Graphical user interface

This page describes how to launch the graphical user interface (GUI). For documentation on how to use the GUI, see pages on interactive use.

The graphical user interface (GUI) consists of two separate servers working together. It is recommended to use two separate consoles in order to launch these servers. This will allow you to monitor their state and to shut them down at the end.

Starting up

In a first console, launch the back-end server.

python crossmap.py server --config path-to-config.yaml

The command requires access to a configuration file in order to identify what databases and indexes should be made available for querying. The command should output messages about its status.

In a second console, launch the front-end server.

python crossmap.py gui --config path-to-config.yaml

This command should also provide output on status.

Upon launching the front-end server, a new tab should open in your default web browser. The content of that tab will be a chat-like interface, with the first message displaying the datasets available to query. More information about using this interface is available here.

Shutting down

To shut down the services, press Ctrl+C in each of the two consoles.