Developer Interface (IDE)

The single biggest difference in ILookPI and any other forensics tool is the simple fact that PI, standing alone, empowers the end user unlike any other tools. ILookPI tools are the only ones available that provide unlimited power to conduct forensics by user demand. With the creation of the first forensics fully standards compliant programming language enabled application interface, ILookPI has set this standard in the field of computer forensics.

Mini-Apps are hand designed and crafted tools, but made from everyday programming pieces. Pieces you can buy, pieces you can build or pieces you can borrow from ILookPI, including SqlServer itself. They are created by the owner of an IDE option for the purpose to accomplish a particular task in which there is a functional data analysis requirement. It can be created on your behalf by others or for you by other IDE application developers.

Regardless of the size of any agency user group, as long as an individual has general knowledge of any .NET programming language, the capacity and knowledge exists to create almost any kind of interactive application within the IDE interface.

Any inventor of those applications can place them for sale to any party they want, or let them be used freely by any group. There is no method incorporated into ILookPI to interfere with, or otherwise control any application development whatsoever, including full utility use of any feature set inside SQL Server 2008. Moreover, any component of the entire ILookPI toolset can likewise be used at the designer’s disposal, without paying royalty or purchasing outside components, in particular, you can leverage Sql Server within PI to produce independent analyses of your case data. Every composite part of PI at the data level, is at the designer’s full disposal within the IDE framework.

The freedom and unrestrained power of the IDE, is only bounded by one’s own generalized, non-specific programming abilities and imagination. While this is an obvious truth of programming in general, it remains a fact that there are millions more people familiar with a .NET language versus a scripting language. Scripts like ILook v8’s, are tool specific and have no outside value beyond that single application. This IDE is the diametric opposite design, in both concept and function.

From the beginning, the ILookPI IDE was meant to empower the users as either individuals, or acting as a group. With that in mind, Perlustro partnered with specific companies to provide broad-based IDE runtime and custom tool generation and support for the MiniApp Runtime. This was accomplished by .NET in the simple inclusion of a full, complete programming environment. The IDE can use either C # NET or VB.NET as a language base by default. Other languages could be added, but the ability wrap COM components provides groundbreaking flexibility in any programming endeavor, regardless of the code being in a managed or unmanaged form.

As the tool chain of MiniApp and IDE progress, Perlustro will incorporate added runtime MiniApps into the base product where they will carry out multiple functions.

Two companies currently produce tools for the ILookPI MiniApp Runtime option and both have the ability to write customer directed applications within the PI framework :

1. Machor Software
2. Hot Pepper Technology

Perlustro will not market MiniApp runtime executables itself. If sufficient demand for singular tools capability is generally required by the user base, it will be added to the base toolset.

It is part of our mission to encourage the user base and the general programmer base of NET centric tools through Machor Software and HPT Inc., and others like them in the future. This provides a clear advantage for PI users, by creating new and innovative products which maximize what ILookPI has already created; the development environment and a mapping surface for digital data which can be molded into an infinite composite of applications specific for any user group.

In order to further encourage this production factor, we will automatically pay up to a $200.00 , to any company or production MiniApp tool, as a credit against their own tools’ cost otherwise. You read that right! If a tool producer creates an application that has a retail cost of $250.00, we will credit the ILookPI owner for $200.00 against the MiniApp runtime price, so in effect the tool cost would be only $50.00.

The only condition of the credit, but not the offer, is that Perlustro has to approve the application itself and certify it as to functionality. The functionality cannot include alteration of case data within the case envelope itself or alteration of data storages or image forms, or otherwise harm the ILookPI produced data sets. Perlustro positively seeks no approval at any level for what an IDE option owner would create or do, on his own, with the IDE interface within the tool chain.

To the extent that the tools provide background value by leveraging the functional value of the PI components themselves, they also provide the ability to incorporate third party tools and components of almost unlimited scope.

The actual IDE interface is a full programming and compile environment, but you can also develop in Visual Studio and port code over to the IDE for final compiling.

MiniApps IDE

• The MiniApp IDE is divided into four sections. On the left is a list of MiniApps divided up into groups, below this section is a properties section that allows you to view more information about each MiniApp you select.
• On the right hand side is the code window, which will display the code of any MiniApp you select. Below this is the console, which displays system messages and gives you an area to write messages out from your MiniApps.

Create, test and run a MiniApp

• Click on a group header, or create a new group header from the button on the Mini tool bar. The button to create a new MiniApp will become enabled, click on it to create a new MiniApp.
• Fill in some details about the new MiniApp in the properties section and select the code language you want to use, either VBNet or C#.
• Create your application code in the code window, this is absolutely standard dotNet managed code. To interact with ILook you should use the ILookMiniAppLiaison assembly (details on this below).
• Compile your MiniApp using the test compile button on the Mini tool bar. This will highlight any syntax issues with your code. Once your MiniApp compiles, you can run it using the run button on the mini tool bar. Any run-time errors will be displayed in the console.

ILookMiniAppLiaison Assembly

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  ILookMiniAppLiaison is the assembly used to interact with ILook. You must import it into yourMiniApp in order to access ILookPI structures and data.

• ILookMiniAppLiaison contains a number of methods, properties and events. These allow you to ask ILook to do things for you, collect the results from those actions and return data for you to use in any way you wish.
• If you cannot find a function or event in ILookMiniAppLiaison that does what you want, contact ILook’s support staff.

Running the Mini-Apps themselves:

The mini-app run-time dialog is divided into three sections. On the left is a list of mini-apps divided up into groups, below this section is a properties section that lets you view more about each mini-app you select. You cannot edit properties in the run-time dialog or create new mini-apps but you can simply click one to run that you create with the IDE, or more probably, buy from any producer.

* On the right hand side is a console which displays system messages and miniapp messages when a mini-app is running.