Changes for page Ptolemy Browser

Last modified by Richard Kreissig on 2023/09/14 10:31
<
From version < 5.1 >
edited by cds
on 2013/08/10 13:18
To version < 7.1 >
edited by cds
on 2013/08/11 18:16
>
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9 9  * [[Navigating and Customizing Views with KLighD>>url:http://rtsys.informatik.uni-kiel.de/~~kieler/videos/klighd-ptolemy/||shape="rect"]]
10 10  {{/panel}}
11 11  
12 -A complex example for using KLighD technology, the Ptolemy Visualization project is about generating transient views of Ptolemy II models. [[Ptolemy II>>url:http://ptolemy.eecs.berkeley.edu/ptolemyII/index.htm||shape="rect"]] is an open source program developed at UC Berkeley for experimenting with actor-oriented modelling. Actors are graphical representations of components with a certain functionality that generate output as a function of the inputs they receive. To use the output of one actor as the input of another, actors can be connected by links. A typical Ptolemy model might for instance look like this:
12 +A complex example for using KLighD technology, the Ptolemy Visualization project is about generating transient views of Ptolemy II models that are easy to browse through. [[Ptolemy II>>url:http://ptolemy.eecs.berkeley.edu/ptolemyII/index.htm||shape="rect"]] is an open source program developed at UC Berkeley for experimenting with actor-oriented modelling. Actors are graphical representations of components with a certain functionality that generate output as a function of the inputs they receive. To use the output of one actor as the input of another, actors can be connected by links. A typical Ptolemy model might for instance look like this:
13 13  
14 -{{warning}}
15 -Insert picture of a typical Ptolemy model her(% style="line-height: 1.4285715;" %)e.
16 -{{/warning}}
14 +[[image:attach:ptolemy.png]]
17 17  
18 18  In some respect, Ptolemy models are a typical example of graphical modelling languages:
19 19  
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29 29  
30 30  = KLighD Visualization =
31 31  
32 -With our KLighD visualization, we aim to develop a Ptolemy model browser that is particularly good for reading through Ptolemy models. It is able to directly open Ptolemy files and display them in a way very similar to what Ptolemy users are used to seeing.
30 +With our KLighD visualization, we aim to develop a Ptolemy model browser that is particularly good at helping users read through Ptolemy models. It is able to directly open Ptolemy files and display them in a way very similar to what Ptolemy users are used to seeing. The biggest change with respect to how Ptolemy shows models is that our model viewer allows to expand hierarchical actors in-place, without having to open a new window. This helps users understand the context a hierarchical actor is placed in: by understanding where inputs come from and where outputs go to, users also better understand what the hierarchical actor is doing and what it is used for.
33 33  
34 -* Easy to use.
35 -* Directly open Ptolemy models in .moml and .xml files.
36 -* Have the rendering resemble the Ptolemy rendering as closely as possible.
37 -* Capability to open hierarchical actors in-place, without opening a new window.
32 +This is a screenshot of the model browser displaying the model that Ptolemy showed before, with some actors expanded:
38 38  
39 -{{warning}}
40 -Extend this section.
41 -{{/warning}}
34 +[[image:attach:kieler.png]]
42 42  
43 43  {{tip title="Try This"}}
44 44  Open and browse a Ptolemy model:
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49 49  1. Open and close some of the hierarchical actors by double-clicking them.
50 50  {{/tip}}
51 51  
52 -= How Does This Stuff Work? =
45 +We have also added further features that may be helpful when browsing models:
53 53  
47 +* Annotations can be shown or hidden.
48 +* A heuristic tries to find out which actor an annotation is providing the documentation for. This is based on the distance between actors and annotations, with a threshold value after which an annotation is considered to stand alone. This attachment between annotations and actors is displayed by a dashed line, and the layout algorithm makes sure the two are placed near each other.
49 +* Relations in Ptolemy are visualized by small diamond-shaped nodes. Often, these are only used to influence the edge routing. Since we use a layout algorithm to route edges properly, these //relation vertices// are not necessary. We replace all of them by hyperedges and route the edges properly. An option lets you disable this behaviour: then, only relation vertices with exactly one incoming and one outgoing edge are removed and replaced by a simple edge.
50 +* Expanded hierarchical nodes have a background color that gets darker with each level of hierarchy. How dark this color is can be changed to adjust for projectors and printers that are not as good at showing sublte colors.
51 +* The properties of actors and ports are shown as tool tips. This does not include advanced properties, which are those properties that start with an underscore.
52 +
53 += How This Stuff Works =
54 +
55 +All of this functionality is implemented in one main plug-in and two support plug-ins:
56 +
57 +* {{code language="none"}}de.cau.cs.kieler.ptolemy.klighd{{/code}} contains the actual transformation that turns Ptolemy files into something we can display with KLighD.
58 +* {{code language="none"}}org.ptolemy{{/code}} contains a reduced Ptolemy version that we use to render actors. Not all actors are available in this distribution.
59 +* {{code language="none"}}org.ptolemy.moml{{/code}} contains an EMF model that we use to load Ptolemy files.
60 +
61 +For the rest of this page, we will describe the basics of how the transformation works and the challenges it presented.
62 +
63 +== Architecture of the Transformation ==
64 +
65 +The transformation is mostly written in Xtend. Its entry point is the [[PtolemyDiagramSynthesis>>url:https://git.rtsys.informatik.uni-kiel.de/projects/KIELER/repos/pragmatics/browse/plugins/de.cau.cs.kieler.ptolemy.klighd/src/de/cau/cs/kieler/ptolemy/klighd/PtolemyDiagramSynthesis.xtend||shape="rect"]] class, which is registered with KLighD for the visualization of MOML models. It triggers the three different stages of the transformation:
66 +
67 +1. The basic transformation. This is what turns a given MOML model into a KGraph model.
68 +1. An optimization step. A direct transformation of the MOML model doesn't give the best results, which makes this postprocessing step necessary.
69 +1. The visualization. This step adds the KRendering information necessary for KLighD to actually display the model.
70 +
71 +It would certainly be possible – and perhaps even faster – to combine these stages into one. Doing this, however, would result in code that only John Carmack would understand. And even he would curse reading it.
72 +
73 +== Generating the Basic KGraph Model ==
74 +
54 54  {{warning}}
55 -Write this section.
76 +Describe step 1.
56 56  {{/warning}}
78 +
79 +== Optimizing the KGraph Model ==
80 +
81 +{{warning}}
82 +Describe step 2.
83 +{{/warning}}
84 +
85 +== Adding Rendering Information to the KGraph Model ==
86 +
87 +{{warning}}
88 +Describe step 3.
89 +{{/warning}}
Confluence.Code.ConfluencePageClass[0]
Id
... ... @@ -1,1 +1,1 @@
1 -7700695
1 +7700701
URL
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1 -https://rtsys.informatik.uni-kiel.de/confluence//wiki/spaces/KIELER/pages/7700695/Ptolemy Visualization
1 +https://rtsys.informatik.uni-kiel.de/confluence//wiki/spaces/KIELER/pages/7700701/Ptolemy Visualization

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