To solve an instance of some problem, the user must first select a problem from the Problem List and then click on the ``Solve'' button. A new window will appear allowing the user to input data for each input object required by the problem. Figure 3 shows the Data Input Window, which consists of the following components:
The Input List contains a list of the input objects for which the user must supply data. The Input Description Box contains text describing the selected input object (this text is the same as the text displayed in the Input Description Box of the initial screen).
For each input object, the user may choose to enter the data manually into the Data Input Box or to specify the name of a file containing the data in the Filename Selection Box. Next to the Filename Selection Box is a ``Browse'' button which allows choosing the file using a graphical file browser. Those users accessing the NetSolveClient via a Web browser will have a URL Selection Box (instead of a File Selection Box) in which they may type in the URL for their data file. This allows NetSolve to access the user's local data files over the network. Just above the Data Input Box is a ``Sample Data'' button which fills the box with some numbers appropriate to the type of the input object (for example, if the input object is a vector of integers, clicking on the ``Sample Data'' button will generate a vector of integers). Note that even though the interface allows having text in both selection boxes simultaneously, only one box may be ``active'' at any time and anything in the ``inactive'' box will be ignored.
The title bar of the Data Input Window contains some noteworthy information: the name of the problem, and a Request Number. The problem name listed on the title bar is the same name from the initial screen, minus the path. For example, if the full name as shown on the initial screen is /Blah/blah/prob, then the name on the title bar is prob. The Request Number is a number which uniquely identifies each Data Input Window so that the user may easily relate the Output Windows (see Section 4.2) to the Input Windows from which they originated.
Once all inputs have been fully specified, click on the ``Compute'' button, located in the lower left region of the Data Input Window. If there are any errors in the data and/or files, an informational window will appear describing the nature of the errors and for which input object(s) the errors apply. All errors must be corrected before the data may be sent.
If the data and/or files specified are acceptable, the values are sent to a computational server which performs the computations and returns the output objects.