Introduction

This page deals with configuring and launching applications via Trebuchet.

Contents

Configuring and Launching Apps

This section reviews two examples of adding an app to the configuration file: a Python script and an executable; both with arguments.

To begin, it is recommended that the relevant files be copied into Trebuchet’s executable directory, in a folder called Apps. To do this:

1. Create a folder called Apps in the trebuchet_debug folder:
   
   

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2. Open the Apps folder and place the relevant applications that you wish to use via Trebuchet:
   
   

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3. Open the the file appConfiguration.json:
   
   

4. and add a new entry to the TrebuchetApps list, in the following format:
   
   

   "TrebuchetApps": [       <Current App list>,     {       "Name": "",       "Description": "",       "LaunchCommand": "",       "ExePath": "",       "ParameterGroups": [],       "MutualExclusiveGroups": [],       "ExecutionEnv": null     } ]

Python File

Within the IASDK, there are several example scripts for connecting to the radar and retrieving some data.

For this example, they will be placed in <Trebuchet exe directory/Apps/Python/.

Open the apps appConfiguration.json, and add a new entry to the TrebuchetApps list, in the following format:

In this example, add the read_azimuth_of_fft_data.py script to the launcher. This is placed in: Apps\Python\Python_radar_client\read_azimuth_of_fft_data.py. Set the name of the app to Read Single FFT Azimuth, and give an appropriate description. Since the “app” is a python script, we must provide the python launch command. Finally, set the ExePath field to Apps\\Python\\Python_radar_client\\read_azimuth_of_fft_data.py.

The configuration entry will now look like this:

When the app is next launched, there will be a corresponding entry in the Trebuchet Launcher, but with no arguments:

You can add parameters (in parameter groups) to the ParameterGroups or MutaulExclusiveGroups lists, with the format:

Where “…” indicates other elements that may be in the lists.

To find which parameters the script requires, you can run the script with the “-h” option, using python.

python

Apps\\Python\\python_radar_client\\usage_examples\\read_azimuth_of_fft_data.py

Alternatively, you can look inside the script to get the arguments:

This script only takes two arguments: ip_address and port. These are both global options, and are represented by putting them in a group with a blank group name. For example:

So, the final configuration entry for this app looks like this:

This creates an entry in the Trebuchet app:

Pressing Launch on the app, with parameters filled out, will launch the python script in a new window.

Executable App

This example will go over adding the video_adjuster.exe application from the IASDK. First, copy the application executable into the Apps/Radar Utilities folder within the Trebuchet app directory.

In appConfiguration.json (also located in the trebuchet app directory), add a new, blank entry to the Trebuchet App List:

Name this app Radar Video Adjuster, and set the ExePath to the location of the copied executable. Unlike the python example, no launch command is required:     

When Trebuchet is next launched, it will contain the new app, with no parameters:

You can add parameters to the ParameterGroups or MutualExclusiveGroups lists in the configuration file for them to appear in the App Parameters panel. This will usually take the form:     

Where “…” represents other entries that may be in the list.

The radar video adjuster has two parameter groups: radar and server, where each group contains ipaddress and port parameters. This is represented in the config as follows:

When the launcher next starts, the new Radar Video Adjuster output will look like this:

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