FireCalc: An XML-based framework for distributed data analysis

Requirements and specifications for Control Data Access and Communication (CODAC) systems in fusion reactors point towards flexible and modular solutions, independent from operating system and computer architecture. These concepts can also be applied to calculation and data analysis systems, where highly standardized solutions must also apply in order to anticipate long time-scales and high technology evolution changes. FireCalc is an analysis tool based on standard Extensible Markup Language (XML) technologies. Actions are described in an XML file, which contains necessary data specifications and the code or references to scripts. This is used by the user to send the analysis code and data to a server, which can be running either locally or remotely. Communications between the user and the server are performed through XML-RPC, an XML based remote procedure call, thus enabling the client and server to be coded in different computer languages. Access to the database, security procedures and calls to the code interpreter are handled through independent modules, which unbinds them from specific solutions. Currently there is an implementation of the FireCalc framework in Java, that uses the Shared Data Access System (SDAS) for accessing the ISTTOK database and the Scilab kernel for the numerical analysis. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.