DAWN is a Java based open source project, built on the Eclipse Rich Client Platform. Using Eclipse (which is actually an Integrated Development Environment in it's own right) makes DAWN incredibly flexible, whilst the the Rich Client Platform (RCP) gives DAWN a huge range of software components which can be used across a range of platforms. However, Eclipse comes with a whole load of terminology which might be a bit confusing to new users. Hopefully this glossary will provide some help - suggestions, additions and corrections welcome scisoftjira@diamond.ac.uk

Editors

Editors allow data files to be accessed. This might mean displaying text, drawing a 1D plot, a 2D image or allowing browsing (using slices) of a higher dimensional data set. Editors contain a set of tabs at the bottom left which allow the data in the file to be viewed in different ways - the type of data determines which visualisation options are available. Tools implemented in the different Editors allow, for example, the formatting of plotted data, data to be analysed, launching of additional Views to do more complex data analysis and adding of new ROIs. The term Editor originates from the eclipse development environment.

Perspectives

A Perspective is a collection of Editors and Views which provide tools to access data (for example, 1D plots, images...) and then to process and/or analyse that data. A set of perspectives comes predefined in DAWN, but you can change these by adding or removing Views as you need them. Alternatively, you can create your own Perspectives to help you attack your particular problem most effectively. The term Perspective originates from the eclipse development environment.

Project

Fish

Region Of Interest (ROI)

A Region Of Interest (ROI) is a region of a data file which manually selected by the user. ROIs can be straightlines, squares, radial sectors and a range of other shapes. ROIs can be used to exclude or select data processing.

Views

Views are collections of tools for working with data. This may include data analysis, but they can also be used to change how/what data is displayed in an Editor. As such, the behaviour and functions available within a View depend on the type of Editor with which it is associated. The term View originates from the eclipse development environment.

View Menu

The View Menu is part of all Editors (it has nothing to do with Views!). It can be accessed using from the button on the toolbar of an Editor Plot tab and contains tools for working with the plot (for example, adding annotations, adding ROIs or performing data analyses such as measurements and peak fitting).