Hercules: GUI

The overview screen is the main feedback screen of the GUI, it is designed to show as much information as possible relating to the current operation of the system. Although its primary function is visualization, it also contains some configuration options.

The top of the screen shows job queues. Each job type has a queue associated with it, showing how much data remains to be processed for that type. The types are defined as:

Archive            - A job in which one or many files are to be written to tape, for example raw data files from the Hawk acquisition system.

Restore           - A job in which one or many files are to be read from tape, for example processed data files to be shown on a Data Viewer Client.

Import              - A job in which a tape from an external source is to be read for the purposes of entering that data into the database of the running system.

Delete              - A job in which data is to be removed from tape.

When the queue is not empty, a bar appears to indicate the amount of data remaining, scaled up to an alarm level. A queue may be disabled by an administrator, in which case the disabled queue indicator will be present for that type. When a job is being processed by a drive, a line will appear to indicate the type of the job by connecting the drive icon with the appropriate queue graph.

If the tape required for a job in one of these queues, its barcode will appear in the ‘Required Media’ list, indicating that the tape with that barcode is to be entered into a robot or drive to which the Hercules is attached.

In the event that a media is no longer available for archiving or as a new media, it is possible to right-click on the media name and select ‘skip media’. This will trigger Hercules to move to the next available media.

The tape drive status panel contains a variable amount of information depending on the state of the tape drive. An empty drive shows a wire-frame icon of a tape of the type associated with the drive.

When a tape enters the drive, the icon is drawn non wire-frame and text appears to indicate the status of the drive. An icon is also shown to represent the operation of the drive (for example, stopped, recording, rewinding etc…). 

If a media (such as a removable disk) does not have a barcode to be read, it will prompt the user for action by saying “this drive requires attention”. 

When a job is being performed using the tape drive, the tape drive status panel extends to show further information regarding the state of the job and the tape usage. The status text changes to show the status of the tape or the current file if one is being processed. The progress bars show the percentage of the job that has been completed and the percentage of the tape that has been filled.

Tape status panels are always arranged centred above a tape robot panel representing the tape robot within which they are contained. Physical movement of tapes is shown by an arrow pointing from the drive (to show movement from a tape drive to a slot) or from the robot (to show movement from a slot to a tape drive).

Job queue configuration options can be accessed by clicking the job queue graphs, this presents the job queue configuration window. From this window the queues can be disabled/enabled and warning/alarm levels for the graphs can be set. Individual tape drive configuration may be accessed by clicking the tape drive status panels; this shows the tape drive configuration window. 

From this window the mode of the tape drive can be set, the options being:

The tape drive may also be restricted to levels from this window. Restricting to levels means that only jobs matching the engine, test and config specified are performed by this drive. It is not necessary to specify every field however; entering only an engine for example would restrict the tape drive to jobs relating to that engine.