Tomcat is a good start. I'd hook up a REST endpoint for collecting data from the Java application. Whether you want to deliver the front-end this as an application, applet, or WebStart is not really of high importance, IMO. The REST endpoint will provide read and write access through some data layer, either straight JDBC or maybe an ORM like Hibernate. Then you can build a few Servlets and JSPs to render the aggregate data in graph form. There are plenty of ways to do this. On the Java side you could use something like JFreeChart (been a long time since I have used any graphing library). Or, you could just do a client-side javascript library that would consume data from REST. As for REST, I have had good luck with restlet. I'd also recommend taking a look at the Spring framework for tying everything together.
If there is interest, I would be happy to do a VAGUE presentation on open source enterprise java toolchains. Kevin On Sat, Oct 22, 2011 at 11:04 PM, Anthony Carrico <[email protected]>wrote: > OK Vague, here is an experimental psychologist with a fair amount of > experience writing programs to support his work. I would imagine there > is a good open source tool chain for this, but I'm not familiar with the > landscape. What do you recommend? > > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: Coding Question > Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2011 11:11:12 +0000 > From: Boynton, David <[email protected]> > To: '[email protected]' <[email protected]> > > > > Hi Tony, > > I am working on a program and I was hoping you might be able to give me > some advice. The program is written in Java, and it is designed to > present stimuli to participants, and prompt them for responses (e.g., > confidence ratings, reaction times, etc.). It collects trial data as a > string or vector of strings. What I would like it to do eventually is > have students run a module of the program in class, and then have the > program send students’ data to a server where the class’s data are > compiled and presented back as an html page, e.g., displaying averages, > tables, graphs, and the like. Similar programs are available for a > price, e.g., Norton books has a program called ZAPs, but some of the > modules are lame, and the customer service is poor. What is the best way > to do this? I have too much invested in Java at this point to use, e.g., > Flash. So, I am stuck with that. My sense is that I should either > convert the application to an applet and embed it in a webpage, or else > use Webstart, and then have the applet or application pass the data as a > string parameter to a JSP. Do you think something like that would work? > Any advice would be much appreciated. Do you have a recommendation for a > Java web host? I am playing around with Tomcat at the moment (installed > on my own machine). > > --David > > >
