Print this pageAccess to Geoscience Data from the Seafloor on the World Wide Web and on CD-ROM Using Java{TM} and WWW Browser Technology
STEELE, MARK A., ERIC J. PEERS, and CARLA J. MOORE,
NGDC uses a variety of software to provide access to CD-ROMs containing geoscience data. One major problem is giving the user interface a common look-and-feel across multiple platforms. In the past, cross- platform libraries offered a "lowest common denominator" interface; the alternative was extensive reprogramming for each platform. Widely available World Wide Web (WWW) browsers have solved this problem for Internet access. Newly-available tools such as Java{TM} are promising to improve multi-platform functionality for both WWW and off-line data access.
NGDC's Marine Geology and Geophysics Division has implemented a Java{TM} interface for WWW access to the Index to Marine Geological Samples database maintained at NGDC in cooperation with twenty-two oceanographic institutions worldwide. This interface provides index wheels of data values produced in real time from the database in Oracle{TM}. It also offers a choice of view and output formats, and a graphic display of sites selected with zoom and color-coding options.
In parallel, NGDC is working on an off-line interface to the Index to Marine Geological Samples on CD-ROM using Java{TM}. The CD version uses the Record Reference Book{TM} software owned by Dataware Technologies, Inc. modified and licensed by NGDC. Using a combination of WWW browser technology and Java{TM} to access local files on the CD, the familiar WWW interface and multi-platform access are maintained.