Context Toolkit: Tutorial: Disclaimers

Before we get into the details of the toolkit, here are a few disclaimers. Currently the toolkit does not handle continuous information, only discrete information. For example, if a stream of context needed to be passed to an application, the toolkit could only support this task if the stream could be broken up into discrete pieces. For example, a video stream from a camera could be transferred as individual frames. This may or may not be acceptable due to the real-time constraints of the context-aware application. We have yet to do any performance tests on the toolkit communications, so we can not guarantee any communications rate. A final disclaimer: the toolkit was written in Java, but the mechanisms used are general enough to be implemented in any language. We have built widgets and applications in a number of different programing languages. In fact, I am currently directing efforts to implement pieces of the toolkit in both C++ and Squeak. However this tutorial does assume a knowledge of object-oriented programming.

This toolkit is research in progress. So, it's use at your own risk software. Not all the features/bugs are documented, although the sample code does test most of the features. Bug reports, request for features, feedback from users is very welcome. The best way to get started with the toolkit is to look at the papers, go through this tutorial, install the software, look at the code documentation and play around with the code. Don't hesitate to send mail to ctk@cc.gatech.edu, the mailing list for the Context Toolkit, if you have any questions.


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Last Modified: Feburary 11, 2000
Comments to: anind@cc.gatech.edu