WC_Getting Started

Getting Started with WorldWide Telescope Web Client

This guide shows you how to get the code for the WWT Web Client, and set up a computer for development. The WWT Web Client source code includes the code for the main WWT site (hosted at worldwidetelescope.com), as well as the WWT Web Client itself.

Prerequisites

• Visual Studio (2013 or greater)
• .NET Framework 4.5.1
• AngularJS
• LESS CSS Preprocessor
• Grunt

Get the Source Code

1. Fork the openwwt-web-client repo from GitHub.

2. Clone the fork (copies files to your local Git folder).

   git clone https://github.com/<username>/openwwt-web-client.git

For more details, see Developer Guidelines.

Run the Web Client using Visual Studio

1. In Visual Studio, navigate to the openwwt-web-client\webclient directory and open webclient.sln.
2. Right-click Default.aspx and select View in Browser.

Run the Web Client using IIS

Follow these steps to set up the Web Client on IIS. Note that the WWT Web Client must be mapped to the root of the IIS site, otherwise it will not function properly.

1. Open IIS.

2. Under Connections, right-click Sites and select Add Website....

3. Under Site name enter a name. For this example we will call it openwwt-web-client.

4. Under Physical path enter the path to the openwwt-web-client\webclient folder of the WorldWide Telescope source on your local computer. For example: C:\GitHub\openwwt-web-client.

5. Optionally, enter a different port number under Binding (the default is 80).

6. In IIS, Right-click the openwwt-web-client node, then select Edit Permissions....

7. Select the Security tab.

8. Under Group or user names click Edit....

9. Click Add.

10. In the Select Users, Computers, Service Accounts, or Groups dialog, enter <your computer name>\IIS_IUSRS, then click OK.

11. Under Permissions for IIS_IUSRS, make sure Read & execute, List folder contents, and Read are selected.

12. Click OK to close the Permissions dialog.

13. Click OK again to close the Web Properties dialog.

14. In IIS, under IIS, double-click Authentication.

15. Right-click Anonymous Authentication, then click Edit.

16. Select Application pool identity, then click OK.

To preview the site, click *Browse :80 (or whatever your port number is).

Debugging the Web Client

For debugging, we recommend using the development tools available in your browser:

• Internet Explorer: Using the F12 Developer Tools
• Chrome: Chrome Developer Tools
• Firefox: Firebug

For more information, see Debugging the Web Client.

Using Grunt

The Web Client project uses Grunt to monitor and compile changes to JavaScript and CSS files. Whenever a change is made to a JavaScript or CSS file, Grunt detects and automatically compiles your changes.

First you'll need to install Grunt if you have not already done so.

To Install Grunt

1. Open a command prompt.
2. Navigate to \openwwt-web-client\bootstrap.
3. Type npm install and hit enter. This will install Grunt.

Once Grunt is installed, use it as shown here:

• Open a command prompt and navigate to \openwwt-web-client\bootstrap.
  • To monitor files: grunt watch. To stop monitoring, type CTRL+C.
  • To build everything at once: grunt dist.

For more information, see Grunt documentation.