When IOX starts, it loads all input/output plugins and rulesets, then displays its main window. The main window is comprised of a menu bar, a tool bar, four control panes, and the status bar.
The 'Rules' pane shows the user defined rule tree. The rule tree contains rule sets, rules, and rule outputs. Rule sets are implemented as XML files and are used to logically group rules that serve similar purposes or control the same device. A rule is a description of how and when to link an input with an output. Each rule specifies one input filter and one or more rule outputs. The input filter specifies the input type and data that must be matched before the rule outputs will be executed. The rule outputs are the actions to perform when a match occurs.
The 'Rule Details' pane shows the configuration options for the currently selected rule tree item.
| • | The 'Set' tab is where you view or edit the rule set name. |
| • | The 'Input' tab allows you to view or edit the rule options. These options include name, input plugin to be used, and the settings associated with that input plugin. The settings always include a filter string and type where type can be normal wildcard based matching or regular expression based matching. When this filter string matches data coming from the input plugin, the rule outputs will be executed. The 'Settings…' button brings up a dialog to assist in configuring the chosen input plugin. |
| • | The 'Output' tab allows you to view or edit the rule output options. These options include the name and settings associated with a rule output. The settings are unique to the particular output plugin and can be viewed or edited by clicking the 'Settings…' button. |
The 'Inputs and Ouputs' pane displays the names of the input and output plugins. You can set configuration options for a plugin by right clicking on the plugin name and choosing the appropriate context menu item. You can also enable or disable or get more information about a plugin using the context menu.
The 'Log' pane display informational messages created by the application and plugins. These messages may include normal status information as well as notification of operational errors. Which messages are to be displayed can be controlled by changing the log level setting in the IOX configuration dialog. Lower log levels display more status information, while higher log levels display only error or other critical messages.