Internal HMI files format

HMI files are used from BESTGUI to build the GUI that allow the user to specify the processing request parameters for BEST and store them in a file.

HMI files are located in the config/hmi folder and they are text files with a structure similar to what you would find on Microsoft Windows INI files.

They consist of sections, led by a “[section]” header and followed by “name=value” entries. For example:

[The Section]
foodir=/path/to/foodir
dir=frob

Each BEST tool has its own HMI file. A valid HMI file for BESTGUI should have at least two special sections, “MAIN” and “MENU” (see description below), and one section for each parameter needed by the BEST tool.

Note:parameters related to the AoI (Area of Interest) specification should never figure out in the HMI files; a special flag “has_aoi” in the “MAIN” section is used for tools that require the AoI specification.

Special sections

MAIN

The “MAIN” special section is mandatory and it most have the following four entries:

title:must be a valid BEST tool specifier i.e. a valid section name for a BEST parameters file has_aoi:True if the BEST tool allows the AoI specification (allowed values: True/False) patterns_label:it is used in the file selection dialogs as label for the file filter (the filter allow to display only files that match the patterns listed in the “patterns” entry). patterns:comma separated list of the output file extensions of the BEST tool

Example:

[MAIN]
title = FULL RESOLUTION
has_aoi = True
patterns_label = Full Resolution Extraction
patterns = .XTc,.XTf,.XTi,.XTr,.XTs,.XTt

MENU

Information provided in this section are used to build the BESTGUI tools menu. Mandatory section.

Example:

[MENU]
name = full
label = Full Resolution Extraction
description =
parent = extraction
position = 3

Parameters sections

Like each HMI file is associated to a specific BEST tool, in the same way each “parameter section” corresponds to a parameter that the user can specify when runs the tool.

The parameter sections provide all the information concerning the type (integer, string etc.) of the parameter and the appearance of the GUI used for the input (text entry and its size, check button, radio buttons ad so on).

type

The “type” entry is mandatory and must have one of the following values:

CheckChar:display a check-button that allows to select one of two possible (and configurable) character values (es. Y:N) CheckString:display a check-button that allows to select one of two possible (and configurable) string values (es. Yes:No) RadioScalar:display a radio-button that allows to select a scalar value in a finite set of possibilities (es. 16:32:64) RadioChar:display a radio-button that allows to select a character value in a finite set of possibilities (es. R:G:B) RadioString:display a radio-button that allows to select a string value in a finite set of possibilities (es. RED:GREEN:BLUE) String:display an entry box for the input of strings StringVector:display an entry box for the input of multiple string values (comma separated) Scalar:display an entry box for the input of single numeric values Vector:display an entry box for the input of multiple numeric values (comma separated) File:used for the input of file names, display an entry box and a button that allow to pop up a file selection dialog Dir:used for the input of directory names, display an entry box and a button that allow to pop up a directory selection dialog Path:used for the input of generic paths, display an entry box and a button that allow to pop up a file selection dialog

name

The “name” entry is a short and unique name associated to the parameter (mandatory).

label

The “value” of the label entry is displayed in the GUI on the left of the input widgets. It also represents the entry name in the BEST parameters file so it is but arbitrary. All labels must be set referring to the “BEST User Manual”. Mandatory.

mandatory

The “mandatory” entry is used to specify whenever the parameter is mandatory or not according to the “BEST User Manual”. Possible values are “True” or “False”.

Other entries

Other entries in this section depend on the “type” entry value. Please refer to the source code (and doc-strings) in bestgui/paramtype.py for details.

Example:

[Output Dir]
type = Dir
name = outputDir
label = Output Dir
mandatory = True
default = None
width = 40
position = 4
numcheck = 1