Difference between revisions of "ITasks"

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At the '''ICFP 2007''' conference we presented '''iTasks''' [http://www.st.cs.ru.nl/papers/2007/plar2007-ICFP07-iTasks.pdf],
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[[File:itasks-logo.png|right]]
a multi-user workflow system for the web.
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The iTask system ('''iTasks''') is a task-oriented programming toolkit for programming workflow support applications in [[Clean]].
With this library one can assign tasks to users and control the order in which these tasks have to be performed.
 
A user uses a browser to perform the tasks assigned to him or her.
 
The iTask system is therefore also very suited for  
 
web programming and web form handling.
 
The tasks are defined on a very high level declarative monadic style.
 
  
Have a look at the iTask pages [http://www.cs.ru.nl/~rinus/iTaskIntro.html].
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With this toolkit, interactive systems can be specified using combinators in a very high level declarative monadic style. Programs are constructed by combining typed 'tasks'. These tasks produce results that can be passed as parameters to other tasks. Tasks are constructed by combining
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single steps sequentially or in parallel.
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From iTask specifications, executable web-based workflow support systems are generated automatically.
  
The new release of the iTask library we are working on will support:
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[[File:itasks2-gui.jpg|thumb|The iTask2 GUI]]
* Ajax handling of iTasks
 
* Client side evaluation of iTasks
 
  
With a simple annotation an iTask is evaluated on the client instead of on the server.
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This latest version features:
To make this possible we run full blown Clean applications in the browser as Java applet, making use of the fast '''Sapl''' interpreter [http://www.st.cs.ru.nl/papers/2007/janj2007-TFP06-EfficientInterpretationOfSAPL.pdf].
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* A highly declarative API for specification of interactive systems as task compositions.
The system automatically switches between client side and server side evaluation when needed.
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* Automatic generation of web-based user interfaces for entering and updating and viewing data.
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* Automatic data persistance
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* Automatic instant synchronization between different clients using html5 push technologies.
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* Easy creation of JSON webservices
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* A builtin HTTP1.1 webserver
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* Integration framework for common client-side javascript libraries (for example google maps)
  
For the [[AFP2008|AFP Summerschool 2008]] we made a special Clean release which includes
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== Installation ==
the new compiler which can generate SAPL code for execution on the client.
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Download and unzip a [[Download Clean | Clean Development Release]]. It contains iTasks by default. Clean 2.4 is not supported in combination with iTasks.
  
You can download this release at:
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Mac and Linux users should follow the installation instructions provided in the README.txt.
http://clean.cs.ru.nl/download/Clean22/windows/Clean2.2-iTasks-AFP2008.zip
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== Documentation ==
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Documentation of iTasks is still mostly done in scientific papers (look for iTasks on the [[Publications]] page).
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== Browsers ==
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The iTask system works with most modern browsers. IE 9 is a known exception, we are working on that.
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Using the iTask system with Firefox can be very slow. This is caused by a delay that is added by Firefox for all events for localhost. There are several solutions and workarounds:
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* Find out what your current ip address and use that instead of '''http://localhost/'''.
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* Better: use '''http://127.0.0.1/''' instead of '''http://localhost/'''.
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* best: change the settings of Firefox.
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# type as url: '''about:config'''
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# search for '''v6''', you will see '''network.dns.disableIPv6'''
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# toggle the value of this parameter to '''True'''.
  
 
== Read more ==
 
== Read more ==
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* [[ST_Publications|Papers about iTasks]]
 
* [[Workflow examples]]
 
* [[Workflow examples]]
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* [[ITasksProjectIdeas| Ideas for projects to improve iTasks]]

Revision as of 09:27, 28 April 2016

Itasks-logo.png

The iTask system (iTasks) is a task-oriented programming toolkit for programming workflow support applications in Clean.

With this toolkit, interactive systems can be specified using combinators in a very high level declarative monadic style. Programs are constructed by combining typed 'tasks'. These tasks produce results that can be passed as parameters to other tasks. Tasks are constructed by combining single steps sequentially or in parallel. From iTask specifications, executable web-based workflow support systems are generated automatically.

The iTask2 GUI

This latest version features:

  • A highly declarative API for specification of interactive systems as task compositions.
  • Automatic generation of web-based user interfaces for entering and updating and viewing data.
  • Automatic data persistance
  • Automatic instant synchronization between different clients using html5 push technologies.
  • Easy creation of JSON webservices
  • A builtin HTTP1.1 webserver
  • Integration framework for common client-side javascript libraries (for example google maps)

Installation

Download and unzip a Clean Development Release. It contains iTasks by default. Clean 2.4 is not supported in combination with iTasks.

Mac and Linux users should follow the installation instructions provided in the README.txt.

Documentation

Documentation of iTasks is still mostly done in scientific papers (look for iTasks on the Publications page).

Browsers

The iTask system works with most modern browsers. IE 9 is a known exception, we are working on that.

Using the iTask system with Firefox can be very slow. This is caused by a delay that is added by Firefox for all events for localhost. There are several solutions and workarounds:

  1. type as url: about:config
  2. search for v6, you will see network.dns.disableIPv6
  3. toggle the value of this parameter to True.

Read more