HOOP

Hyper-bject riented Platform

The Hyper-Object Oriented Platform (HOOP) is an environment for the management of hyperobjects. Hyperobjects are objects that can be accessed by means hyperpointers. As hypertexts are local or remote text objects that can be accessed by means of a URL in a Web navigator, and pointers a mean to access local objects in a computer program, hyperpointers are pointers composed basically of a URL that can access any kind of local or remote object in HOOP. Depending on the type, format and physical location of a hyperobject, a specific hyperpointer is defined. In order to provide user interaction, user interfaces (UIs) are developed for each hyperobject type. As the user requires to access specific hyperobjects the platform recovers them by means of the correspondant hyperpointers and instantiates new UI objects for their management. Asynchronous access hyperpointers create a hyperobject copy within the local memory that must be synchronized after performing changes in order to keep them (e.g.: when we load a file and save the changes afterwards). Synchronous hyperpointers create a virtual copy or proxy which delegates every command to the hyperobject.

HOOP is composed of a set of plugins. New hyperobject types may be incrementally supported by adding the correspondent hyperobject, hyperpointer and UI plugins. Each plugin is digitally signed by the author's digital certificate in order to guarantee their authenticity. Certificates must be accepted in order to allow the correspondent plugins to be installed and run on your machine. HOOP can be run on any Java compatible platform (MS Windows, Linux, MacOS X, etc) and currently supports user interaction with the following hyperobject types:

* Hyperpointer access capabilities: synchronous, read, write, create, destroy.

Java Runtime Environment (JRE) version 5.0 or later is required in order to run HOOP. You can freely download it from the Sun web site (http://java.sun.com). HOOP is automatically downloaded, installed and launched just by clicking on the link below. If a ".jnlp" file is requested to be opened or downloaded, open it with the "javaws.exe" program (Java Web Start) within your "java/bin" directory or configure your navigator to use Java Web Start for opening ".jnlp" files. Updates are automatically performed each time HOOP is started as long as an Internet connection is present and new versions are available. In order to uninstall HOOP, run Java Web Start without any arguments and delete any "HOOP" application or miniapplication and any "Hyper" package.

HOOP is still under development and should be used for testing purposes only. No responsibilities are accepted for any damage derived from the usage of HOOP. By accepting the author's certificate you agree to install and run HOOP on your machine at your own risk.

Author: PhD Student Javier Sastre