Internet Access to the Evolution of Terrestial Ecosystems Database

该项目将为陆地生态系统演化（ETE）数据库开发一个万维网接口。ETE是一个国际项目，旨在对陆地生态系统及其动植物群落的古生物学和古生态学进行大范围的比较。目前，该数据库包含8000多个化石地点和5000多个动植物物种的信息。它是通过X-Window图形界面访问的，它允许人们在屏幕上显示的地图上绘制化石位置，查询屏幕显示，并为其他分析程序构建输出数据集。目前，用户界面应用程序（称为“Explorer”）仅在同时运行该项目的数据库管理软件（Ingres）的主机上运行。这使得Explorer在本地网络环境中成为一个有效的工具，但是远程站点的用户必须从Internet上操作界面（地图、菜单等），并且必须通过FTP传输任何分析输出文件以在本地使用。北美以外的用户发现国际网络访问速度太慢，在某些高峰时段无法使用浏览器。这个项目将把浏览器移植到Java计算机语言（JavaSoft, Mountain View， CA）。Java对象文件可以在任何具有Java解释器的计算机上执行，而无需重新编译。Java解释器可用于所有主要的PC和工作站平台，并内置于Netscape 2.0和HotJava等WWW浏览器中。在Web浏览器中，一种特殊形式的Java应用程序（称为“applet”）被下载到用户的计算机上（通过一个指向URL的标准WWW链接），并在那里执行。其结果是具有一定程度的交互性和复杂的行为，这在以前的WWW上是不可用的。因此，新版本的浏览器将采用嵌入在标准WWW HTML文档中的Java applet的形式。其结果将是一个健壮的、基于internet的、交互式的界面，提供Explorer的GI -s风格的数据探索方法。该架构将极大地增加数据库对全世界古生物学家的可访问性，并催化更多的研究社区反馈和对该项目的专业互动。ETE的WWW客户端也可能使该数据库成为古生物学正规和非正规教育的重要资源。

This project will develop a World Wide Web interface for the Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems (ETE) Database. ETE is an international project, designed to allow broad-scale comparisons of the paleobiology and paleoecology of terrestrial ecosystems and their plant and animal communities. Currently the Database contains information on over 8,000 fossil localities and more than 5,000 plant and animal species. It is accessed through an X-Window graphical interface, which allows one to plot fossil localities on maps displayed on screen, to query the screen display, and to construct output data sets for other analysis programs. Currently, the user interface application (called "Explorer") runs only on the host that also runs the project's database management software (Ingres). This makes the Explorer an effective tool in the context of a local network, but a user at a remote site must operate the interface (maps, menus, etc.) from across the Internet and must transfer via FTP any analysis output files to use locally. Users outside of North America find international network access too slow to use the Explorer during certain peak hours. This project will port Explorer to the Java computer language (JavaSoft, Mountain View, CA). A Java object file can be executed on any computer that has a Java interpreter without recompiling. Java interpreters are available for all major PC and workstation platforms, and are built in to WWW browsers such as Netscape 2.0 and HotJava. From within a Web browser, a special form of a Java application (called an "applet") is downloaded to the user's computer (via a standard WWW link to a URL), where it is executed. The result is a level of interactivity and complex behavior previously unavailable on the WWW. The new version of the Explorer will thus take the form of a Java applet embedded within a standard WWW HTML document. The result will be a robust, Internet-based, interactive, interface providing the Explorer's GI S-style approach to data exploration. That architecture will greatly increase the accessibility of the database to paleobiologists world-wide and catalyze additional research community feedback and professional interaction on the project. A WWW client for ETE will also likely make the database a significant resource for formal and informal education in paleobiology.