Creating an AP233 Systems Engineering Scripting Language in Ruby

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Creating an AP233 Systems Engineering Scripting
Language in Ruby

• David Price
• 8th NASA/ESA PDE Workshop
• April 2006

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Background

• Background
• Doing AP233-based proof-of-concept converters
  between UML/SysML, DoDAF/CADM and AP233 using
  XSLT
• Need something more powerful than XSLT
• Trying to use only free or open-source software
• Several years off-and-on efforts to make
  EXPRESS/STEP available to a widespread community
• Eagerly awaiting for tools to ease my workload
• NASA presentation on ideas around open-source SE
  tools
• See the next three slides

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AP233 Scope
requirements
breakdowns
PDM
product structure
config control
static structure
system sub-system
text-based
person org
functional breakdown
WBS
security
property-based
behaviour
link to analysis
state-based
verification validation
model presentation
function-based
Legend
risk
measurement
Complete
Edition 2
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DoDAF CADM/AP233 Project

• Purpose
• Evaluate feasibility of system architecture data
  exchange using emerging ISO AP233 Systems
  Engineering standard
• Not a fully validated design effort
• Provide a body of work that future efforts can
  build upon

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Proving this path
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DoDAF Views Coverage
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AP233 Systems Engineering

• On-schedule for AP233 modules to go out for ISO
  ballot starting in the summer
• Committee Draft ballot (July-October 2006)
• After ballot completes, workshops are held to
  address ballot comments
• AP233 modules should be published 1Q2007
• The complete AP233 Application Protocol that
  includes Business Use Cases, etc. takes a bit
  longer

Critical Testing Happens Here
ISO Ballot
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AP233 Testing

• AP233 Development Team is working strategy for
  critical testing
• Includes internal team testing
• Includes approaching vendors to participate
• AP233 Team developing a test harness
• Fitting into the test harness is now the main
  focus for the DODAF CADM/AP233 demo work

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AP233 Test harness
Test data creation tools
Visio Freemind Excel UML 2/SysML CADM examples
XML
AP233 XML
Translate via
XSLT Ruby Java
Import/Export
Repository
Web Viewers, Graphical Viewers and Available SE
Tools
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Many things are coming together
Critical Testing Happens Here
ISO Ballot
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Goals

• Add to tools available for testing and quick
  prototyping of AP233
• AP233 has very few rules so EXPRESS
  structure-only tools are OK
• Keep it simple, simple, simple for people using
  the tools
• Be available on Windows, Linux, Mac OS (at least)
• Simplify introduction of AP233 to
  non-STEP-literate community
• Do more with less effort

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Sounds good to me

• From Should Ruby Be Added to Your Programming
  Repertoire? By W. Jason Gilmore
• 100 object-oriented
• dynamically typed
• devoid of superfluous syntactical requirements
  such as indentation and semi-colons
• replete with libraries for facilitating
  practically any conceivable task
• Ruby (and Rails) mantras
• DRY Dont Repeat Yourself
• Convention over Configuration

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Details (From Gilmore)

• Has capabilities expected of full-featured
  languages
• text file processing, string manipulation,
  networking, exception handling, and language
  extendability
• Supports wide variety of platforms
• UNIX flavors, Windows 95/98/NT/Me/2000/XP, and
  Mac OS X
• Web application development opportunities through
  mod_ruby
• Apache module for embedding the Ruby interpreter
  into the Apache Web server
• A database-independent interface similar to
  Perl's DBI module
• DB2, InterBase, mSQL, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL,
  SQLite, etc.

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More Details (From Gilmore)

• Create cross-platform GUI-based applications via
  projects like wxRuby
• Easy package and application management using
  RubyGems.
• RubyGems operates similarly to the inestimably
  useful Perl CPAN, enabling complete control over
  packages through a convenient console interface.
• Built-in support for Web Services through
  packages such as RSS and soap.
• A hyper-active user community.
• See Ruby Application Archive and RubyForge for a
  sampling of the hundreds of projects

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From why's (poignant) guide to ruby
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Project 1 EXPRESS-Ruby-XML

• EXPRESS-as-XML input
• Generate Ruby code to read/write XML (Part 28
  Edition 2)
• Working today
• Entity and Multiple inheritance (Ruby uses
  modules for this)
• 1-D Aggregate of Entity instance, String,
  Integer, Real
• Select types (only through dynamic typing)
• Validation not in Ruby code, use the XML Schema
• Not included yet
• Rename in redeclared attribute
• Defined types (except through dynamic typing)
• n-D Aggregates
• Exact Part 28 E2 DIS XML

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Example State definition
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Generated Ruby modules
module State_definition___module attr_accessor
name attr_accessor description end module
State_definition_relationship___module
attr_accessor name attr_accessor
description attr_accessor relating
attr_accessor related end module
State_transition_definition___module end
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Generated Ruby Classes
class State_definition include
State_definition___module _at__at_entity
'State_definition' _at__at_attr___name 'Name'
_at__at_attr___description 'Description'
_at__at_State_definition___count 0 def initialize
_at__at_State_definition___count 1 _at_p28id
'id-State_definition-' _at__at_State_definition___co
unt.to_s end def writeP28 p28file
e___added p28file.root.add_element('ap233State_
definition', 'id' gt _at_p28id) if name !
nil a___name e___added.add_element('Nam
e') a___name.text name end
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Using the API
create a model container for the data
instances mydata AP233Model___data.new
create two State definitions s1
AP233State_definition.new s1.name "Initial
State" s2 AP233State_definition.new s2.name
"Final State" create a State transition
between them st1 AP233State_transition_definit
ion.new st1.name "I to F" st1.relating
s1 st1.related s2 put all instances in
the model container mydata.model_elements
s1,s2,st1
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Using the API (2)
Set up the XML file and write all data in
the model container to the file datafile
File.new("AP233_data.xml","w") p28file
REXMLDocument.new mydata.writeP28e2
p28file datafile.puts p28file datafile.close
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AP233 XML (simple P28E2)
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Next steps

• Project 1 exp2ruby
• Support more of EXPRESS
• Generate convenience functions (e.g. Get/Set all
  attributes)
• Other backends
• Part 21 write should be simple, Part 21 read is
  harder
• RDF or OWL?
• There is a Ruby wrapper for Redland RDF API
  already
• Use meta-model of EXPRESS replacing XPath over
  XML
• Project 2 Support for UML/SysML
• For example, a SysML API that can read/write XMI
  2.1 and AP233 P28 E2 XML
• Project 3 EXPRESS to Rails Web Framework
  integration
• Project 4 EXPRESS to C for HDF5

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Conclusions

• Ruby is a nice language
• Initial hurdle to Ruby is far less than C/C,
  Java, eclipse or netBeans
• This is one small step for the ideas Steve
  Jenkins presented last year
• Ruby-related technology for AP233, SysML, and
  other standard and non-standard SE applications
  has benefits
• Eurostep will deliver free AP233 ARM Ruby API in
  DoD DODAF/CADM/AP233 project
• AP233 Working Draft 2 available in a couple of
  weeks