JPH0481926A - Distributed development software designing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the development efficiency of the whole system by executing the unification/separation of its input message data and output message data before generating a program, that is, at the time of designing a module. CONSTITUTION:In a computer system, computers 10, 20,..., n0 are connected mutually through a transmission line 1, give and receive data, and also, the computers 10, 20,..., n0 are connected to terminal equipments 11, 21,..., n1. In such a state, at the time of designing a distributed software module and message data, identity and similarity of the definition contents of the message data, and a multiple definition of a data item are checked, and by unifying and separating these definition contents, a data base is formed in a shape whose consistency is taken, and at the time of generating the module, the definition contents are extracted from in the data base and utilized. In such a way, the software productivity by the distributed system is improved.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a method for designing autonomous distributed software modules and message data when software modules are developed in a distributed system, and in particular improves the productivity of the entire system when partially developing the system. This invention relates to a distributed development software design method suitable for [Prior Art] Conventionally, in a program development support system in which a program is configured in a module structure and each module is created separately, in order to make it easy to change the program, for example,
As described in Japanese Patent No. 3-273132, a method has been proposed in which a changed portion of a program source is analyzed to examine the influence range. Note that this method does not describe a method for supporting program development by ensuring consistency of design data during software design. In general, when developing an autonomous decentralized software module, after determining the input and output messages,
The processing contents are designed. In particular, when performing distributed development, in order to ensure consistency with already developed modules and message data, check for undefined and overloaded message data used by modules, as well as their integration and separation, in the design specifications. Based on this. [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the above-mentioned conventional technology, when software is developed in a distributed manner, there is a risk that message data that is the same as or similar to already defined message data may be defined. Note that the existence of message data having the same configuration indicates that message data defined later is unnecessary or can be integrated. Furthermore, the existence of message data with similar configurations helps to reconsider whether or not these are truly necessary, that is, their integration/separation. Additionally, there is a risk of over-defining already defined data items. The purpose of the present invention is to improve such problems by discovering overloaded definitions and similarities in message data and integrating and separating them at the design stage of an autonomous decentralized software module.
A distributed development software design method that improves the efficiency of the module creation stage by ensuring consistency, and also improves the development efficiency of the entire system by making it possible to easily add created modules to existing systems. Our goal is to provide the following. [Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the distributed development software design method of the present invention takes into consideration the identity and similarity of the definition contents of message data and the data when designing distributed software modules and message data. Check for overloaded definitions of items, integrate and separate these definitions into a database in a consistent format, and when creating a module, extract the definitions from the database and use them. , is characterized by its ability to improve software productivity in distributed systems. [Operation] In the present invention, a module is defined by a module name, an input message name, and an output message name. Further, a message is defined by a message name and data item names that constitute the message. Furthermore, a data item is defined by a data item name, attribute, and number of arrays. In this definition method, when defining message data, if a message with the same data item name constituting the message has already been defined, this indicates that a message with the same content as that message already exists. There is. Furthermore, when defining message data, if a message with some of the same data item names constituting the message has already been defined, it means that a message with similar content already exists, that is,
It shows the possibility of integrating and separating messages. Furthermore, when defining a data item, if a data item with the same data item name has already been defined, this indicates that a data item with the same content as that data item already exists. After checking for overloaded definitions and similarities, the definitions are integrated and separated to ensure consistency and created in a database. When creating a module, necessary input/output messages and data items are retrieved from the database.
Deploy it as a program. This can improve productivity compared to creating modules using a general-purpose editor while looking at specifications. Furthermore, since it is known that the input/output message data of the created module is consistent with the existing system composed of the module and message data designed and developed by the present invention, the created module can be used without any inconsistencies. It also improves the productivity of the system as a whole.

【Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a computer system to which the distributed development software design method of the present invention is applied. In this embodiment, computers 10 and 20° are interconnected via a transmission path 1 to exchange data. Also,
Computers 10, 20. ...no are connected to the terminal devices 11, 2 l, . . . , n 1, respectively. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the functional configuration of a computer in an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, 101 is a program for defining, checking, and editing, 102 is a program for creating module source, 103 is a module definition file, 104 is a message data definition file, 105 is a data item definition file, and 106 is a module source. be. In this embodiment, for example, the computer 10 in FIG.
Data input from a terminal device 11 having a display 12, that is, definition data, is checked by a program 101, and after interactively modified, is stored in definition files 103-105. The program 102 extracts the definition data whose consistency has been ensured in this manner from the definition files 103 to 105 and stores it in the file 106 as a module source. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the file format of the module definition file in one embodiment of the present invention.
One module definition is a module name storage area ill
, an input message name storage area 112 indicating the input message of the module, and an output message name storage area 113 indicating the output message of the module. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the file format of a message data definition file in one embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, one message data definition consists of a message data name storage area 114 and a data item name storage area 115 that constitutes the message data. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the file format of a data item definition file in one embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, one data item definition is composed of a data item name storage area 116, a data attribute storage area 117 indicating the attributes of the data item, and an array number storage area 118 indicating the number of arrays of the data item. . FIG. 7 shows the definition, check, and
3 is a flowchart showing processing of an editing program. The program 101 shown in FIG. 3 is as shown in FIG.
The definition files 103 to 105 are read (701), defined and edited interactively (702), and a check screen is displayed (703). Then, if the display screen check is OK (704),
Store the definition contents in definition files 103 to 105 (7
05), and if the check is NG in step 704, the process returns to definition and editing (702). FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the concept of integrating and separating message data in an embodiment of the present invention. The concept of message data integration in this embodiment is as shown in (a). That is, before message data integration, module A2
11 inputs message A201, and then inputs message C2
Outputs 03. Further, the module B212 inputs the message B2O2 and outputs the message D204. Here, if the contents of message A201 and message B2O2 are the same, or if message A201 and message B2
If O2 is included, these can be integrated into message A201. Therefore, after integrating the message data, module A211 and module B212 both input message A201 and output message C203 and message D204, respectively. Furthermore, the concept of message data separation is as shown in (b). That is, before message data separation, module C2
13 inputs the message E205 and the message F2
Outputs 06. Furthermore, module D214 receives message E205 as input and outputs message G207. Here, if the data items in the message E205 can be separated into data items used only by module C213 and data items used only by module D214,
After separation, for example, message E205 becomes message H2.
It is separated into O3 and message I209. FIG. 8 is an example of a message data and data item definition content check screen in an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, when checking the definition contents of message data and data items in order to integrate and separate message data, the message data used by the autonomous decentralized software module and the data items that constitute the message are cross-referenced. In other words, the horizontal axis of the check screen is the message data name, the vertical axis is the data item name, and based on the definition contents, "
Display *′. In FIG. 8, message A201 is data item 2.
20 to 223. Also,
Message data B2O2 is data item 221.22
' indicates that it is composed of 2. In this case, it can be seen that message B2O2 is included in message A201 and can be integrated into message A201. Also, message H2O3 and message I209 are similar to message E205, message H2O3 and message I
It is separated into 209 parts. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing checking of the definition contents of message data and data items in one embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the first message data definition content is extracted from the message data definition file 104 shown in FIG. 2 (901), and the first data item definition content is extracted from the data item definition file 105 (902). Then, the data item name extracted from the message data definition file 104 and the data item definition file 105
If the data item name extracted from matches (903),
'*' is displayed at the relevant position (904). Also, if it doesn't match, do nothing. Next, check whether the following data item exists (905).
, if so, return to step 902 and retrieve that data item. If there is no next data or item, check whether there is next message data (906), and if there is, return to step 902 to extract that message data. Note that if there is no next message data in step 906, the process ends. FIG. 10 is an example of a software module and message data definition check screen in an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, when checking the definition of an autonomous decentralized software module and message data, a cross reference is made between the software module and the message data. That is, the horizontal axis of the check screen is the module name, the vertical axis is the message data name, and based on the definition contents, 'I' is placed at the position of the message that is input to each module.
Display O' at the position of the output message. In FIG. 1O, module A2]1 indicates that message A201 is input and message C203 is output. Further, module B21:2 indicates that message B2O2 is input and message D204 is output. In addition, the module C213 sends message E
205 is input to indicate that message F20.6 is to be output. Furthermore, module D214 is shown to input message E205 and output message G207. This kind of display allows you to understand what the input and output of the software module will be when messages are integrated or separated. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing creation of a software module and message data definition check screen in one embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the first module definition content is extracted from the module definition file 103 shown in FIG.
01), the first message data definition content is extracted from the message data definition file 104 (1102). Then, the message name extracted from the module definition file 103 and the message data definition file 104
The message data name extracted from matches 1103
), if it is an input message, '■' is displayed at the corresponding position (1104). If it is an output message, ○' is displayed at the corresponding position (1105). Note that step 1102
If it doesn't match, do nothing. In addition, please check whether the following message data exists.
006), return to step 1102 and extract it. Also, if there is no next message data, check whether the next module exists (1107), and if there is,
The process returns to step 1102 and takes it out. If it is determined in step 1107 that there is no next module, the process ends. In this way, by comparing the predefined content, the same content (that is, unnecessary parts) is deleted, any input errors are corrected, and the message data is integrated and separated, and the results are It is stored in definition files 103 to 105. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the processing of the module source creation program in one embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, definition files 103 to 105 are read (1201), and data items constituting these messages are determined from the input/output message names of the module to be created (1202). Next, the attributes and number of arrays of these data items are determined from the data item names determined in step 1202 (1203).
. Next, from the contents of the data item obtained in step 1203, a data declaration statement according to the programming language is created (1
204). The result created in this manner is stored in the module source file 106 (1205). [Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, input message data and output message data can be integrated and separated before program creation, that is, at the time of module design. Using the results improves work efficiency when creating programs. Furthermore, even when adding a module to a system created using the method of the present invention, it is known that the message data used by the module is consistent with the existing system, so system operation is guaranteed. be done.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the concept of integrating and separating message data in an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a computer system to which the distributed development software design method of the present invention is applied, and FIG. 3 is a diagram of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the functional configuration of a computer in an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the file format of a module definition file in an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 5 is an illustration of message data in an embodiment of the invention. An explanatory diagram showing the file format of the definition file,
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the file format of the data item definition file in one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing of the definition/check/edit program in one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a check of the definition contents of message data and data items in an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing creation of a definition check screen for software modules and message data in an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the module source creation program in an Example. l: Transmission line, ICI~no::I viewer 2.11~
n1: terminal device, 101: definition/check/edit program, 102: module source creation program, 10
3: Module definition file, 104: Message data definition file, 105: Data item definition file,
IO'6: Module source, 111: Module name storage area, 112: Input message name storage area, l'13
: Output message name storage area, 114: Message data name storage area, 115: Data item name storage area, 116
: Data item name storage area, 117: Data attribute storage area, 118: Array number storage area, 201-209: Message data, 211-214: Software module, 220
~224: Data item. Row r”+ Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In the distributed development software design method for a distributed software system consisting of multiple software modules connected by exchanging message data, when designing software modules and message data, it is necessary to check the identity and similarity of the definition contents of message data. , Distributed development characterized by checking for multiple definitions of data items that make up the message data, integrating and separating the definition contents to ensure consistency, and then creating a database and using it when creating software modules. Software design method.