ATL Use Case - Sildex to Topcased SAM

TOPCASED, SAM, SILDEX, SIGNAL

This use case presents the import of SILDEX models (a synchronous language based graphical modelling formalism developed by TNI and currently in use at AIRBUS) in the TOPCASED SAM modelling language. It was implemented in ATL by C-S in the context of the TOPCASED project.

SILDEX is a CASE tool supporting SIGNAL synchronous languages. It provides graphical and SIGNAL code editing of each process and relevant dataflow; formal proof with "synchronous compilation"; dynamic simulation; ADA, C and FORTRAN code generation, and documentation production. SILDEX was designed and tested in Smalltalk, then translated into C code with TNI's OpenTalk compiler. SILDEX targets critical real-time software developments.

TOPCASED is an open-source workshop based on an Eclipse platform. Several editors are available: SAM, AADL, UML2, ECORE, and SYSML. It integrate several transformation services. These services are based on ATL language and toolkit. Model transformations have been mainly used in order to access models defined using other editors than TOPCASED one's. Other services around models are available like OCL editor and checker, comparison, merging, etc.

TOPCASED-SAM is a subproject of the TOPCASED project. This subproject provides a set of modeling, transforming and verifying tools for functional structured analysis.

A metamodel for SILDEX defining all the concepts that can be handled in TOPCASED SAM formalism has been defined. The SILDEX example below illustrates the communication of two sub-systems named "Producer" and "Consumer" via data flows and control flows connected on ports (not visible on the sub system "Consumer").

An example of communication between two sub-systems

This example illustrates the following notions: System, Data flows prefixed by FD_, Control flows prefixed by FC_, Ports that we specialised depending on their nature and their direction. To precise some relations, a system can contain sub systems, and a flow is linked by ports. The confrontation of the analysis of other examples allowed to extend the SAM metamodel whose simplified view is proposed in the following figure.

A simplified view of the SAM metamodel

SAM represents the new TOPCASED business metamodel for functional and automaton parts of SILDEX.

After the creation of the source metamodel SILDEX and the target metamodel SAM, the TOPCASED process to make a transformation can be breakdown as follow:

• first, the mapping of the concepts,
• then the writing of the ATL transformation rules and the automatic transformation by rule execution (also with ATL),
• at last, manual check of the result through the reading of the files obtained by the editors (in this use case TOPCASED SAM Editor).

Excerpt of the ATL transformation: Sildex to SAM

Today the TOPCASED service to transform SILDEX models to SAM models is operational and used by AIRBUS France. More information on this work can be found in [1].

Screenshot of SAM Editor

None at the current time.