GumTree user interface

Gumtree is an open source project, providing a graphical user interface for instrument control, data acquisition and data reduction. Gumtree is written in Java on the Eclipse Rich Client Platform. Java provides operating sytem independence. The rich client platform provides modularity via the plug-in paradigm and leverages third-party plug-in through a loosely coupled design. The rich client uses the IDE (integrated development environment) GUI paradigm for window management, using views and perspectives (collections of views). The IDE paradigm is familiar to software engineers, but has yet to show its value to the scientific community.

The ANSTO build of Gumtree provides a GUI with a common look and feel for all instruments. The build contains a client for the instrument control program SICS, a view to the histogram memory server, NeXus file reading, and a data reduction library and user interface. Gumtree is running on seven (7) neutron beam instruments.

The design of the user interface allows for extensibility. The requirements of the user community have been captured in the workshop report and in requirements gathering from the instrument scientists and their instrument advisor teams.