SINk: A Middleware for Synchronization of Heterogeneous Software Interfaces

TL;DR

SINk is a middleware that synchronizes heterogeneous software interfaces using only graphical interfaces, enabling integration without source code access, thus simplifying interaction with closed-box industrial software.

Contribution

The paper introduces SINk, a middleware that facilitates synchronization of diverse software interfaces without requiring source code or platform control access.

Findings

Effective synchronization of heterogeneous interfaces demonstrated

Middleware supports real-time control event transfer

Potential applications across various domains identified

Abstract

Software is everywhere. The increasing requirement of supporting a wide variety of domains has rapidly increased the complexity of software systems, making them hard to maintain and the training process harder for end-users, which in turn ultimately demanded the development of user-friendly application software with simple interfaces that makes them easy, especially for non-professional personnel, to employ, and interact with. However, due to the lack of source code access for third-party software and the lack of non-graphical interfaces such as web-services or RMI (Remote Method Invocation) access to application functionality, synchronization between heterogeneous closed-box software interfaces and a user-friendly version of those interfaces has become a major challenge. In this paper, we design SINk, a middleware that enables synchronization of multiple heterogeneous software applications, using only graphical interface, without the need for source code access or access to the entire platform's control. SINk helps with synchronization of closed-box industry software, where in fact the only possible way of communication is through software interfaces. It leverages efficient client sever architecture, socket based protocol, adaptation to resolution changes, and parameter mapping mechanisms to transfer control events to ensure the real-time requirements of synchronization among multiple interfaces are met. Our proof-of-concept evaluation shows there is in fact potential usage of our middleware in a wide variety of domains.