System calls in Kettle

[Michelle]

Hi,

Decapod requires the ability to make system calls in order to start processes such as dewarping images and creating pdf documents. Some of these processes will return quickly while others will take a considerable amount of time - a couple of hours in the case of pdf generation. Ideally, besides starting processes, we would like to be able to manage them as well. I can imagine an interface where the user could see which pdfs were being generated etc. For basic use in Decapod, process management should include:
 
  1. starting processes synchronously or asynchronously 
  2. finding out the status of a process 
  3. stopping processes 
  4. queuing system call requests  

I've started work on this task which you can follow on ENGAGE-204. I am going to start with very basic functionality that would be used in an 0.1 of Decapod. More robust features will be added as the product develops.

Michelle


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Michelle D'Souza
Software Developer, Fluid Project
Adaptive Technology Resource Centre
University of Toronto