We require a developer to develop a Java applet (or other solution), that we can integrate into our web based software, which can interrogate an STL file on a user’s desk top machine.

This code will verify the STL file, then establish the volume, surface area, bounding box & units of measurement. This information will then be used to populate an on screen window, which the user will then submit to our web server for analysis. If the user does not have the STL file or access to Java, then they will fill in the web page manually.

We see the process working in the following steps

Step 1 – Through our online software the user goes to a web page to input data about part geometry (surface area, volume, bounding box X / Y / Z, units)

Step 2 – User is then given an option to manually populate page with known data or “select STL file”

Step 3 – when ‘select STL file’ is clicked a Java Applet (or other solution) is launched

Step 4 – Java applet asks user to browse desktop for STL file

Step 5 – User selects STL file from desk top and hits submit

Step 6 – The Java Applet interrogates the STL file for validity, surface area, volume, units and bounding box.

Step 7 – The resulting data on the STL file is presented to the user, with an option to ‘populate’ the web page with the resulting data (click to populate) NOTE - web page created using DOT.NET

Step 8 – The web page is populated with the data derived by the Java Applet, the user then submits the data to our server for analysis within the carbon footprint mapping process

Our requirements – If based on java

The solution we wish to procure will be comprised of the following components:

Essential

We require a JavaScript library that our own developer(s) will be able to use to communicate with the Java Applet. Our developer(s) will be able to call the JavaScript from the .asp, .aspx, .html, or other web pages. They will be able to trigger the Applet to open a file selection window (e.g. from a button click in the HTML). The JavaScript library will also be used to grab the file information from the Applet and populate the appropriate fields on the web page (e.g. x, y, z, volume, surface area, units).

A cross-platform Java Applet that will allow a user to open a file chooser window, select an STL file (ASCII or Binary), process the STL file, validate the integrity of the STL file, and then return the following part data: X extent, Y extent, Z extent, Volume, units and Surface Area.

Because the Java will run on the client machine it will require a signing certificate – we would like this to be considered in the solution

Desirable
The applet will run in the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, and Opera. It will run under Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, and 7, Linux, Unix, and Macintosh (where possible).

A Java Applet launching utility that will detect if Java is currently installed on the end user PC. If Java is not installed, it will direct the user to download the latest version of Java. It will also allow you to display a custom message if desired (e.g. "If you are not able to install Java, please fill out the form and submit your data manually.")

Skills required:
Java, Javascript, PHP, Software Architecture