OpenIGTLink/Slicer - Revision history

Tokuda: /* From binaries */

2008-12-23T01:38:47Z

From binaries

Tokuda: /* From binaries */

2008-12-23T01:38:05Z

From binaries

Tokuda: /* From binaries */

2008-12-22T21:15:33Z

From binaries

Tokuda: /* From binaries */

2008-12-22T21:15:03Z

From binaries

Tokuda: /* Overview */

2008-12-18T03:34:22Z

Overview

Elhawary: /* "Plug-in" OpenIGTLink-vtkMRMLNode message converter */

2008-12-16T14:58:44Z

"Plug-in" OpenIGTLink-vtkMRMLNode message converter

Elhawary: /* Event-driven */

2008-12-16T14:51:49Z

Event-driven

Elhawary: /* "Connectors" */

2008-12-16T14:48:44Z

"Connectors"

Elhawary: /* Overview */

2008-12-16T14:45:24Z

Overview

Tokuda: /* "Connectors" */

2008-12-04T16:51:18Z

"Connectors"

@@ Line 37: / Line 37: @@
 * [[Media:OpenIGTLinkExamples_Linux_x86_64.tgz|For Linux (x86, 64-bit)]].
 * [[Media:OpenIGTLinkExamples_Win_x86_32.zip|For Windows (32-bit)]].
-* [[Image:OpenIGTLinkExamples_Darwin_x86.tgz |For Mac OS X (x86)]].
+* [[Media:OpenIGTLinkExamples_Darwin_x86.tgz |For Mac OS X (x86)]].
 * [[Media:OpenIGTLinkExamples_Darwin_ppc.tgz |For Mac OS X (PPC)]].

@@ Line 37: / Line 37: @@
 * [[Media:OpenIGTLinkExamples_Linux_x86_64.tgz|For Linux (x86, 64-bit)]].
 * [[Media:OpenIGTLinkExamples_Win_x86_32.zip|For Windows (32-bit)]].
-* [[Media:OpenIGTLinkExamples_Darwin_x86.tgz |For Mac OS X (x86)]].
+* [[Image:OpenIGTLinkExamples_Darwin_x86.tgz |For Mac OS X (x86)]].
 * [[Media:OpenIGTLinkExamples_Darwin_ppc.tgz |For Mac OS X (PPC)]].

@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 Obtain a binary file for your environment.
 * [[Media:OpenIGTLinkExamples_Linux_x86_32.tgz|For Linux (x86, 32-bit)]].
-* [[Image:OpenIGTLinkExamples_Linux_x86_64.tgz|For Linux (x86, 64-bit)]].
+* [[Media:OpenIGTLinkExamples_Linux_x86_64.tgz|For Linux (x86, 64-bit)]].
 * [[Media:OpenIGTLinkExamples_Win_x86_32.zip|For Windows (32-bit)]].
 * [[Media:OpenIGTLinkExamples_Darwin_x86.tgz |For Mac OS X (x86)]].

@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 Obtain a binary file for your environment.
 * [[Media:OpenIGTLinkExamples_Linux_x86_32.tgz|For Linux (x86, 32-bit)]].
-* [[Media:OpenIGTLinkExamples_Linux_x86_64.tgz|For Linux (x86, 64-bit)]].
+* [[Image:OpenIGTLinkExamples_Linux_x86_64.tgz|For Linux (x86, 64-bit)]].
 * [[Media:OpenIGTLinkExamples_Win_x86_32.zip|For Windows (32-bit)]].
 * [[Media:OpenIGTLinkExamples_Darwin_x86.tgz |For Mac OS X (x86)]].

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 =Overview=
-The 3D Slicer OpenIGTLink Interface Module is a program module for that can handle network communications between  [http://www.slicer.org 3D Slicer] and external software / hardware using [[OpenIGTLink]] protocol. The module provides following functions:
+The 3D Slicer OpenIGTLink Interface Module is a program module that can handle network communications between  [http://www.slicer.org 3D Slicer] and external software / hardware using [[OpenIGTLink]] protocol. The module provides following functions:
 *Data import: The module can import position, linear transform and image data from [[OpenIGTLink/List| OpenIGTLink-compliant software / hardware]] to the [[NA-MIC/Projects/NA-MIC_Kit/MRML| MRML]] scene.
@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 [[Image:OpenIGTLink_Slicer_Screenshot.png]]
 =Install the Software=

@@ Line 86: / Line 86: @@
 =="Plug-in" OpenIGTLink-vtkMRMLNode message converter==
-The module has "plug-in" OpenIGTLink-vtkMRMLNode converter mechanism, where OpenIGTLink-vtkMRMLNode converting routines are defined as classes independent from the connectors. Thus the developers can add a new data type that is handled by the OpenIGTLink interface module without modifying the module itself. All OpenIGTLink-vtkMRMLnode converting classes are child classes of '''vtkIGTLToMRMLBase''', which defines several virtual functions called by the OpenIGTLink interface module. Instances of those classes are registered before receiving OpenIGTLink messages or exporting vtkMRMLnode.
+The module has "plug-in" OpenIGTLink-vtkMRMLNode converter mechanisms, where OpenIGTLink-vtkMRMLNode converting routines are defined as classes independent from the connectors. Thus the developers can add a new data type that is handled by the OpenIGTLink interface module without modifying the module itself. All OpenIGTLink-vtkMRMLNode converting classes are child classes of '''vtkIGTLToMRMLBase''', which defines several virtual functions called by the OpenIGTLink interface module. Instances of those classes are registered before receiving OpenIGTLink messages or exporting vtkMRMLnode.
 The following member functions are defined in classes derived from vtkIGTLToMRMLBase class:
@@ Line 97: / Line 97: @@
    virtual int          MRMLToIGTL(unsigned long event, vtkMRMLNode* mrmlNode, int* size, void** igtlMsg);
-'''GetIGTLName()''' and '''GetMRMLName()''' are functions to get character strings of "device name" of OpenIGTLink messages and "node tag name" of MRML nodes handled by the class. For example, in case of the position data type, GetIGTLName() returns "POSITION" and GetMRMLName() returns "vtkMRMLLinearTransform", meaning that the class can convert an OpenIGTLink message with the device name "POSITION" into a MRML node with tag name '''LinearTransform''' and vice versa. '''GetNodeEvents()''' is a function to get a list of events to invoke the routine to convert MRML node into OpenIGTLink message, which is defined in '''MRMLToIGTL()'''. '''CreateNewNode()''' function defines a routine to create a new MRML node, when the OpenIGTLink module cannot find a MRML node to store the received data. Data conversion from OpenIGTLink message to MRML node and MRML node to OpenIGTLink message are defined as '''IGTLToMRML()''' and '''MRMLToIGTL()'''.
+'''GetIGTLName()''' and '''GetMRMLName()''' are functions to get the character strings of "device name" of OpenIGTLink messages and "node tag name" of MRML nodes handled by the class. For example, in the case of the position data type, GetIGTLName() returns "POSITION" and GetMRMLName() returns "vtkMRMLLinearTransform", meaning that the class can convert an OpenIGTLink message with the device name "POSITION" into a MRML node with tag name '''LinearTransform''' and vice versa. '''GetNodeEvents()''' is a function to get a list of events to invoke the routine to convert the MRML node into an OpenIGTLink message, which is defined in '''MRMLToIGTL()'''. '''CreateNewNode()''' function defines a routine to create a new MRML node, when the OpenIGTLink module cannot find a MRML node to store the received data. Data conversion from OpenIGTLink message to MRML node and MRML node to OpenIGTLink message are defined as '''IGTLToMRML()''' and '''MRMLToIGTL()'''.
 OpenIGTLink-vtkMRMLNode converter classes can be registered from other program modules using a member function of vtkOpenIGTLinkIFLogic class as (NOTE "IGTLLogic is a pointer to the OpenIGTLinkIFLogic class):

@@ Line 82: / Line 82: @@
 ==Event-driven==
-The OpenIGTLink Interface module is driven by two types of events: arrivals of OpenIGTLink messages and update events in MRML scene. The module monitors incoming messages, and once it receives a message, it starts deserialization process to import the data into MRML scene as a MRML node.  Other software modules in 3D Slicer can recognize that the data is imported into the MRML scene by catching the MRML event. The module also monitors events from MRML nodes, which the user has registered as nodes to export. When one of the nodes is updated from somewhere in the 3D Slicer, the module catches the update event and start serializing the data into OpenIGTLink message. the serialized data is transfered to the device through OpenIGTLink connection.
+The OpenIGTLink Interface module is driven by two types of events: arrivals of OpenIGTLink messages and update events in the MRML scene. The module monitors incoming messages, and once it receives a message, it starts a deserialization process to import the data into the MRML scene as a MRML node.  Other software modules in 3D Slicer can recognize that the data has been imported into the MRML scene by catching the MRML event. The module also monitors events from MRML nodes, which the user has registered as nodes to export. When one of the nodes is updated from elsewhere in 3D Slicer, the module catches the update event and starts serializing the data into an OpenIGTLink message. The serialized data is transfered to the device through an OpenIGTLink connection.
-This event-driven architecture allows other software modules in the 3D Slicer to exchange various kinds of data with external hardware and software without accessing API of OpenIGTLink interface (in other words, with few modification of the codes).
+This event-driven architecture allows other software modules in 3D Slicer to exchange various kinds of data with external hardware and software without accessing the API of the OpenIGTLink interface (in other words, with little modification of the code).
 =="Plug-in" OpenIGTLink-vtkMRMLNode message converter==

@@ Line 75: / Line 75: @@
 =="Connectors"==
-To manage multiple OpenIGTLink communications simultaneously, the OpenIGTLink Interface module handles an OpenIGTLink connection as a "connector". One connector can establish only one connection, and the user can add connectors from the graphical user interface (GUI) as much as he/she need. Each connector can be configured as either server or client independently (Figure 1). Note that this does not mean directions of data stream; it just determines whether the module or the external software / hardware waits for (listens to) the other side to initiate the connection. Once the connection is established, there is no difference between server and client connectors.
+To manage multiple OpenIGTLink communications simultaneously, the OpenIGTLink Interface module handles an OpenIGTLink connection as a "connector". One connector can establish only one connection, and the user can add as many connectors as needed from the graphical user interface (GUI). Each connector can be configured as either server or client independently (Figure 1). Note that this does not mean directions of data stream; it just determines whether the module or the external software / hardware waits for (listens to) the other side to initiate the connection. Once the connection is established, there is no difference between server and client connectors.
-[[image:Slicer3_OpenIGTLinkIF_Architecture.png|thumb|center|500px|'''Figure 1.''' The figure shows an example schematic diagram where multiple devices are communicating with the 3D Slicer through the OpenIGTLink Interface. Each connector is assigned to one of external devices for TCP/IP connection. The connectors serve as interfaces between the external devices and the MRML scene to convert OpenIGTLink message to MRML node or vice versa. ]]
+[[image:Slicer3_OpenIGTLinkIF_Architecture.png|thumb|center|500px|'''Figure 1.''' The figure shows an example schematic diagram where multiple devices are communicating with 3D Slicer through the OpenIGTLink Interface. Each connector is assigned to one of the external devices for TCP/IP connection. The connectors serve as interfaces between the external devices and the MRML scene to convert an OpenIGTLink message to a MRML node or vice versa. ]]
 From the developers' point of view, a connector is handled as an instance of vtkIGTLConnector class, which is defined in Modules/OpenIGTLinkIF/vtkIGTLConnector.cxx and vtkIGTLConnectors.h. Each instance has a thread to monitor communication with an external hardware / software.

@@ Line 72: / Line 72: @@
 =Architecture (for developers)=
 ==Overview==
-The OpenIGTLink Interface module is designed to adapt to the 3D Slicer’s scene graph mechanism called Medical Reality Modeling Language (MRML) architecture. MRML provides a unified way to handle various kinds of data including images, transforms, and models in the IGT setting as MRML nodes. In order to manage multiple nodes, all MRML nodes have a tree structure. For example, the user can apply a transform to an image by placing it under the transform node as a child node. When the OpenIGTLink module receives an OpenIGTLink message, it creates a MRML node with the same name as the "device name" in the message and imports the data to the node. If a node with the same name and data type already exists, the module simply updates the data. The module also can export the data from a MRML node through the OpenIGTLink interface. This mechanism maximizes the flexibility to import/export data to/from the 3D Slicer, since users can configure the MRML node tree interactively without changing the source code of the software. In addition, this mechanism make it easy for other software modules to exchange data with external software or hardware through OpenIGTLink.
+The OpenIGTLink Interface module is designed to adapt to the 3D Slicer’s scene graph mechanism called Medical Reality Modeling Language (MRML) architecture. MRML provides a unified way to handle various kinds of data including images, transforms, and models in the IGT setting as MRML nodes. In order to manage multiple nodes, all MRML nodes have a tree structure. For example, the user can apply a transform to an image by placing it under the transform node as a child node. When the OpenIGTLink module receives an OpenIGTLink message, it creates a MRML node with the same name as the "device name" in the message and imports the data to the node. If a node with the same name and data type already exists, the module simply updates the data. The module also can export the data from a MRML node through the OpenIGTLink interface. This mechanism maximizes the flexibility to import/export data to/from 3D Slicer, since users can configure the MRML node tree interactively without changing the source code of the software. In addition, this mechanism makes it easy for other software modules to exchange data with external software or hardware through OpenIGTLink.
 =="Connectors"==