ttkWebSocketIO Library: Receiving vtkDataObjects

Overview

• The ttkWebSocketIO library enables bidirectional data transfer between VTK (ParaView) and the browser by serializing vtkDataObjects and sending them through a websocket connection.
• The library consists of the two endpoints necessary for such a connection:
  1. Server: A ttkWebSocketIO VTK filter (e.g., at the end of a pipeline in ParaView).
  2. Client: A webpage that uses the ttkWebSocketIO.js library (e.g., a visual analytics interface).
• Each ttkWebSocketIO filter will internally start a websocket server at a user-specified port (default 9285), and webpages can connect to it using the ttkWebSocketIO.js library.
• Every time the input vtkDataObject of the ttkWebSocketIO filter changes, the input is send to the connected clients in the form of a serialized JSON object (further processing of the data on the client is up to the developer).
• Symmetrically, clients can send a serialized vtkDataObject via the ttkWebSocketIO.js API to the connected ttkWebSocketIO filter, which uses the transmitted object to instantiate its output.
• Note: it is actually possible to send and receive any kind of data (not only serialized vtkDataObjects), and a webpage can be connected to multiple ttkWebSocketIO filters.

Example Code