Widgets - Intelligent Device Management, M2M, Remote Monitoring

A Widget is a special "sub-application" with a graphical user interface (GUI) consisting of a number of graphical components, such as text fields, charts, etc. Widgets are good for building custom forms and Human-Machine Interfaces (HMI). These forms and interfaces may be used to control, configure and monitor different hardware devices or system components. Widgets may grouped into a dashboard.

Widget components are tied to server and device data using data bindings. Bindings may also tie components together and define different expression-based data conversion patterns. Bindings may be activated:

During widget startup.
Upon some server-side event, e.g. when new device data arrives.
Upon widget component event, e.g. button click.
Periodically.

Scripts written in Java may be combined into the widget template, in case some data processing task cannot be performed using expressions.

Widgets may include a number of different components:

Labels
Text and Password Fields
Text Areas
Buttons and Toggle Buttons
Combo Boxes
Lists
Check Boxes and Radio Buttons
Sliders and Spinners
Progress Bars
Tables
Images
Dynamic Vector Drawings
Charts
Gauges, Meters

These components may be grouped in various containers:

Panels
Tabbed Panels
Split Panels
Layered Panels

Containers support two layouts:

Grid layout that auto-aligns components according to their size. It is especially good for building forms.
Absolute layout with strictly defined component positions and sizes. This layout is useful for building SCADA-like custom screens, maps, plans etc.

Containers with different layouts may be combined within one widget to build complex interfaces.

GUI Builder

Widgets are created in the GUI Builder, which is a part of AggreGate Client. It’s a graphical editor for widgets. It doesn't require any programming knowledge, and lets you easily:

Add, move and resize components.
Edit widget layout.
Bind server data to widget components.
Edit component properties and data bindings.

Widget may be launched at any time directly from the GUI Builder. Even in such test mode, they may operate with real server and device data.