Input and Output Streams

Field Description
streamName displayed when stream is selected and shown in workspace
streamStatusLineDescription description that appears on status line when stream is selected
streamType the data type of the stream: boolean, byte, int, or String
formatted whether the stream is parsed by or created using a particular structured format. See FramedInput module description for more information.

Using Param Tags to Pass Information to Applet

Note: starting with NetScape 2.1 this technique can be replaced by having JavaScript directly access static public fields in the code generation applet.

To pass the IOstream information as param tags, each input stream param is named inputN and assigned the value streamName/ For example, if the input table's first entry has the streamName "TNG channel", the corresponding param entry for the code generation applet would be:

   <param name=input1 value="TNG channel"> 
Similarly, there are param entries indicating the type and status line:
   <param name=inStat1 value="streamStatusLineDescription">
   <param name=inType1 value="streamType">

Constructor Code Generated

Each new module may have its own set of potential input and output data streams, which are created when the module instance is created. Note that creating these is not the same as associating an input and output stream. Association is a separate operation performed by the user on instances of these objects, and is implemented as a NeatToolsModule method.

Code added to the new module constructor (extension of NeatToolsModule):

   for each input stream parameter:
      inputStreams.add( new InputStream( IOstream.streamType ));
   for each output stream parameter:
      outputStreams.add( new OutputStream( IOstream.streamType ));
Code added to the visualization constructor (extension of VisualNeatToolsModule):
   for each input stream parameter:
      potentialInputStreams.add( new StreamDescriptor( "streamName", 
         "streamStatusLineDescription", IOstream.streamType ));
   for each output stream parameter:
      potentialOutputStreams.add( new StreamDescriptor( "streamName",
         "streamStatusLineDescription", IOstream.streamType ));