A.2.4 SAMP Panel

Control Window SAMP Panel

If TOPCAT is running in SAMP mode, the SAMP panel at the bottom of the Control Window gives a quick view of the current status of SAMP communications. For a discussion of the whats and whys of SAMP, see Section 9. Note that if not running in SAMP mode (e.g. if in PLASTIC or no-server mode) this panel will not appear. SAMP mode is the default under normal circumstances.

The panel is made up of the following main parts:

Message View

This shows a graphical representation of any messages which have been recently sent to or received from other applications by TOPCAT. Triangles to the left of the central circle represent incoming messages and triangles to the right represent outgoing ones. A filled triangle represents a message which is still waiting for an answer, and an open one represents a message which either is not expecting an answer or has already received one. Colour coding is used to indicate success or failure. The triangles disappear from the display shortly after they are no longer waiting for a reply.

Client View

An icon is shown in this panel for each application currently registered with the SAMP hub, including TOPCAT itself. If no icon is available for a registered application, a generic grey square is used.

Connection Indicator

An icon at the right may be visible to indicate whether or not TOPCAT is currently registered with the hub.

More detail and control for the information presented in this panel is available in the SAMP Window.