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Abstracts - 12th Systems Administration Conference
(LISA '98)
An Extensible Remote Graphical Interface for an ATM Network Simulator
Michael D. Santos, P. M. Melliar-Smith, and L. E. Moser
University of California, Santa Barbara
Abstract
The University of California, Santa Barbara, is developing a 40 gigabit
per second ATM switch as part of its Thunder and Lightning network
project. To use the high bandwidth efficiently, new network protocols
are being developed and simulated on the Thunder and Lightning network
protocol simulator. Due to the extreme memory and computational
requirements of the simulator, the display, unlike most Tcl/Tk
interfaces, must be implemented as a distinct process capable of running
on a remote machine. This paper discusses some of the
issues that arise with such a physical separation of application and
interface, and describes the implementation of the simulator's display
application, with an emphasis on the use of the Tcl language. One module
of the GUI for the simulator is discussed in detail, demonstrating the use of
XDR (external data representation) with Tcl sockets to provide for
cross-platform binary data exchange between the simulator and its
display application. We also discuss our experience in building the
simulator GUI and propose ways in which XDR might be incorporated into
Tcl. We discuss some shortcomings of the canvas widget and
describe mechanisms to overcome them.
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