[pyswarm-devs] Python UML library and more about pyswarm redesign

[Anastasios H. <ah...@ha...>]

Hi,

there is progress with redesigning pyswarm technology, though I'm slower than 
I expected. Following a brief update on the recent work I have done and the 
future steps to be taken. The biggest job was to re-invent pyswarmSDK as the 
pyswarmADK (AKD = Architecture Development Kit). It seems to me that 
pyswarmADK will strongly improve future development of pyswarm software.

After finishing the redesign, there will be three separate programs with 
specific tasks:

- pyswarmSDK will be the tool with which an user can create pyswarm-based 
applications that are generated from UML models.
- pyswarmU2L will be a library for working with UML models and can be used by 
pyswarmSDK and other tools as well.
- pyswarmADK will be the tool that can generate pyswarmU2L and future versions 
of pyswarmSDK.

The separation reduces the complexity we face in this project, so any 
contributor could focus on special topics. pyswarmU2L is the foundation for 
pyswarmSDK and it covers UML2, which already is a well specified standard. So 
this lib would already offer a good chance for any expert to join the work. 

Please let me know if you are interested to bring in your expertise into 
pyswarmU2L. Especially helpful would be skills regarding Python, UML, XMI, or 
XML in general.


1. pyswarmADK:
This tool has its origins in pyswarmSDK v. 0.7.1. I have modified the code, so 
pyswarmADK will be able to generate pyswarmSDK and pyswarmU2L. Actually, 
pyswarmADK is only useful for developers of pyswarmSDK and pyswarmU2L.

Status:
a) Not specified in a model itself, but uses pyswarmADK/resources/pyswarm.xml 
as input for generating pyswarmSDK and pyswarmU2L.
b) Replaced old SDK's parser package with a light-weight UML2 library that can 
parse pyswarm.xml in the format as produced by MagicDraw UML 11.0.
c) Since this mini-UML2 lib is sufficient to create pyswarmU2L (which supports 
larger parts of UML2), theoretically it would be possible later to replace 
this lib by an early prototype of pyswarmU2L.
d) The transformation is incomplete, so the model pyswarm.xml is consumed but 
not transformed into code yet.
e) License will be same as pyswarmSDK, exception: any code template used for 
generating pyswarmU2L will have that license.


2. pyswarmSDK:
Purpose as in v. 0.7.1 and earlier: reads user domain models (PIM), and after 
transforming them to PSMs, generates the source-code and documentation of the 
domain application. The new pyswarmSDK will use the pyswarmU2L library for 
all UML-/XMI-related jobs.

Status:
a) Advanced progress in modeling the pyswarmSDK::pim package; some progress in 
pyswarmSDK::psm and pyswarmSDK::tdm packages. pim, psm and tdm will play the 
biggest role when pyswarmADK is generating the SDK. The other packages are 
more for documentation purpose currently, less for generating the SDK code.
b) No code-templates yet
c) No running code yet
d) GPL v3 or AGPL v3 are my favorite candidates for licensing this tool (have 
been GPLv2 at pyswarmSDK 0.7.1)


3. pyswarmU2L:
A Python UML library based on UML Superstructure specification v. 2.1.2. It 
can be used by tools (pyswarmSDK or any UML tool) to import an XMI file as 
UML model, work on an UML model (e.g. adding classes, associations, removing 
attributes, changing operation signatures), and export an UML model to XMI.

Different XMI formats should be supported, so a tool that will use pyswarmU2L 
could convert UML models from one XMI format to another XMI format. The UML 
meta-model (that is specified in the UML Superstructure Spec) is covered by 
the pyswarmU2L::meta package. The meta package is the foundation package and 
will play the biggest role when pyswarmADK is generating the pyswarmU2L 
library code. The package pyswarmU2L::xmi will contain specification for 
mapping the different XMI formats to the underlying UML model specified in 
pyswarmU2L::meta. In the best case, any supported XMI format could be used to 
import an UML model and export it to any supported XMI format.

Status:
a) Model covers entire UML::Classes package, all other packages of UML are 
missing yet in pyswarmU2L::meta, however they will all look the same way as 
UML::Classes. I expect that most work will be the pyswarmU2L::xmi package 
with all its XMI compatibility issues in the tiny details.
b) No code-templates yet
c) No running code
d) LGPL v3 is my current favorite candidate for licensing this lib


BTW, you can find the relevant code in the repository at
http://pyswarm.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/pyswarm/branches/dev/features/1980652_ADK-based-SDK/src/adk/

Please note that documentation is not udpated. Most important is the 
pyswarmADK/resources/pyswarm.xml which you should be able to open at least 
with MagicDraw 11.0 or any newer version. I will try to upload an HTML report 
of the model to the webspace.

Any questions or comments, please drop me a note. :)

Anastasios