass back to the API. Microscope
The microscope (Nano-R™, Nano-I™) responds to signals from the controller that drives the appropriate motors required to scan a sample. Data acquired from the sample is returned to the controller where it is processed.
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