Vilendis
Visual Language Extensions for Distributed Systems
Overview
Visual programming languages are used for the specification of complex software systems, enabling the SW-architect to 'draw' the static structure and the dynamic behaviour of these systems in diagrams. Thus, visual languages abstract from implementation details and are - in comparison to conventional textual languages - clearer and easier to understand. The project Vilendis focuses on the investigation of two existing environments for visual language programming PROGRES and Fujaba. PROGRES (Programmed Graph Rewriting Systems) is based on graphs and graph grammars. Fujaba (From UML to Java and back again) uses UML diagrams for modelling the static structure and dynamic behaviour of applications. Both languages support the visual design of various applications. Furthermore, the visual environments are able to automatically generate C or Java code from developed specifications, which can be compiled using existing tools to create adaptable visually displayed prototypes.
Both PROGRES and Fujaba can be used in various domains, but they lack the ability for supporting the specification of distributed systems. As nowadays distributed and heterogeneous systems become more and more important, our project's objective is the development and implementation of appropriate concepts, which can be used to model the desired distributed behaviour in a visual way. We create an extensive framework, making it possible to model a distributed system similarily to the modelling of a local application. For the realization, we analyze the existing and established concepts of distributed heterogeneous systems like Remote Procedure Calls. To reduce the complexity of the distributed specifications, the coupling logic is modelled in a separate specification. With a common repository, interfaces of the distributed specifications can be exchanged.
Links
- PROGRES - Programmed Graph Rewriting Systems
- Fujaba - From UML to Java and back again
Group
Researchers
Dipl.-Inf. Ulrike Ranger
Department of Computer Science 3 (Software Engineering)
RWTH Aachen University
Ahornstrasse 55
52074 Aachen
Germany
Email:
ranger@i3.informatik.rwth-aachen.de
Phone: +49 241 80 21322
Fax: +49 241 80 22218
Programmers and Students
- Marita Breuer
- Katja Gruber
- Thorsten Hermes
- Nils Jansen
- Mathias Lüstraeten
- Jörg Olschewski
- Erhard Schultchen