The editor is available as a traditional Java desktop application as well as a Java Network Launching Protocol (JNLP) application. The SPDF ISTP CDF skeleton editor consists of the following components: A swing-based Java GUI program, JavaHelp-based manual/ tutorial, Image/Icon files, and HTML Web page for distribution. The editor is a simple graphical user interface (GUI) application for creating and editing ISTP/SPDF guideline-compliant skeleton CDF files.

The SPDF ISTP CDF skeleton editor is a cross-platform, Java-based GUI editor program that allows someone with only a basic understanding of the ISTP/SPDF guidelines to easily create compliant files. There are basic CDF tools such as cdfedit and skeletoncdf for creating CDF files, but these have no specific support for creating ISTP/ SPDF compliant files. The key problem is the lack of a tool with specific support for creating files that comply with the ISTP/SPDF guidelines.

While it is possible for someone who is familiar with the ISTP/SPDF metadata guidelines to create compliant files using just the basic tools, the process is error-prone and unreasonable for someone without ISTP/SPDF expertise. ISTP CDF Skeleton Editor Basic Common Data Format (CDF) tools (e.g., cdfedit) provide no specific support for creating International Solar-Terrestrial Physics/Space Physics Data Facility (ISTP/SPDF) standard files.

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