JP2003241966A - Programming support method, programming support program and programming support device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To support a developer so as to be able to easily create a program executed by an optimum procedure by using a technique for expressing even a connection part between software components as a component. <P>SOLUTION: Each connection means between software components is expressed as a link component, and lists of data components and the link components are displayed in regions 51 and 52 of a GUI screen, respectively. An editor arranges components selected from the region 51 or 52 by the operation of a user in a region 53 as element components of a program. When the cost of a data component 531i (i=A-C) in an element component group in the region 53, the editor creates program definition information set for the data component corresponding to the cost. The editor creates a program code for every data component in the definition information by determining a link component used for calculating a field value of the data component based on its cost by tracing the data component connected to the input side of the link component becoming a candidate. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a software development technique using a software componentization technique that also expresses software component connection means as a component, and in particular, a software developer uses a software component of this type to implement a program. The present invention relates to a program creation support method, a program creation support program, and a program creation support apparatus that support creating a program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Componentizing software (software program) is an important technique for improving productivity and quality of software. Object-oriented programming
It has been expected from the past that it has the effect of promoting the componentization of this software. The reason is that in object-oriented programming, the mechanism of inheritance leads to the reuse of software, and the high degree of independence of modules and the similarity to "things" in the real world help them understand their specifications. is there.

[0003]

However, in spite of the above expectations, the software componentization method is not yet fully established at present. Conventionally,
The following is a list of reasons why software could not be fully implemented by object-oriented programming alone.

(A1) In programming based on inheritance, it is necessary to complete from the most generalized and highly abstract parts. However, it becomes very difficult to determine the required general form as the software functions increase. Especially software developers (program creators)
This is noticeable when a person does not have the expertise of the target business. Also, user requirements for software change from moment to moment. Therefore, even if a component with sufficient generality can be created at a certain point in time, its availability becomes smaller as time passes.

(A2) Although the processing subject and the object are expressed as "things", how the processing subject acts on the (generally a plurality of) processing objects to realize the intended function is as follows. As usual, procedural expressions are the basis. As a result, it is not possible to intuitively grasp and predict the behavior of the entire system in which components are combined, as with a physical device. Therefore, at present, the purpose is to support human thinking in software design and maintenance.
It is necessary to create various charts.

In order to complement the unsolved part in the object-oriented programming, a programming technique is conceivable in which not only the objects which have been regarded as parts until now, but also the connecting part between objects are made into parts. In other words, it is possible to consider a programming technology that does not aim at making a large object into a component but makes a material that combines objects so that a series of objects achieve a desired function into a component. It is expected that this technology will be particularly useful in the development of software that processes data with a strong passive character such as various forms and records as input and output, as in many practical processes.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to utilize a software componentization technique for expressing a connected portion of software components as a component and to execute a program to be executed in an optimum procedure by software. It is to provide a program creation support method, a program creation support program, and a program creation support device that support a developer to easily create a program.

[0008]

According to one aspect of the present invention, it is executed by a computer for supporting the creation of a program using a software componentization technique for expressing a software component connecting means as a link component. A program creation support method is provided. In this program creation support method, a group of software parts classified into a data part having a field in which data is set as a terminal and a link part having an argument as a terminal is a group of element parts of a program configuration, and The step of generating the static structure of the program for which the static connection structure of is determined, and the cost specified by the user is set for each data part specified by the user of the element parts group in the static structure of the above program. By doing so, the step of generating the program definition information in which the mutual behavior of the element parts is defined, and each data part of the element parts group defined in the program definition information are given to each field of the data part. Data that is connected to the input side of the candidate link part to determine which link part should be used to calculate the value A step of tracing a product and deciding that a link component corresponding to a data component with a smaller cost is preferentially used based on the cost set in the data component of the traced destination and generating a program code. It has and.

As described above, in the program creation support method according to one aspect of the present invention, first, the static structure of a program, which is an element component of the program, and the static connection between the component parts are statically linked. Structures and are generated. That is, in the above program creation support method,
The connection by the link parts expresses the mutual static connection structure of how the data parts are related to each other. And in the above program creation support method,
Program definition information is generated by accepting a cost designation for each data component by a user's operation and setting the cost designated by the user in each data component designated by the user. Here, the cost assigned to each data component is a kind of weight to be avoided when giving a value from the data component, and is also a priority for giving a value. Therefore, it can be said that the cost for each data component is information for determining the behavior of the component components of the program, that is, in what order and to which component component the message is sent. In this way, the structure of the program is divided into the static structure of the program (the element parts that make up the program and the static connection structure between the element parts) and each data part that determines the behavior of the element parts of the program. Since it is separated into two hierarchies including the attached cost, it is easy to create and grasp each.
It can be said that the structure of this program is defined by the cost-added data parts group and the link parts that connect the data parts to each other.

As a result of the above, the generated program definition information is defined as a method by defining in what order the element parts in the static structure of the program are sent, and to which element part the message is sent. You can say that. Therefore, in the above-described program creation support method, for each data component defined by the program definition information, a candidate link is used to determine a link component used to calculate a value satisfying each field of the data component. Trace the data part connected to the input side of the part,
Based on the cost set in the traced data component, the link component corresponding to the data component with the lower cost is determined to be used with higher priority and the program code is generated. The optimum program code of the program defined by can be easily generated.

Moreover, in the above program creation support method, the program to be written (defined) by the software developer is the data parts and their costs, and how the data parts are linked by the link parts, that is, the mutual parts It is only the static connection structure of, and it is not necessary to create an optimum procedure for completing the value (data) given to the terminal (field) of the data component for each data component. Therefore, in the above-described program creation support method, it is possible to easily and accurately make a change such as adding a reference data component.

Here, the following methods may be defined in advance for each of the above-mentioned element parts depending on whether the part is a data part or a link part.
First, for the data component, the first method for filling all fields of the data component, and for all the link components whose output terminals are connected to the data component, If a value is given to the input terminal, it is preferable to define the first method for transmitting the second method for transmitting the value to the output terminal of the link component. Next, in the link component, if there is an input terminal to which a value is not given among the input terminals of the link component and a data component is connected to the input terminal, If the method 1 is transmitted and an input terminal to which a value is not given exists in the input terminals of the link component, and another link component is linked to the input terminal, the link component is linked. It is preferable that a second method for transmitting the same method as the second method is defined in the link component.

Also, the group of element parts in the static structure of the program and the static connection structure of the element parts are displayed in the program definition area of the program creation screen used to create the program, Each time any one data component of the element component group displayed in the definition area is designated according to the operation of the user, the cost designation of the designated data component is input to the user. If the configuration is required, the user can efficiently input the designation of the cost of each data component. Also,
If the specified cost is displayed near the corresponding data component displayed in the program definition area, the cost attached to each data component in the program definition area can be visually recognized by the user. It is possible to more efficiently and as intended perform the designated input of the cost.

Further, a parts list area in which a list of software parts is displayed is arranged on the program creation screen, a user-specified part is selected from the parts list area, and a user-specified part in the program definition area is selected. If it is configured so that it can be moved and placed in a position and that the terminals of the element parts placed in the program definition area can be linked according to the user's designation, the user will It is possible to efficiently create a static structure of a program composed of intended element parts.

The present invention related to the above-described program creation support method is also an invention related to a program creation support apparatus for executing the method to support the creation of a program, and each step constituting the method is executed by a computer. Program to be executed by the computer (program creation support program)
It is also established as an invention related to.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. A feature of the embodiment of the present invention is that software can be easily realized as a component by a programming technique (link-oriented programming technique) that also makes a connecting portion (link) between objects as a component. Therefore, in order to facilitate understanding of the present embodiment, a system of a program notation that is applied in the present embodiment and that expresses a connected portion as a part will be described.

(B1) As an equivalent to an object in conventional object-oriented programming,
There is a "data part". The data component has one or more fields (instance fields). All fields are open to the public (not hidden), and the values can be referenced and set.

(B2) There is a "link component" as a component for realizing the connection of data components. There are two types of link parts: "function-type link parts" (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as "functions") and "predicate-type link parts" (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as "predicates").

The function (B3) is generally a multi-valued function with n inputs and m outputs, and transfers a value from the input side to the output side as it is or after conversion. As an example of a special function, there is a function that can be regarded as a function having no input, such as a random number generation function.

(B4) The predicate has only one or more input arguments. However, a message can be sent to another data component or a link component depending on the result of the authenticity determination based on the input argument.

(B5) Each field of the data part and each argument of the function and the predicate are collectively called "terminal". A terminal has a direction in which it can transmit a value.
The terminals of the data component are capable of bidirectional transmission. Regarding the function terminal, the input terminal can transmit only in the input direction, and the output terminal can transmit only in the output direction. However, when the inverse function described later is defined, it can be transmitted in both directions. All predicate terminals can be transmitted only in the input direction.

(B6) The field of the data part can be accessed by the following format data part name.field name using the data part name and the field name.

(B7) The expression of the connection between parts by the function is
The following format using the function name (class name) that indicates the type of link component, the link name (instance name) that is the name of the link component, the input name that indicates the input terminal, and the output name that indicates the output terminal by.

(B8) The expression of the connection between parts by the predicate is
Predicate name that indicates the type of link part (class name), link name (instance name), input name that indicates the input terminal, and the processing contents based on the result of the predicate judgment. {Input name 1 = Pin 1, Input name 2 = Pin 2, ... {; ifTrue (Process when predicate is true)}} {; ifFalse (Process when predicate is false)}}}.

(B8) The following methods are defined in the data parts, functions and predicates, respectively.

A method (fill method) expressed as "fill ()" is defined in the data part. fill () is a method for filling a value in the field of the corresponding data component. Therefore, fill () has the function of sending the flow () described below to all the link components whose output terminals are connected to the corresponding data components to obtain the values. Here, the link parts whose output terminals can be connected to the data parts are
Limited to functions (functional link components). fill () also returns
If the field value can be completed, notify the message sender that called fill () with a success status, and if it cannot be completed for some reason, fail
It has the function of notifying the ure (failure) status.

A method (flow method) expressed as "flow ()" is defined in the function. flow () is a method for transmitting a value to the output terminal of the corresponding function. I.e. flow
() Is a sod that, if values are given to all the input terminals of the corresponding function, the value of the output terminal of the function is calculated, and the calculated value is transmitted to the output terminal. Therefore, if there is an input terminal that is not given a value, flow () will fill () that data component if the component connected to that input terminal is a data component, and link the function-type component (function). If so, send flow () to the function-type link part, and if it is a predicate-type link part (predicate), send test () to the predicate-type link part, and obtain the value through its input terminal. Has a function of satisfying the input value of and transmitting the value to the output terminal. flow () also has a function to notify the message sender that called the flow () of success status if the value can be transmitted normally, and to notify the failure status if it cannot be transmitted for some reason. Have.

Further, only when the inverse function of the function is defined, a method (flowBackward method) expressed as "flowBackward ()" is defined in the function. fl
owBackward () uses the input port of the corresponding function as the output port and the output port as the input port, and defines the inverse function fl.
This is the method that executes ow ().

In the predicate, a method (test method) expressed as "test ()" is defined. When values are given to all the input terminals of the corresponding predicate, test () judges the truth based on those values, performs the processing defined based on the judgment result, and returns other data. It is a method that sends a message to a part or link part. So test ()
If there is an input terminal that is not given a value, fill () the data component if the component connected to that input terminal is a data component, and if the component is a functional link component, fill the function type link. Send flow () to the part, and if it is a predicate type link part, send test () to the predicate type link part,
By acquiring the value through the input terminal, it has the function of satisfying all the input values and determining the authenticity. The test () also has a function of notifying the message sender that called the test () of the success status if the processing is successful, and of notifying the failure status of failure if it fails for some reason.

(B9) A new part, that is, a function (composite function) can be created by combining at least two link parts. Each part that constitutes one part is called an element part. When the element part is a link part, the element part is called an element link part. When connecting the terminals of the element link component, it is not possible to connect the terminals only in the input direction or the terminals only in the output direction. The terminals not connected between the element parts become the terminals of the newly created part. Further, it goes without saying that not only the link component but also the data component can be used to create a new component (link component).

(B10) The program is executed by sending a message to the data component and the link component that compose the program.

The present embodiment to which such a system of program notation for expressing connected parts as parts is applied will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a program creation support apparatus that supports program creation using software components according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The program creation support device shown in FIG. 1 is realized by a data processing device (computer) such as a personal computer. In other words, the program creation support device
The data processing device mainly includes an external storage device 1, a main storage device 2, a display device 3, an input device 4, a CPU 5, and a system bus 6.

The external storage device 1 is a mass storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD). In the external storage device 1, software component definition information (software component definition information) 11, image data (icon data) 12 of an icon (component icon) as an image representing the software component, and the created program definition information 1
3 and program code 14 are stored.

The software component definition information 11 is information defining a software component prepared in advance and a newly created software component. The software component definition information 11 includes data component definition information (data component definition information) 111 and link component definition information (link definition information) 112. The link definition information 112 is the definition information (function definition information) 1 of the function (function type link component).
12a and definition information (predicate definition information) 112b of a predicate (predicate type link component).

The data component definition information 111 includes field information of each data component prepared in advance. The function definition information 112a is, for each function prepared in advance and each newly created function, the name and input / output direction of each input / output terminal, the inherited part name, the icon data name, and the presence / absence of an inverse function definition. Contains information. The predicate definition information 112b is
For each predicate prepared in advance and each newly created predicate, the name of each terminal is included.

In the main storage device 2, a program editor 21 as a program (program creation support program) for supporting the creation of a program is operated by a user (software developer, program creator) using the input device 4, for example. In accordance with the above, it is loaded from the external storage device 1. The program editor 21 executes the CPU 5 to connect the component selection unit 211 that supports the user's selection of the component, the component display unit 212 that displays the component on the display device 3, and the terminal designated by the user. Then, it includes a program element for functioning as each functional unit of the connection input unit 213 for inputting the connection information. The program editor 21 also causes the CPU 5 to be a connection display unit 214 that displays the connection state between the terminals designated by the user on the display device 3, and a user-specified data part of the component parts group that constitutes the program. Also, it includes a program setting element 215 for setting a user-specified cost (calculation cost), and a program element for causing the program code generating section 216 to function as each functional unit. Program code generator 21
6 generates the code of the program being created.

The main storage device 2 also stores definition information (program definition information) 22 of a program currently created using the program editor 21. The program definition information 22 includes element component information 221 and element connection information 222. The element part information 221 is information of each element part of the software part that constitutes the program being created. For each element part, the element name (element part name, instance name) that is the name of the part, and the part Includes the element component type name (class name) that indicates the type. In addition, when the element part is a data part, the element part information 221 includes a cost in addition to the element name and the element part type name. The element connection information 222 is information that defines the connection between the terminals of each of the above-described element parts, and includes, for each connection, a pair of connection-source element name and terminal name, and a connection-destination element name and terminal name. .

The display device 3 is a CRT display, a liquid crystal display or the like.
GUI (Graphical Us) for program creation using
er Interface) screen (program creation GUI screen) is displayed. The input device 4 is a keyboard, a mouse, etc., and is used for the operation of the program editor 21 including the operation of the GUI screen by the user.

The CPU 5 supports the creation of the program requested by the user by executing the program editor 21 according to the operation of the user.

Next, the program creation support process in the configuration of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. The program creation support process in this embodiment is roughly classified into a program definition information creation process for creating the program definition information 22 and a program code creation process for creating a program code from the program definition information 22. The program definition information creation process is executed using, for example, the component selection unit 211, the connection input unit 213, and the cost setting unit 215 in the program editor 21. The program code creation process is executed by using the program code generation unit 216.

First, the program definition information creating process will be described. Now, it is assumed that the user (program creator) operates the input device 4 to activate the program editor 21. Then, the CPU 5 causes the program editor 21
In accordance with this, a program creation GUI screen as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the display device 3. In the following description, in order to avoid complication, it is assumed that the program editor 21 itself executes the process.

The program creation GUI screen shown in FIG.
A data component list area 51 that displays a list of defined data components 510, a link component list area 52 that displays a list of defined link components 520, and a program definition that provides an area for creating and defining a program. And an area 53.

The display of the data component list in the data component list area 51 is performed based on the data component definition information 111 in the software component definition information 11 stored in the external storage device 1. The display of the linked component list in the linked component list area 52 is performed by the above software component definition information 11
It is performed based on the link definition information 112 therein.

Here, the parts 510 and 520 on the list areas 51 and 52 are based on the icon data 12 stored in the external storage device 1 and the parts 510 and 520.
Are displayed as icons 511 and 521. Each part 5
In the vicinity of the icons 511 and 521 of 10,520, element component type names 512 and 522 representing the types of the components are displayed. Also, the component 520, that is, the link component 520.
For, the arrow 523 indicating the transmission direction of the value between the terminals is displayed in the vicinity thereof based on the link definition information 112. In addition, the parts 510 and 52 on the list areas 51 and 52
0 is displayed in a reduced size, and when it is moved to the program definition area 53, as will be described later, it is displayed at a fixed magnification. In the list areas 51 and 52, generally, the entire parts list cannot be displayed, so that the parts can be scrolled in the area.

The list areas 51 and 52 provide display areas for a list of predefined software components. Here, the defined software component is generally a software component prepared in advance in the system, but the link component also includes a software component newly defined by the user using the program editor 21.

The user can obtain the program definition information 22 as shown in FIG.
It is created by executing the element component selecting operation, the linking input operation, and the cost setting operation as described below on the program creation GUI screen.

First, the user uses the mouse of the input device 4, for example, to create the element parts necessary for creating / defining the software parts making up the target program, that is, the element parts necessary for creating / defining the target program. An operation for selecting from the parts list on the data parts list area 51 or the linked parts list area 52 is performed. Next, the user uses the mouse to perform a drag-and-drop operation in order to move the selected element part, that is, the data part or the link part to a desired position on the program definition area 53.

Component selection unit 2 in the program editor 21
11 detects that the user has performed an operation of selecting an element component from the component list on the data component list area 51 or the linked component list area 52 using the mouse (step S1), the selected element The component is moved onto the program definition area 53 while being displayed on the program creation GUI screen by the component display unit 212 according to the drag operation following the user's selection operation (step S3).

Here, the selected element part is represented by an icon and a type name of the part, and an arrow indicating the direction of transmission of the value between the terminals. The icon to be displayed is determined by the following procedure. (A1) If an icon is set for the selected part, that icon is used. (A2) If there is no icon setting and there is a setting for the inherited component, the icon setting of the upper component is recursively searched,
Use this. (A3) If the icon information cannot be obtained by the inheritance information, a predetermined implicit icon is used.

On the other hand, the direction of the arrow to be displayed is determined by the following procedure. (B1) The terminals of the data component are bidirectional. (B2) The terminal of the function to which the inverse function is set is bidirectional. (B3) In other functions, the input terminal is in the input direction and the output terminal is in the output direction. (B4) The terminal of the predicate is in the input direction.

A program definition area 53 is shown in FIGS.
The display example of the above-mentioned element parts is shown. FIG. 6 shows a display example of the data component, and FIG. 7 shows a display example of the function (function type link component).

Now, when the component selecting unit 211 detects the user's drop operation while moving the element component selected from the component list onto the program definition area 53 in response to the user's drag operation ( In step S4), the moving process of the element component is stopped, and the component display unit 212 displays a screen requesting the user to input the name (element name) of the element component (step S5). Here, when the user performs an operation of inputting an element name using the input device 4, the component selection unit 211 receives the element name from the input device 4, and the element category name indicating the category of the corresponding element component and It is added to the element component information 221 in the program definition information 22 stored in the main storage device 2 in combination with the element component category name indicating the category (step S6), and the user's next element component selection operation is waited for. .

When the user wants to connect any two terminals of the terminals of the element parts arranged in the program definition area 53 and the terminals of the software parts constituting the program defined in the program definition area 53 , The mouse of the input device 4 is operated, and the operation of dragging to the other terminal while the mouse pointer is aligned with one terminal is performed.

Link input section 2 in program editor 21
When the user detects that the user has performed a drag operation for connecting the terminals (step S7), the connection display unit 214 causes the connection display unit 214 to display a line segment from the terminal at the drag start position to the current drag position. And the connection input unit 2
13, when the drag position reaches another terminal, the connection display section 214 connects the two terminals with arrows A11 to A1 in FIG.
3 and so on are displayed by arrows and connected, and the connection information is added to the element connection information 222 in the program definition information 22 (step S8). In step S8, the connection input unit 213 determines the direction of value transmission in which the two specified terminals can be connected, and according to the determination result, it is determined that the terminals are connected and the value is transmitted. Direction is displayed by the above-mentioned arrow by the connection display unit 214. However,
If the two terminals designated by the user are of the same element part, the connection input unit 213 notifies the user of an error and rejects the connection.

Here, (c1) When two terminals to be connected are both terminals of an element part: -If the two terminals are both bidirectional terminals, the connection can be bidirectionally transmitted. Become. -If at least one of the two terminals is unidirectional and the other is also unidirectional, the connection is only unidirectional in that direction. -In other cases, the connection input unit 213 notifies the user of an error and rejects the connection.

Next, (c2) when one of the two terminals to be connected is the terminal of the component under construction, the transmission direction of that terminal is the same as the transmission direction of the terminal of the element component which is the other terminal. Will be the same. Although it is possible to connect one terminal of the component being created to the terminals of a plurality of element parts, the transmission direction of the terminal of the added element part is opposite to the already connected connection. Don't In that case, an error is notified and the connection is rejected. (C3) When both of the terminals to be connected are terminals of the component being created-An error is notified and the connection is rejected.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the transmission direction of the value between the two terminals designated by the user's operation is automatically discriminated by the connection input section 213 in the program editor 21, and the terminals are connected to each other. Since the direction of the arrow to be connected (connected) is determined, the user does not need to specify the value transmission direction, and therefore, accurate parts can be created by a simple creation operation. However, it is also possible to display a screen that allows the user to specify (limit) the direction of connection by clicking the right button of the mouse, for example.

In accordance with the user's operation for selecting an element, the element selection unit 211 selects an element that composes a program intended by the user, and an element name (element part name) that is the information of the element. And the component type name are input, and the connection input unit 213 executes the connection between the designated terminals according to the user's connection input operation, and inputs the connection information. The element parts that are the constituent elements of the program and the static connection structure between the element parts are determined. The static structure of a program is a data structure in which the static connection structure between element parts is defined, but the behavior between element parts is not defined. At this stage, the program definition information 22 is in an incomplete state, and the cost for each data component is not set in the element component information 221 of the program definition information 22. The cost for each data component is the cost required to obtain all the field values of the corresponding data component, and the behavior of the program's component parts, that is, in what order and to which component part the message is sent. This is information for making a decision.

In the present embodiment, the mutual behavior of the element parts is determined by the cost setting section 215 according to the user's cost setting operation, as described below.
It is determined by setting the cost specified by the user in association with the element name of the data part specified by the user.

After determining the static structure of the program, the user sets a cost for each data component of the component group that composes the program in order to determine the mutual behavior of the component of the program. The operation of is performed as follows. That is, the user moves the mouse pointer to a desired element component (data component) in the program definition area 53 by operating the mouse in order to specify (select) the data component for which the cost is to be set, and Click the right mouse button, for example, at the position.

The cost setting section 215 in the program editor 21 is an operation in which the user moves the mouse pointer to any element component (data component) in the program definition area 53 and clicks the right mouse button at that position. When it is detected (step S9), as one of the attributes of the element component (data component) corresponding to the position,
A screen (cost input screen) requesting the user to input the cost is displayed near the position (step S10). Then, the user uses the input device 4 to input the cost required to obtain all the field values of the data component whose position is specified on the cost input screen.

When the cost setting unit 215 detects that the user has input the cost using the input device 4 (step S11), the cost setting unit 215 receives the cost from the input device 4 and stores it in the main storage device 2. It is set so as to be paired with the type name of the corresponding element component (data component) in the element component information 221 of the stored program definition information 22 (step S12). At the same time, the cost setting unit 215 displays the set cost (numerical value indicating the cost) near the corresponding element component (data component) (step S13). Then, the cost setting unit 215 waits for the next cost setting designation operation (right button click operation) by the user. In Figure 5,
Values 1 (A = 1), 2 (B = 2), and 10 are provided near data parts 531A, 531B, and 531C, which will be described later, respectively.
It is shown that the costs 530A, 530B, and 530C of (C = 10) are displayed.

When the user finishes the cost input operation for all target component parts (data components) of the component parts on the program definition area 53, that is, when the program definition information creating process is completed, at that time point. Program definition information 2 stored in the main storage device 2
Perform the operation for creating the program code based on 2. Here, the user performs an operation of opening the file menu A21 on the menu bar prepared on the software component creation GUI screen shown in FIG. The file menu A21 is provided with optimum code generation for instructing the creation of program code in addition to overwriting a file as a menu item, newly saving a file, and opening a file. The user selects this optimum code generation with the mouse.

The program code generator 216 in the program editor 21 allows the user to select the file menu A21.
When it is detected that the operation for selecting the optimum code generation is performed (step S14), the program code generation process (step S15) is executed as follows according to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the program code generator 216 searches the program definition information 22 stored in the main storage device 2 for one data component for which a cost is set as a target data component for code generation. If the data component can be searched, the program code generation unit 216 selects one unprocessed terminal from the terminals (fields) of the component indicated by the element connection information 222 in the program definition information 22. Then, the selected terminal is set to F (step S31).

When the terminal F of the data part is selected, the program code generator 216 selects one of the unprocessed link parts among the link parts which gives an input to the terminal F, and selects the selected link part. L (step S3)
2). Then, the program code generation unit 216 sets the estimated cost C of the link component L as the cost of the data component connected to the input terminal of the link component L, which has the maximum cost set (step S33). . Here, the element component connected to the input terminal of the link component L may be the link component. In this case, further trace the element component connected to the input side of the link component until it becomes a data component, and then reach the data component at the destination.
The data part is connected to the input terminal of the link part L. That is, the data component connected to the input terminal of the link component L has the shortest (minimum) path (the number of element components) to the input terminal among the data components directly or indirectly connected to the input terminal. It is a data part.

Next, the program code generator 216 has a table LL (not shown) having key-value pairs as elements.
An element having L as a key and C as a value is registered in (step S34). Here, the table LL is placed on the main storage device 2.

Next, the program code generation unit 216 refers to the program definition information 22 to check whether there is any other unprocessed link component for inputting to the terminal F of the target data component (step S35). . If there is an unprocessed link component, the program code generation unit 216 executes the processing from step S32 onward for one of the unprocessed link components.

On the other hand, if there is no unprocessed link component that supplies an input to the terminal F of the target data component, the program code generator 216 has the smallest cost among the elements registered in the table LL. The following code "if (Lflow () = failure") is generated for the link component L (step S36) If this code allows the link component L to output a value from its output terminal, ask the link component L to output the value. , Output failure (failur
e) Sometimes, the function to switch to the next link component is realized.

Next, the program code generator 216 refers to the table LL to check whether or not another unprocessed element is registered in the table LL (step S3).
7). If an unprocessed element is registered, the next code "&& Lflow () = failur" is calculated for the link part L with the next smallest cost after the link part for which the code was generated immediately before.
e "is generated (step S38). With this code,
If the link component L can output a value from its output terminal, ask the value to be output and fail to output (failur
e) Sometimes, the function to switch to the next link component is realized. The program code generation unit 216, the step S3
When step 8 is executed, the process returns to step S37.

On the other hand, for all the elements registered in the table LL, if there is no unprocessed element as a result of the code generation in the order of the ring parts having the smallest cost, the program code generation unit 216 proceeds to the step. S3
Proceed to 9. In this step S39, the program code generator 216 generates the next code ") return failure,". This code realizes the function of notifying the failure status to the message sender that called the method fill () of the data component, assuming that the value of the input terminal (field) of the target data component is not completed.

Next, the program code generator 216 checks whether or not the target data component has another unprocessed terminal (step S40). If there is an unprocessed terminal, the program code generation unit 216 determines 1 of the unprocessed terminal.
For one, the processing from step S31 is executed. On the other hand, if there is no unprocessed terminal as a result of executing the processing from step S31 on all the terminals of the target data part, the program code generation unit 216 generates the next code ") return failure,". (Step S41), the code generation process related to the target data part is ended. This code realizes the function of notifying the message sender, which has called the method fill () of the data component, that the value of the input terminal (field) of the target data component is completed, of the success status.

The program code generation unit 216 executes the processing according to the flow chart of FIG. 4 described above for all the data parts of the element parts group constituting the program defined by the program definition information 22.

In this way, the program code generator 216
Is a data part of a group of element parts constituting the program defined by the program definition information 22,
To determine which link component should be used to calculate the value given to the terminal (field) of that data component, follow the data component connected to the input side of the candidate link component and follow Based on the cost set for the data component of, the link component directly or indirectly connected to the data component with the lower cost (that is, the link component corresponding to the data component with the lower cost) is used with priority. Determine and generate program code. The generated code (program code) is stored in the external storage device 1.

As is apparent from the above description, in the programming (link oriented programming) in which the link is also a component in this embodiment, the program is not described as a procedure having a single purpose as in the past. Absent. That is, in the present embodiment, (a) the static structure of the program, that is, the component parts that make up the program and the static connection structure between the component parts are determined. (B1) Define the method fill () of all the data parts that are the constituent elements of the program.

(B2) Define the method flow () of all the functions (function type link parts) that are the constituent elements of the program.

(B3) The method test () of all predicates (predicate type parts) which are the constituent elements of the program is defined.

(C) How to function the constituent elements of the program, that is, in what order and to which constituent element the message is sent, is defined as a method.

The program is realized in three stages.

As is apparent, the above (c) is realized only by setting the cost for each data component in the component (element component) of the program. Therefore, the program to be described (defined) by the program creator in this embodiment is only the data component and its cost, and how the data component is linked by the link component, that is, the static connection structure between the element components. Therefore, it is not necessary to create an optimum procedure for completing the value (data) given to the terminal (field) of the data component for each data component. Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is possible to easily and accurately make a change such as adding a referenceable data component.

In the present embodiment, as described above, a desired component group is selected from the data component list area 51 and the link component list area 52 and placed in the program definition area 53 to form a target program. When defining a software component, the terminals of that software component can also be defined. Here, by operating the mouse of the input device 4 and moving the mouse pointer to the boundary line of the program definition area 53 to specify the terminal position, one of new terminal establishment, terminal deletion, and terminal change is performed. One can be selectively executed. In the example of FIG. 5, terminals A41 to A47 are defined.

When the user has finished creating the program definition information 22 or wants to end the operation in the middle of creating the program definition information 22, the user performs an operation of opening the file menu A21 on the menu bar prepared on the program creation GUI screen. To do. Then, the user can open the file menu A21.
Above, an operation for giving a name to the program definition information 22 that has been created or is being created and newly saving it in the external storage device 1 is performed. In addition, the user is the external storage device 1
If the program definition information already stored in the main storage device 2 is called as the program definition information 22 and the edit relating to the creation of the corresponding program in the component parts program definition area 53 is performed, A so-called overwrite save operation for updating the program definition information is performed.

A program registration unit (not shown) in the program editor 21 is a program creation GU as shown in FIG.
When it is detected that the user has opened the file menu A21 and specified the overwrite save while the I screen is displayed (step S16), the program stored in the main storage device 2 at that time is detected. In the definition information 22,
Program definition information 1 stored in the external storage device 1
Overwrite saving is performed to update the corresponding information in 3 (step S17). When the program registration unit detects that the user has opened the file menu A21 and performed an operation of designating a new save (step S18), the program registration unit prompts the user to designate the name of the target program definition information,
The program definition information 22 currently stored in the main storage device 2 is newly stored in the program definition information 13 in the external storage device 1 in association with the program definition information name specified by the user (step S19). .

Further, when the user opens the file menu A21 and specifies the open, and also specifies the program definition information name indicating the program definition information as the target file (step S2).
0), the specified program definition information is stored in the external storage device 1
It is taken out from the program definition information 13 stored in the main storage device 2 as the program definition information 22 (step S21). Here, based on the program definition information 22, each of the component parts forming the program indicated by the component part information 221 in the program definition information 22 is arranged in the program definition area 53 on the program creation GUI screen. In addition, between each element part, according to the element connection information 222 in the program definition information 22,
Connected by arrows. In addition, an element part (data part) whose cost is set by forming a pair with the element name in the element part information 221, is displayed in the vicinity of the element part (data part) to which the cost corresponds. This makes it easy for the user to set new costs or change costs.

FIG. 5 shows a screen display example in a state where the deduction amount calculation program for the tax deduction process associated with the purchase of a house has been defined. This deduction amount calculation program includes three "purchase amount" data parts 531A, 531B, 531C having fields for setting a purchase price,
The deduction amount is calculated by performing a predetermined calculation by receiving the purchase amount given from any of the data parts 531A to 531C, the purchase year given externally, the loan balance, and the upper limit value of the deduction amount. Forecast calculation ”link component (function type link component) 532. Here, the data parts 531A, 531B, 531C
The purchase amounts given to the input terminals (fields) of the above are respectively (A) those recorded in the database of the window system handling tax, (B) those recorded in the database of the systems of other departments in the past, (C) It shall be entered by the taxpayer requesting the tax deduction. in this case,
(A) is the best choice for the program creator,
Although (B) takes some time, it is more appropriate than (C), which is troublesome for taxpayers, and it is an option to give "purchase amount" to the input terminal (Price) of the "deduction amount calculation" link component 532. Data parts 531A, 531B, 531C
, A cost is given to each of A = 1, B = 2, and C = 10. This cost is a kind of weight of the degree to be avoided when the “deduction amount calculation” link component 532 receives a value (purchase amount) from any of the data components 531A, 531B, and 531C, and the value ( It can be said that the priority is given to the purchase price).

In the above embodiment, the program editor 2
1 has a program code generation unit 216 to generate an optimum execution procedure as a program code based on the program definition information. However, the optimum execution procedure can be determined by, for example, an interpreter when the program defined by the program definition information is executed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be variously modified at the stage of implementation without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, the embodiments include inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed constituent elements. For example, even if some constituent elements are deleted from all the constituent elements shown in the embodiment, the problem described in the section of the problem to be solved by the invention can be solved, and the effect described in the section of the effect of the invention can be solved. If you get
A configuration in which this component is deleted can be extracted as an invention.

[0089]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the software component forming technique for expressing the linking means of the software components as the link component is utilized to create the software component classified into the data component and the link component. A group is defined as a group of element parts of the program configuration, and a static structure of the program in which the static connection structure of the element parts is determined is generated,
Then, by setting the user-specified cost for each user-specified data part of the element parts group in the static structure of the program, the program structure is separated into two layers. , It becomes easy to create and grasp each, and it is possible to assist the software developer in easily creating the program.

Moreover, according to the present invention, for each data component defined by the program definition information, a link component which is a candidate for determining a link component used to calculate a value satisfying each field of the data component. Follow the data component connected to the input side of the component, and based on the cost set for the data component that follows, the link component corresponding to the data component with the smaller cost will be used preferentially. Since the decision is made to generate the program code, the software developer does not need to create an optimum procedure for filling each field of each data component.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a program creation support device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a part of a flowchart for explaining a program creation support process in the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a view showing the rest of the flowchart for explaining a program creation support process in the same embodiment.

4 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure of a program code generation process of step S15 in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a program creation GUI applied in the embodiment.
The figure which shows the structural example of a screen, and the structural example of the program defined using the said screen.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of data parts on a program definition area 53 in FIG. 5;

7 is a diagram showing a display example of a functional link component on the program definition area 53 in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... External storage device 2 ... Main storage device 3 ... Display device 4 ... Input device 5 ... CPU 11 ... Software component definition information 12 ... Icon data 13 ... Program definition information 14 ... Program code 21 ... Program editor (program creation support program) 22 ... Program definition information 51 ... Data parts list area 52 ... Link parts list area 53 ... Program definition area 211 ... Parts selection part 212 ... Parts display part 213 ... Linkage input part 214 ... Linkage display part 215 ... Cost setting part 216 ... Program Code generator 221 ... Element component information 222 ... Element connection information

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A program creation support method executed by a computer for supporting the creation of a program using a software componentization technique that expresses a linking means of software components as a link component, and a field to which data is set. A software component group that is classified into a data component that has as a terminal and a link component that has an argument as a terminal is a group of element components of the program configuration, and the static linkage of the program in which the static connection structure of the component components is determined The behavior of the element parts is defined by setting the user specified cost for each user specified data part of the element part group in the static structure of the program. The step of generating program definition information according to For each data component of, the data component connected to the input side of the candidate link component is followed to determine which link component should be used to calculate the value given to each field of the data component. , Based on the cost set in the traced data component, determining that the link component corresponding to the data component having a smaller cost is used with higher priority, and generating a program code. A program creation support method characterized by the above. 2. A step of displaying the element component group in the static structure of the program and the static connection structure of the element components in a program definition area of a program creation screen used to create a program. And every time any one data component of the element component group displayed in the program definition area is designated according to the operation of the user, the designated data component is given to the user. Requesting a designated input of the cost, and in the step of generating the program definition information, each time the cost is designated by the user in response to the cost input request, the user designated 2. The program creation support method according to claim 1, wherein the cost is set to a user-specified data component in the static structure of the program. 3. A program creation support method executed by a computer for supporting the creation of a program using a software componentization technique that expresses a software component connection means as a link component, in which a data field is set. Displays a program creation screen that includes a parts list area that displays a list of software parts that are classified into data parts that have as terminals and link parts that have arguments as terminals, and a program definition area that is used to create programs And a step of moving and arranging the part selected from the parts list according to the user's operation in the program definition area as an element part constituting a program to be created according to the user's operation, Elements placed in the program definition area according to the user's operation Generating a static structure of a program in which terminals of respective parts are connected to each other and which is composed of a group of element parts arranged in the program definition area, and a static connection structure of the element parts is determined. Every time any one data component of the element component group arranged in the program definition area is designated according to the operation of the user, the data component of the designated data component is specified for the user. A step of requesting a cost specification input, and each time a cost is specified by the user in response to the cost specification input request, the cost specified by the user is specified by the user in the static structure of the program. A step of generating program definition information in which the mutual behavior of the element parts is defined by setting in the data part, and the element part group defined in the program definition information For each of these data components, the data component connected to the input side of the candidate link component is traced to determine which link component should be used in order to calculate the value given to each field of the data component. Based on the cost set in the data component of the traced destination, it is determined that the link component corresponding to the data component with the smaller cost is used with higher priority, and the program code is generated. A program creation support method characterized by: 4. When a cost is designated by a user in response to the cost designation input request, the cost designated by the user is near the data component designated by the user arranged in the program definition area. 4. The program creation support method according to claim 3, further comprising a step of displaying the program. 5. The data component has a first method for filling all fields of the data component, and the link method is performed for all link components having output terminals connected to the data component. If values are given to all input terminals of the component, a first method for transmitting a second method for transmitting a value to the output terminal of the link component is defined in advance, and the link component has the following method. If there is an input terminal to which a value is not given among the input terminals of the link component and the data component is connected to the input terminal, the first method is transmitted to the data component, If there is an input terminal to which no value is given among the input terminals of the link component and another link component is connected to the input terminal, the second component is connected to the linked component. Claim 1 or claim 3 programming support method according the second method is characterized in that it is defined in advance for transmitting the same method as the method. 6. A program creation support program for supporting the creation of a program using a software componentization technique that expresses software component connection means as a link component, the computer having a field to which data is set as a terminal. Generates a static structure of a program in which a group of software parts classified into a data part and a link part having an argument as a terminal is defined as a group of element parts of a program configuration, and a static connection structure between the element parts is determined. And the program definition information in which the mutual behavior of the element parts is defined by setting the user-specified cost for each user-specified data part of the element part group in the static structure of the program. And a step of generating data of each of the element parts group defined by the program definition information. For each product, the data component connected to the input side of the candidate link component is followed to determine which link component should be used to calculate the value given to each field of the data component. A program for executing a step of generating a program code by deciding that a link component corresponding to a data component with a lower cost is preferentially used based on the cost set in the data component Creation support program. 7. A program creation support program for supporting the creation of a program using a software componentization technique for expressing software component connection means as a link component, the computer having a field to which data is set as a terminal. Displaying a program creation screen including a parts list area in which a list of software parts classified into data parts and link parts having arguments as terminals is displayed, and a program creation screen including a program definition area used for creating a program, A step of moving and arranging a part selected from the parts list according to a user's operation in the program definition area as an element part of a program to be created according to a user's operation; Depending on the A step of generating a static structure of a program, which is composed of a group of element parts arranged in the program definition area by connecting children, and in which a static connection structure of the element parts is determined, Every time any one data component of the element component group arranged in the definition area is designated according to the user's operation, the cost of the designated data component is designated to the user. Step of requesting input, and each time the cost is specified by the user in response to the cost specification input request, the cost specified by the user is transferred to the data part specified by the user in the static structure of the program. By setting, a step of generating program definition information in which the behavior of the element parts is defined, and each of the elements in the group of element parts defined in the program definition information is defined. For each data component, in order to calculate the value given to each field of the data component, which link component should be used, by tracing the data component connected to the input side of the candidate link component, In order to execute the step of generating a program code by deciding based on the cost set in the traced data component, that the link component corresponding to the data component with the smaller cost is used with priority. Program creation support program. 8. A program creation support device for supporting the creation of a program using a software componentization technique for expressing a software component connection means as a link component, the data having a field to which data is set as a terminal. A group of software parts classified into parts and link parts having arguments as terminals is used as a group of element parts of the program configuration, and a static structure of the program in which the static connection structure of the element parts is determined is generated. Means, means for designating each data component in the static structure of the program and a cost of the data component, and designated cost for each designation by the designating means, in the static structure of the program. Means to generate program definition information in which the behavior of the element parts is defined by setting the data parts Means for instructing generation of a program code based on the program definition information, and, in accordance with an instruction of the instructing means, for each data component of the element component group defined by the program definition information, Which link component should be used to calculate the value given to each field,
The data component connected to the input side of the candidate link component is traced, and the link component corresponding to the data component with the smaller cost is prioritized based on the cost set for the traced data component. And a means for generating a program code by deciding to be used. 9. A program creation support device for supporting the creation of a program using a software componentization technique for expressing a linking means of software components as a link component, the data having a field to which data is set as a terminal. A parts list area for displaying a list of software parts classified into parts and linked parts having arguments as terminals; and means for displaying a program creation screen including a program definition area used for creating a program, Means for selecting an arbitrary component from the component list, and moving and arranging the component selected from the component list in the program definition area as an element component constituting a program to be created according to a user's operation Means for performing the above, and optional mutual components arranged in the program definition area A means for designating a connection between terminals and a configuration of a group of element parts arranged in the program definition area by connecting the specified terminals, and a static connection structure between the element parts is provided. Means for generating a static structure of the determined program; means for designating an arbitrary data component of the element component group arranged in the program definition area and the cost of the data component; Means for generating the program definition information in which the behavior of the element parts is defined by setting the specified cost in the specified data part in the static structure of the program for each specification by the program; Means for instructing generation of a program code based on definition information, and the element component defined by the program definition information in response to an instruction from the instructing means For each of the data part of, in order to calculate the value given for each field of the data part, or should be used either link parts,
The data component connected to the input side of the candidate link component is traced, and the link component corresponding to the data component with the smaller cost is prioritized based on the cost set for the traced data component. And a means for generating a program code by deciding to be used.