6533b7d5fe1ef96bd126406b

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Using Ericsson NorARC's frameworks as test bed for dynamic change of behavior based on CompositeStates

subject

description

Masteroppgave i informasjons- og kommunikasjonsteknologi 2003 - Høgskolen i Agder, Grimstad Frameworks are a widely used re-use technique in the object-oriented community today. A framework re-uses both code and design and makes it easier to develop new components. Ericsson NorARC (Norwegian Applied Research Center) has developed a set of frameworks; JavaFrame, ActorFrame and ServiceFrame to aid advance service development. JavaFrame is a modeling kit for Java with good support for state machines. ActorFrame is a framework emphasizing the actor and role notion. ServiceFrame emphasize the modeling of service functionality. UML is today’s de facto standard for visualizing, specifying, constructing and documenting software systems. Modeling software in advance of making them is just as essential as having a blueprint of any large building construction. Failing to generate unambiguous models and lack of support for component-based modeling has impelled a demand for revision of today’s UML standard. This thesis evaluates the NorARC service creation environment, and especially JavaFrame and ActorFrame, with a view to dynamic service behavior update. More specified, if and how a state machine’s state space (composite state) can be altered during run-time (i.e. dynamically changing its behavior). Further, the thesis evaluates the possibility of showing this dynamic substitution and behavioral change in UML 2.0. Based on the guidelines and patterns from JavaFrame and ActorFrame, as well as a thorough inspection of the UML 2.0 proposal, state machines and asynchronous communications, some conceptual ideas has been developed. These range from state machine equivalence to 1:1 UML 2.0 modeling. A prototype is made demonstrating some of these concepts. Through this thesis project, we have discovered that the NorARC service creation environment is, at present state, probably not the ideal framework for run-time behavioral update trough CompositeStates. Further, we have discovered that it is possible to model run-time introduction of composite state, using interaction diagrams in UML 2.0. On the other hand, no solution to modeling such dynamic change of behavior is found, neither with UML 1.4, 1.5 nor the proposed UML 2.0 standard.