Web-Ice
Web-Ice is a platform to optimize automated data collection at
macromolecular crystallography beamlines.
A programming interface allows the beamline control software
(e.g., Blu-Ice/DCS) to trigger data analysis automatically. Results
are organized based on a list of samples that the user provides, and
are examined within a Web page, viewed either locally by the user or
remotely by collaborators.
Web-Ice currently provides tools for:
- Rapid analysis and display of diffraction images
- Choice of proper experimental parameters to optimize the
collection of the full data set.
- Inspection of data analysis results within a Web-browser
interface.
- Initiating data collection or export a data collection
strategy to the Blu-Ice interface.
- Access to the beamline log messages and the beamline video system.
Reference:
A. González, P. Moorhead, S. E. McPhillips, J. Song, K. Sharp,
J. R. Taylor, P. D. Adams, N. K. Sauter and S. M. Soltis
"Web-Ice: integrated data collection and analysis for
macromolecular crystallography." J. Appl. Cryst.
41, 176-184 (2008).
For instructions on installing Web-Ice, pleasew consult the
developers' wiki.
Web-Ice Software design
The Web-Ice front end runs on a Tomcat web server installed on a
Linux server. In addition Web-Ice makes use of a network of software
applications and application servers such us:
- The Authentication Server, a common
authentication protocol for Blu-Ice and web applications. This allows
users to access and switch between all these applications without
authenticating multiple times. It also restricts access to beamline
control features to users who are enabled at the beamline.
- Executable programs and shell scripts are run by
Web-Ice on behalf of the user via the Impersonation Daemon. The
Impersonation Daemon accepts commands via the HTTP protocol. After
verifying the authentication information with the Authentication
Server, it enables Web-Ice to run background jobs with the actual
rights of the Unix user account.
- The Crystal Analysis Server is an application
running on a web server (Tomcat). Like Web-Ice, it runs programs and
scripts via the impersonation server, but at the request of DCSS or
Web-Ice, rather than the user. The Crystal Analysis Server allows the
data analysis results to be available to both Web-Ice and
Blu-Ice.
- The Crystal Server, an interface to the database
containing the information about the users samples (provided in an
Excel spreadsheet). Selected results from sample analysis by Web-Ice
and the Crystal Analysis Server are written to the Crystal Server for
permanent storage in the database.
Web-Ice also uses the following established programs for crystallographic
data analysis and data collection strategy calculations:
- LABELIT. N. K. Sauter,
R. W. Grosse-Kunstleve, and
P. D. Adams. J. Appl. Cryst.37, 399-409. (2004)
- DISTL. Z. Zhang, H. van den Bedem, N. K. Sauter, G. P. Snell and
A. Deacon J. Appl. Cryst. 39, 112-119. (2006)
- MOSFLM.
A. G. W. Leslie; in Crystallographic Computing, Oxford
University Press. (1990)
- BEST. A. N. Popov
and G. P. Bourenkov. Acta Cryst. D59, 1145-1153. (2003)
- RADDOSE. J. W. Murray, E. F. Garman and
R. B. G. Ravelli. J. Appl. Cryst. 37, 513-522. (2004)
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