Is there a programming language that can manipulate software?

Question

I'm doing a little research project for school but I'm not sure if it's possible to do. See, there's this software program (VNMRJ) downloaded and installed on a computer. I was wondering if it's possible to use this software and create an interactive website with it, that way people can work remotely instead of going to a place to do their experiments.

I guess this is a good example of what I was thinking of: http://bugscope.beckman.illinois.edu/

Answer 1

The easiest way to get this off the ground would be kind of like what someone said; you get software such as VNC running that can do remote desktops. It automatically comes with a web interface.



Since it seems like the software can run on Xorg or Xfree86 for Linux, you would set up the Linux computer so that it has a graphical login and it can be connected to with VNC. Instead of using a window manager though, you would place a ".xinitrc" file in a users home directory so that instead of launching a window manager it simply loads your VNMRJ software. This would make it so that the users couldn't as easily monkey around with your server with other applications.



You would still have to design a website around it using different web technologies... PHP, mysql, css, or whatever you need to manage user accounts etc.



A great example of this in a more general sense is a web site that no longer exists, but it was called Workspot. You can probably find screenshots of it on the web.

Answer 2

Your best bet is probably remote desktop software for a single remote user at a time, or teleconferencing software that allows sharing the desktop if multiple users need to view the same session. You can find a description of MS WIndows built-in features for this at Wikipedia:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_Desktop_Services



It looks like Varian wants that software to run under Red Hat Linux (that's the OS on the Dell computer they recommend), so that may not help. Check with your system administrators, or look on the web. Someone will need admin/root access to install software, adjust firewall settings, and set up logins for remote users.



Searching for "linux desktop sharing", I found the following link that thumbnails a number of products for Windows, MacOS and Unix/Linux:



http://www.kolabora.com/news/2006/10/05/screen_sharing_tools_and_technology.htm



Yes, 2006 is a long time ago in computer years, but it's a place to start looking.



PS: Yes, I know that's not web technology, meaning that the remote user will need a special client and not just any old web browser, but it may be a solution to your needs.

Answer 3

You can create an interactive website with any text editor. All you need is knowledge (which is available for free all over the web) and experience (which takes as much time as it takes).