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For those visitors unfamiliar with Debrief and its background, this page
provides some useful pointers and background information. Click on each
section to expand/contract it.
- Background
- Licensing
- Support
- General
Just what is Debrief
for?
Debrief has been created to perform a variety of functions related to
maritime tactical analysis, ranging from detailed analysis requiring accurate
calculation and presentation of bearing and bearing rates, through the collation
of graphical information to produce a plot for insertion into an analysis
report, to the recording of animated dynamic sequences for replay in a
presentation. The tool was originally produced to support submarine
analysis, but has been expanded in the last 12 months to support surface and
airborne analysis. In it's current version Debrief provides little support
for analysis of land-based exercises.
How did Debrief come
around?
Debrief was originally produced in 1995 in the Maritime Warfare Centre to act
as a desktop viewer for results produced by the MWC's ASSET submarine
simulator. In use, it quickly became apparent that real exercise data
could also be viewed in the application, removing the requirement for clerical
staff to produce paper plots for use in analysis. The initial version of
Debrief was a 16 bit MS Windows C++ application.
Debrief was updated in 1997 to 32 bits, in order to exploit the richer user
interface components available for 32 bit Windows applications. It was at
this stage that the application was demonstrated and subsequently issued under
license to COMSUBDEVRON 12 of the US Navy.
In 1999, development towards Debrief 2000 was started. Over the
previous four years a number of fresh requirements had arisen, requirements
which could not be economically met using the existing architecture.
Accordingly the Debrief 2000 application started from a fresh-whiteboard,
adopting a modern modular approach to allow incremental implementation and
insertion of future modules as they are required. The rapid maturity
experienced by Java™ together with the availability of cheaply available
development environments and rich application libraries (Serialisation, Java3D
and XML in particular), and its platform independence made Java the natural
choice for the application.
At the end of 2000, Ian Mayo, the developer and project manager of Debrief,
left full-time employment at the Maritime Warfare Centre to setup his own
software development consultancy, PlanetMayo Ltd.
A competitive open tender process was conducted during late 2001 to supply
the Maritime Warfare Centre with Debrief
support. The contract was won by PlanetMayo, who grouped up the implementation
of the MWC's fresh requirements in a major update to Debrief,
titled Debrief 2001. This update bought new,
large areas of functionality to Debrief
including vectored chart data, display of narrative text, and display of
sensor-data.
Support for Debrief from PlanetMayo Ltd continued through 2002, with the
company providing bug-fix and user support, followed by the update to Debrief
2002 in Summer 2002. The major new areas of functionality in Debrief 2002
were a gridded bathymetry and a ground-up re-implementation of 3d plotting.
How has
Debrief ended up on the Internet?
Debrief has never been produced with the intention of commercial
exploitation; it has been created to meet the analysis requirements of the MWC.
With the growth in popularity and size of the Open Source Movement, it has
become apparent that Debrief is an ideal candidate for such status; MWC
does not seek to make financial gain from Debrief, but would clearly benefit
from it's wider exploitation; largely for the following reasons:
- Its open use allows a greater volume of usage, leading to more rapid
discovery and correction of bugs, improving the application.
- Encouragement of the adoption of standard file formats, easing file
interchange between national and international analysis partners.
- To spread the reputation of the MWC as a forward-thinking organisation
adopting the most productive and efficient methods in the production of the
tools it relies on.
- There are economic advantages to be gained by third-party users extending
and improving the application. The licensing policy means that
improvements to the application will normally be released openly, allowing
MWC to exploit new functionality when applicable.
Who is using Debrief?
Obviously, Debrief is the major analysis and replay tool used for submarine
analysis within the Maritime Warfare Centre. It is also used increasingly
by the Surface and Aviation divisions, as they experience the need for a cheap,
accessible desktop analysis tool.
Elsewhere in the UK older versions of Debrief are licensed to ADAC, SSPAG and
CORDA.
Internationally, the Dutch NLANTAC, together with the American VX-1 and NUWC organisations hold
and use Debrief. The major international user of Debrief, however, is
COMSUBDEVRON 12 in Groton, CT. COMSUBDEVRON 12 have been a
significant partner in the development of all of the versions of Debrief, providing a great wealth of information on bugs and
usability improvements.
More recently Debrief has been adopted by Poseidon
Simulation AS in Norway and within the Virtual Ship Project at Defence
Science and Technology Organisation, Australia.
Through 2002, the NUWC in the US have adopted Debrief,
modifying the source code to provide additional functionality required for
submarine track reconstruction.
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How is Debrief Licensed?
In Summer 2000 the Maritime Warfare Centre committed to switching the Debrief
application to Open Source status. The adoption of the Open Source
licensing model affects MWC in a number of ways:
1. Organisations that are currently using Debrief will have full access to
the source code of Debrief, allowing them to identify and correct bugs
provided they have sufficiently trained staff. The licensing is such that
these modifications should be again made public through the re-insertion into
the central, online "code base".
2. Organisations that are not currently using Debrief also have full access
to the application and its source code. Since the application and it's
supporting documentation clearly describe its origins in MWC this will spread
the name of the organisation together with enforcing its reputation as a
centre of maritime tactical analysis.
3. Any organisation using Debrief that identifies a bug/algorithmic problem
is able to independently correct the problem and submit the corrected code
back into the central "code base". In time, this will greatly
increase the accuracy and reliability of the application. MWC may then freely
utilise these improvements, only incurring the administrative overhead of
"checking-in" code modified by third party organisations.
4. The free, open source status of the application makes it easier for
third party, commercial organisations to bid for development contracts to
maintain or extend Debrief. This wider availability will only bring economic
advantages to MWC and fellow organisations.
5. The wider national/international use of Debrief will also lead to easier
exchange of exercise data between nations (through common file formats) and
potentially offer an increase in efficiency and the general quality of naval
exercise analysis
What does Debrief cost?
The Debrief 2000 application is free to use, although no support or warranty
is provided by either the Maritime Warfare Centre or PlanetMayo Ltd.
Additionally, the complete source code for Debrief is freely available through
the SourceForge site (see the Debrief home page).
PlanetMayo Ltd is currently contracted to support the Maritime Warfare
Centres, and to provide initial support to organisation wishing to adopt
Debrief. Organisations which have adopted Debrief can gain further
assistance from PlanetMayo Ltd through a Debrief
Support Contract.
Can we really
get the source code?
Yes, it is downloadable from the Files section of SourceForge, accessed via
the Debrief home page.
How
is the quality of the source code maintained?
The Debrief administrator is currently responsible for the checking-in of
modified source code, to allow some quality control management in the early
stages. The administrator can be approached via the Debrief
Summary page on SourceForge if special arrangements are required (such as in
the implementation of significant changes). In the future it is intended
that additional administrators be appointed as and when suitable candidates are
identified.
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How do I
find out more about Debrief?
For a start, you can explore this web site. The Features
page provides a breakdown of what Debrief is able to do, whilst the Tutorial
page will give you an simulated run-through of the application.
If you're definitely interested, from the Debrief
home page you can navigate to the download page on SourceForge and download
a Debrief installation (it's around 3Mb, including the Help file and World
coastline, or 20Mb with the world-wide gridded bathymetry). Install the application (setup.exe), and the help file will be
placed in your Start menu. Open the help file and the application itself
and work your way through the Tutorial. It won't quite cover everything in
the application, but you will definitely get the flavour of the application and
be in a position to continue exploring things on your own.
If your questions remain unanswered, then try the following:
- For a question relating to the development or use of Debrief, use the Feedback
Form
- For a question relating to the Open Source status of Debrief, or if you
want the consult an expert user from the Naval community, contact the
Debrief sponsor, SMTAC OA. Send an e-mail to smtac.oa@mwc.rn.mod.uk.
What do I
do if I can't even install it?
Try dropping an e-mail using the Feedback Form, ensuring that you specify what operating system and platform
you are using, together with any diagnostic information you think may prove
useful.
What if it
doesn't read my data?
The data file formats supported by Debrief are described in detail in the
Debrief help file, part of the default installation. It is normally quite
simple to convert your data to the Replay file format, which is a flat-file text
format. Alternatively, if you have more structured data, it may be more
suitable to use XSL to create an XML file in the Debrief plot file format.
Once you are ready to commit to the use of Debrief in your analysis, it may
be time to consider a more stream-lined approach to handling your data. You can
consider amending your data extraction/handling application to output files in
one of the Debrief data formats, or you could consider adding a new import
filter to Debrief. The open-source nature of Debrief facilitates this
addition by allowing you to write either the code yourself - or pass it to a
favoured software developer. The Debrief
administrator can provide guidance in the identification of software
developers.
What if
it doesn't quite do what I need?
The Bug database for Debrief on the Debrief
summary page has provision for requests for new/changed features in addition
to new bugs, your extra functionality may already be listed on this page, with
details of how/when it is to be added.
If you have the Java development skills necessary to make the correction
yourself, once you have created your own account within SourceForge you are able
to download the Debrief source code and make the correction on your own
computer, before uploading the corrected file. It would still be useful to
put the details of the bug and its fix on the bug database so that other users
are aware of them - it may just save somebody a wasted afternoon.
I'm
sure I've found a bug, how do I report it?
Go to the Bug database, there's a link to it from the Debrief
home page. First look to see if the bug has been reported
already. If so, see if you are able to add any additional information to
the bug report, or raise it's priority. If the bug isn't reported already,
then add it. Details of the new bug are automatically forwarded to the
administrators and developers, with fixes being uploaded sometimes as soon as 20
minutes later.
How can I get a
support contract?
PlanetMayo Ltd, the developers of Debrief 2002, currently provide support to
its major user: the Maritime Warfare Centre, UK. Within this support
contract, any bugs identified which impact the use of Debrief within the
Maritime Warfare Centre get fixed promptly. Bugs which have no impact on
the Maritime Warfare Centre and feature requests are not met by this support,
however.
To overcome this, PlanetMayo Ltd can supply support contracts through annual
cover, which at a basic level include the following support:
- Extensions to Debrief to support new import/export file formats
- Custom help-guide authoring to support specific workflow/applications
areas
- Bug-fixes within agreed turnaround times (from 1-day to 1-week)
The following support can also be provided on a per-case basis:
- Adoption support, extending to guidance in switch to Debrief file
formats from legacy systems
- Installation support, installing Debrief across a number of
workstations, configuring charts, default units and working directories
- User support, assisting with the design of new working practices,
authoring of help guidance, and one-to-one or classroom based training.
Please contact PlanetMayo Ltd via the Feedback Form
for further details of support contracts.
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What is the
Maritime Warfare Centre?
[Extracts taken from MWC 2000 Flyer]
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Under CinCFleet, the Maritime Warfare Centre (MWC) is a
'one-stop shop' for the evolution and dissemination of maritime/joint
doctrine and concepts through teaching, tactical development, operational
analysis, force development and wargaming.
It also provides the focus for the development and practice of
operational level warfighting, planning and decision making.
The MWC was formed on 1 October 1995 merging the activities of the Maritime
Warfare Development Centre at HMS Dolphin and the Maritime
Tactical School at HMS Dryad to create a focal point for doctrine and
tactical development. |
Development of the Debrief application was started back in 1995 at the
Maritime Warfare Development Centre, and its use and development continued after
the formation of the MWC. The application is used to support the
Tactical Development and Operational Analysis activities of the organisation, in
the replay and analysis of maritime exercises with airborne, surface, and
sub-surface participants.
What is PlanetMayo Ltd?
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PlanetMayo Ltd is a company created in October
2000 with the aim of supplying new technology software engineering skills
to the defence and e-commerce sectors. |
The Senior Consultant at PlanetMayo Ltd, Mr Ian Mayo, has 10 years of experience
in software engineering using languages ranging from Fortran and Pascal, through
Ada, to C++ and Java. Whilst all of this time has been spent in the
defence sector (including 5 years spent working directly for the Royal Navy),
many of the products are of a generic nature, applicable to other business
sectors; including the creation of Active Server Page (ASP) and Java Server Page
(JSP) applications in an Intranet environment.
PlanetMayo Ltd is currently providing support for Debrief 2002, the Tasking
Management System (a web-based application used for management and reporting of
tactical development tasking) in use at the Maritime Warfare Centre, and the
Submarine Narrative Tool (a set of Word macros used to produce a command-room
narrative in the submarine control room). Additionally PlanetMayo Ltd is
independently developing ASSET, a networked maritime engagement model suitable
for use in tactical development.
Where is Debrief going?
The Maritime Warfare Centre placed a contract on PlanetMayo Ltd to manage the
transition of Debrief to Open Source status, together with the addition of the
following areas of functionality:
- Provide high-level functionality to ease the creation of buoy-fields of
set patterns and sizes
- Provide a symbol library, allowing the user to drop symbols onto a plot
taken from a NATO standard library.
This initial contract completed in Spring 2001. Subsequent contracts
covered the extensions which produced Debrief 2001 and 2002. In addition to these
contracts PlanetMayo Ltd continues to provide bug-fixing and project management
expertise to Debrief.
Debrief remains an essential tool within the analysis conducted within the
Maritime Warfare Centre, and as such will continue to evolve to meet new
analysis needs. Its provision to the global community can only aid this
process.
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