iTools Technical Specifications

iTools is an infrastructure that manages the description of computational biology resources (tools, data, services). iTools has a (human) graphical user interface and provides additional (machine) interfaces to the underlying database for browsing, revisions and updating by external computer programs. iTools includes XML, SOAP and WSDL machine interfaces to its database.

There are three types of iTools users – expert editors, registered and general users. Only editors may update the iTools resource descriptions. Registered users may submit new resource descriptions (or updates), retrieve or comment on resources and their descriptions. General users may only browse the iTools database (via any of the provided human or computer interfaces). New submissions/revisions are submitted, reviewed and handled appropriately by the expert editors. Most users will require the iTools Java web interface to search, learn and review computational biology resources. Machine utilization of iTools is expected to become more prevalent as the iTools usage increases.

iTools is intended to be a community generated meta-resource. We simply built its infrastructure; the user community will populate and manage this environment and its content. iTools collects, manages and disseminates meta-data about diverse computational biology resources, which makes iTools, itself, a dynamic biomedical resource. Snippets of the iTools UML design diagrams used to develop and expand iTools are shown here.

These iTools UML designs may be used to discover iTools functionalities and develop new plug-in interfaces.