JPH05307473A - Automatic program generating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the change or the maintenance of variable determining knowledge by reading and using the variable determining knowledge stored in a variable determining knowledge storage part based on the discrimination symbol of the variable determining knowledge described in software parts. CONSTITUTION:In the case that various kinds of the variable determining knowledge are necessary, a parts developing means 4 reads in and uses first and second variable determining knowledge stored in the varialbe determining knowledge storage part 7 based on the first and the second discrimination symbols of the variable determining knowledge. Namely, the part developing means 4 reads in the software parts from a software parts group 6 on the basis of information received from a parts retrieving part 3, and develops the program so as to be adaptive to a received program generation goal. At that time, if the discrimination symbol of the variable determining knowledge stored in the variable determining knowledge storage part 7 is described in the software parts, it reads in the corresponding variable determining knowledge from the variable determining knowledge storage part 7, and puts it to use for the development of the software parts to be the basis.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic program generation apparatus for automatically generating a program that matches system specifications in a target system such as a process control system based on a software component, and more particularly to a software component generation apparatus. A program that manages a part of the definition knowledge that should be described in a common storage unit that is independent of the parts, so that variable decision knowledge that can be commonly used by multiple software parts can be efficiently managed. The present invention relates to an automatic generation device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, various automatic program generators have been developed for searching / developing software parts and automatically generating a program having a required function in accordance with system specifications of a target system such as a process control system. There is. And, as one of these, the software component has a template of the program and variable determination knowledge that is knowledge for determining the attributes of each variable used in the template, and according to the system specifications. Some develop a final program by expanding the parts.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional program automatic generation device of this type, and FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration example of software parts used in the program automatic generation device.

First, a description method of software parts will be described. As shown in FIG. 11, a conventionally used software component determines a program template 61 that is a basis of a target program configuration, and the names and attributes of variables used in the program template 61. And a variable definition unit 61x expressing knowledge for

On the other hand, in FIG. 10, the program automatic generation apparatus 1 equipped with a parts search / expansion means capable of expanding the software parts described by the conventional software parts description method is a method for controlling the target plant or A system specification 9 expressing detailed specifications and the like of various devices constituting the plant is input, and a program 10 for controlling a target plant is output based on the system specification 9. The automatic program generation apparatus 1 internally has various means for generating a program, such as the program generation control means 2, the component search means 3, the component development means 4x, and the variable attribute management means 5, and the various means. It has a variety of knowledge bases that can be used by.

That is, the program generation control means 2 determines from the contents of the system specification 9 what kind of final program should be generated, the overall structure of the target program and the configuration of the partial program, and determines the partial program. A program generation goal is generated for each unit and sent to the parts search means 3 to prompt the generation of a program for each goal.

Further, what kind of software component should be used in the component search means 3 in order to generate the target program of the goal based on the program generation goal received from the program generation control means 2? , A software part is selected according to the internal parts search knowledge, the part number of the selected part is added to the program generation goal and sent to the part developing means 4x, and the fixed software part is indicated by the program generation goal. Expand to suit your purpose.

On the other hand, the software component handled by the component expanding means 4x is a model of the program that is the basis of the structure of the program, decision knowledge of various variables used in the model, and decision knowledge of the model and various variables. Is composed of a description for macro-expanding and knowledge for searching macro variables for macro-expansion.

Further, in the parts developing means 4x, based on the information received from the parts searching means 3, the software parts group 6
The software component is read from x and the program is developed so as to match the received program generation goal. When converting the variables used in the template of the program into the variable names actually used in the program according to the variable determination knowledge in the component expansion means 4x, the variable attribute management means 5 is searched for the variable. Alternatively, by sending the definition pattern, the decision is made while matching with the variables decided by other partial programs.

Further, the variable attribute management means 5 determines a variable name according to the variable determination knowledge received from the component developing means 4x and returns it to the component developing means 4x. Here, when the pattern received from the component expanding means 4x is a variable search pattern, a pattern in which the attribute of the variable already registered in the variable attribute storage unit 8 and the search pattern match is found and the variable is searched for. Returns the attached variable name. Also,
If the pattern received from the component expanding means 4x is a variable definition pattern, a dictionary or the like in which the abbreviations of the terms described in the pattern are stored is referenced based on the contents described in the pattern. A variable name is generated by using the variable name, the variable name and the definition pattern are paired and registered in the variable attribute storage unit 8, and the generated variable name is returned to the component expanding unit 4x.

However, when using software components that can be handled by such an automatic program generation device, as the number of software components increases, the number of similar software components also increases and they are individually defined among a plurality of software components. The number of parts that can share variable decision knowledge increases. Therefore, for example, when it becomes necessary to change the common variable decision knowledge, the variable decision knowledge described in all similarly used software components also has to be changed.

Therefore, not only is it difficult to change or maintain the variable decision knowledge, but also it is necessary to hold the variable decision knowledge in duplicate by a plurality of software parts, and as a result, there are many areas for storing the variable decision knowledge. turn into.

[0013]

As described above, in the conventional program automatic generation device, it is not only difficult to change and maintain the variable decision knowledge, but also the variable decision knowledge is redundantly held by a plurality of software parts. There is a problem that the storage area increases due to the necessity of performing

An object of the present invention is to efficiently manage the variable decision knowledge that can be commonly used by a plurality of software components collectively, to easily change or maintain the variable decision knowledge, and to duplicate the plurality of software components. Another object of the present invention is to provide an extremely reliable automatic program generation device that can save the storage area by eliminating the need to hold variable decision knowledge.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object, a software component is selected based on an input system specification, and the selected software component is expanded again based on the system specification. In a program automatic generation device that automatically generates a program that meets the requirements of the target system,

First, according to the first aspect of the invention, a model of a program which is a basis of the structure of a target program and a variable decision command having an identification symbol for the variable decision knowledge in the variable decision knowledge storage unit are used. A software component group that is a collection of software components that are configured and a variable determination storage unit that stores variable determination knowledge that can be commonly called from a plurality of software components. When the decision knowledge is required, the variable decision knowledge stored in the variable decision knowledge storage unit is read and used based on the identification symbol of the variable decision knowledge described in the software component.

On the other hand, according to the second aspect of the invention, the model of the program which is the basis of the structure of the target program and the first identification symbol for the first variable decision knowledge in the variable decision knowledge storage unit are provided. A variable decision instruction to have, a model of the program, a first variable decision instruction, and a macro expansion instruction for macro expansion according to the target system specification;
Consists of a macro variable, which is a variable that holds the contents of the target system specification, used in the macro expansion instruction, and a macro variable determination instruction having a second identification symbol for the second variable determination knowledge in the variable determination knowledge storage unit. The software component group, which is a collection of software components to be stored, and a variable determination storage unit that stores first and second variable determination knowledge that can be commonly called from a plurality of software components, and develops the software components. When various variable decision knowledge is required in the process of performing, the first and second stored in the variable decision knowledge storage unit are based on the first and second identification symbols of the variable decision knowledge described in the software component. The second variable decision knowledge is read and used.

[0018]

Therefore, in the automatic program generating apparatus of the present invention, by taking the above-mentioned means, when various variable decision knowledge is required in the process of developing the software component by the component developing means, the software can be used. By using the identification symbol of the variable decision knowledge described in the component as a clue, the variable decision knowledge stored in the variable determination knowledge storage unit can be read and used as the same as the knowledge described in the software component.

As a result, even when other software parts need the same variable decision knowledge as the above,
By matching only the identification symbols, the same variable decision knowledge can be called, and when the variable decision knowledge is changed, it becomes extremely easy to manage.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an automatic program generation device according to the present invention. The same parts as those in FIG. 10 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. Here, only different parts will be described. ..

That is, the automatic program generation apparatus of the present embodiment is provided with a software component group 6 and component developing means 4 instead of the software component group 6x and component developing means 4x in FIG. Is newly added.

Here, the software component group 6 is a variable that has a model of the program that is the basis of the configuration of the target program and a variable having the first identification symbol for the first variable decision knowledge in the variable decision knowledge storage unit. A decision instruction, a model of a program, a first variable decision instruction, and a macro expansion instruction for performing micro expansion according to the target system specification 9, and a variable used for the macro expansion instruction to hold the contents of the target system specification 9. It is a set of software parts configured by a macro variable and a macro variable determination instruction having a second identification symbol for the second variable determination knowledge in the variable determination knowledge storage unit. The variable decision knowledge storage unit 7 stores the first and second variable decision knowledge that can be commonly called from a plurality of software components.

Further, the component developing means 4 uses the first and second identification symbols of the variable determining knowledge described in the software component when various variable determining knowledge is required in the process of developing the software component. In addition, the first and second variable decision knowledge stored in the variable decision knowledge storage unit 7 are read and used.

Next, referring to FIGS. 2 to 9, the operation of the automatic program generator of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.
Will be explained. The program generation control means 2,
The operations of the parts search means 3 and the variable attribute management means 5 are the same as those described above, so here, the parts development means 4 is used.
The operation will be mainly described.

In FIG. 1, the component developing means 4 reads software components from the software component group 6 based on the information received from the component searching means 3 and develops the program so as to match the received program generation goal. At this time, if the identification symbol of the variable determination knowledge stored in the variable determination knowledge storage unit 7 is described in the software component, the corresponding variable determination knowledge is read from the variable determination knowledge storage unit 7 and Useful for developing software components that That is, in the component developing means 4,
When converting the variables used in the template of the program into the variable names actually used in the program according to the variable decision knowledge, by sending the variable search pattern or definition pattern to the variable attribute management means 5. , The decision is made while matching the variables decided by other partial programs.

2 and 3 show, among the above explanations, the transfer of data between the program generation control means 2, the component search means 3, and the component development means 4, that is, the program generation goal, using concrete examples. It is a figure.

In FIG. 2, when the system specification 9 is input, the program generation control means 2 generates some program generation goals based on the system specification 9. Here, one of the program generation goals 11a will be described below as an example.

From the contents of the system specification 9, the program generation control means 2 operates as a switch for operating "NO.
It was discovered that there are "PLO1", "PLO2", and "PLO3", and using these switches, a program generation goal 11a for issuing a driving command to "NO.1 machine"
Is generated and sent to the parts search means 3.

In FIG. 3, the component search means 3 refers to the program generation goal 11a received from the program generation control means 2 and the system specification 9 as needed to generate a program targeted by the goal. Determines which software component to use and selects the part number. The selected part number is added to the program generation goal and is sent to the part development means 4 as the program generation goal 11b.

The component developing means 4 reads the specified software component based on the program generation goal 11b received from the component searching means 3 and develops the component by referring to the system specification 9 as necessary. A target program is generated, and the program generation goal 11c to which the generated program is added is returned to the component search means 3. The component search means 3 returns the program generation goal 11c returned from the component expansion means 4 to the program generation control means 2 as it is.

In the program generation control means 2, the partial program 12 generated from the returned program generation goal 11c is taken out, the order is matched with the partial programs generated by other program generation goals, and the program is controlled. Output as 10. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a description example of the software component, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a description example of a part of the variable determination knowledge referred to by the software component shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, the software component 60 includes a variable definition section 61 and a program template 6
2 and.

The program template 62 describes information that is the basis of the structure of a target program.
The variable definition unit 61 expresses knowledge for determining the names and attributes of variables used in the template of the program, and the variable definition unit 61 determines how many variables are used to determine various variables. It is composed of a variable decision command. Each variable definition command and the template of the program can be modified by a macro expansion command as needed.

The example of the software component shown in FIG. 4 is expressed based on the expression of the program language LISP, and a series of expressions starting from a parenthesis and ending with a corresponding closing parenthesis is a single instruction. I am allowed to write an instruction in an instruction. Where (cons
t. ． ． ． ) Is a macro variable determination command, and the commands are (every !! ...) And (if!
! ． ． ． ． ) Is a macro expansion instruction, and (inpu
t. ． ． ． ) Is a variable determination instruction of an input variable, and (outpu
t. ． ． ． ) Is a variable determination instruction of an output variable, and (progr
am. ． ． ． ) Is a model of the program. In addition to these, in the software parts, a variable determination command for local variables, a definition command for an option program, a definition command for a fixed variable name, etc. are prepared.

On the other hand, the variable decision knowledge of FIG. 5 is also described based on the expression of LISP as in FIG. 4, and here,
(Defway ...) Represents one of the variable determination knowledges, and (find ...) Among these is the retrieval knowledge of macro variables and variable names. In addition to this, it is possible to describe definition knowledge of variable names and knowledge of customization when a plurality of variables are searched. Next, FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the flow of processing in the component developing means 4.

In FIG. 6, when the component developing means 4 receives the program generation goal from the component searching means 3, in step S1, the software component indicated by the goal is read from the file in which the software component is stored, and at the same time the software is generated. It also interprets and executes the contents described in the parts. For example, when the read instruction is a macro variable determination instruction, the processing system searches for a macro variable according to the macro variable determination instruction.

Here, when searching for macro variables,
When the macro variable determination instruction includes an instruction that refers to the variable determination knowledge, the relevant variable determination knowledge is read from the variable determination knowledge storage unit 7 and is used for searching the macro variable. By searching the macro variable at this point, the variable attribute definition instruction and macro variable determination instruction that are read after the execution of this macro variable determination instruction, and the template of the program are searched here as necessary. Can be modified by the specified macro variable.

If the read instruction is a macro expansion instruction, the macro expansion instruction has an effect by using the value of the macro variable retrieved before that instead of the macro variable name. Expand macro for the entire range. Furthermore, even if the read instruction is other than the macro variable determination instruction or macro expansion instruction, the software component is read while performing the necessary measures for each instruction. It means that the macro expansion of is finished.

Next, in step S2, the input variables, output variables, and local variables actually used are extracted from the template of the software component program read in step S1. As a result, unnecessary variable name searches and definitions are prevented. That is, the macro variable determination instruction and the macro expansion instruction are sequentially processed when the software component is read, but input / output /
The variable determination command for the local variable only holds the command at the time of reading the component, and is processed for the first time in the step S2.

Next, in step S3, the variable attribute management means 5 is called in accordance with the variable determination command for the input variable fetched in step S2 to retrieve the variable name corresponding to the meaning of the requested variable. .. Also,
For the output variables and the local variables, the variable attribute management means 5 is called in accordance with the variable determination command to generate a name that matches the meaning of the requested variable. At this time, when an instruction that refers to the variable decision knowledge in the variable decision knowledge storage unit 7 is described in the variable decision knowledge at the time of searching the input variables and defining the output variables and the local variables, Reads the relevant variable decision knowledge from the variable decision knowledge storage unit 7 and uses it.

Next, in step S4, the name of the variable retrieved or generated in step S3 is embedded in the model of the program to generate a program that matches the contents of the program generation goal, and if necessary, further logical The final program is subjected to a general optimization process, added to the program generation goal, and returned to the component search means 3. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a process until the macro variable determination command in the software component is expanded and the requested macro variable is searched.

In FIG. 7, when the macro variable determination instruction 64 is read from the software component in the component expansion means 4, it is found that this macro variable determination instruction refers to the variable determination knowledge 70 for searching the macro variable. So
In order to retrieve a macro variable based on the variable decision knowledge to be referred to, the contents of the program generation goal 11b are changed to the tentative goal 1
Copy to 1x. The following macro variable search is performed based on this tentative goal 11x. The identification symbol of the variable decision knowledge that the macro variable decision instruction attempts to refer to is ma.
Since it is n-op-pbl-actions, the variable decision knowledge 70 with the same identification symbol is added from the variable decision knowledge storage unit 7.
Is retrieved, and necessary data is retrieved from the retrieval target data area 13 according to the retrieval pattern described in the variable determination knowledge 70. The search target data area 13 includes all data areas such as the system specification 9 and the variable attribute storage unit 8 that can be referred to by the component expanding unit 4. Here, as a result, “forward” and “backward” are retrieved as the values of the macro variable acts. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a process of macro-expanding a program component read thereafter, based on the macro variable retrieved by the procedure shown in FIG.

In FIG. 8, a macro expansion instruction (every !! (x acts) (input (* s * op-in x) (refer !! man-op-sw-input (for (func x)))) ... ), The second expression (x!
(acts) represents the substitution relation of the macro variable, and the macro variable a appears with respect to the variable x appearing thereafter.
The software components are developed while the retrieved values "forward" and "backward" are successively substituted into cts.

In the case of the macro expansion instruction (if !! (= xy) (else !! (not! (* S * comy))))) used in the template of the program, (= x y) determines whether or not the values of variables x and y are the same. If they are the same, nothing is done, and if they are different, they are expressed by (else !! ... Expand some content. According to such a procedure, the software component 63 after macro expansion is obtained.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a process of searching for an actual variable name for an input variable (* s * op-in forward) used in a model of a program after macro expansion.

In FIG. 9, the input variable determination command (* s * op-in forward) is the variable determination knowledge man-op.
-Sw-input, (for (func forward))
Is referred to with the condition. In order to make this condition effective, in the component developing means 4, the provisional goal 1 obtained by copying the contents of the program generation goal 11b is used.
The contents of the condition described in (for ...) Are added to 1x in a form of overwriting, and the following processing of variable name search and definition is performed on this tentative goal 11x.

That is, the identification symbol of the variable decision knowledge which the variable decision instruction is going to refer to is man-op-sw.
Since it is -input, the variable decision knowledge 70 with the same identification symbol is taken out from the variable decision knowledge storage unit 7, the variable attribute search pattern is generated according to the search pattern described in this variable decision knowledge 70, and the variable attribute management is performed. Means 5
Retrieve the name of the variable that should be used in the actual program via. When generating this search pattern, it is possible to refer to the search target data area 13 as needed, as in the case of searching for macro variables. Therefore, for the variable name (* s * op-in forward), PLO
The actual variable name of 1IN is retrieved. The definition of the output variable and the local variable is performed in the same manner as in the case of searching the input variable.

As described above, in the automatic program generation apparatus of this embodiment, the model of the program that is the basis of the configuration of the target program and the first variable decision knowledge for the first variable decision knowledge in the variable decision knowledge storage unit are stored. Contents of the target system specification used in the macro determination instruction having a variable determination instruction having an identification symbol of 1, a program template, a first variable determination instruction, and a target system specification, and a macro expansion instruction From a set of software parts 60 composed of macro variables, which are variables for holding the variables, and macro variable decision instructions having a second identification symbol for the second variable decision knowledge in the variable decision knowledge storage unit. First and second units that constitute the group 6 and can be commonly called from a plurality of software components 60
And a variable decision knowledge storage unit 7 for storing the variable decision knowledge of the above, and when various variable decision knowledge is required in the process of developing the software component 60 by the component developing means 4, the variables described in the software component 60. The first and second variable decision knowledge stored in the variable decision knowledge storage unit 7 are read and used based on the first and second identification symbols of the decision knowledge.

Therefore, it is possible to collectively manage the variable decision knowledge that can be commonly used by a plurality of software components 60, while the variable decision knowledge that has been described in the software component main body is all the detailed information. Therefore, not only is it easy to change and maintain the variable decision knowledge, but it is not necessary to hold the variable decision knowledge in duplicate by a plurality of software components, which eventually helps save the storage area.

That is, in the software component, the identification symbol for the variable determination knowledge in the variable determination knowledge storage unit 7 is described, and the variable determination knowledge desired to be used in the software component is expanded into the software component. It can be read and used as needed at the stage, in other words, even if other software components also require the same variable decision knowledge, by matching only the identification symbols, the same variable decision knowledge can be obtained. Can be called, it becomes possible to manage the variable decision knowledge extremely efficiently, for example, when the variable decision knowledge is changed.

As described above, it becomes easy to change and maintain the variable decision knowledge, and it becomes unnecessary to redundantly hold the variable decision knowledge in a plurality of software parts, so that the storage area can be saved.

[0052]

As described above, according to the present invention, the variable decision knowledge that can be commonly used by a plurality of software parts is efficiently managed collectively, and the variable decision knowledge can be easily changed and maintained. Thus, it is possible to provide an extremely reliable automatic program generation device capable of saving storage areas by eliminating the need to redundantly hold variable decision knowledge in a plurality of software parts.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic program generation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing data transfer between a program generation control means and a component search means in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the passing of data between a parts search means and a parts development means in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a description example of software components in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a description example of variable determination knowledge in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a component developing means in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a data flow in the process of processing a macro variable determination command by the component expanding unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing that a macro expansion instruction in a software component is processed based on the retrieved macro variable in the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a data flow in the process of processing a variable determination command of an input variable in the software component in the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional program automatic generation device.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of software components that can be handled by the conventional program automatic generation device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Automatic program generation device, 2 ... Program generation control means, 3 ... Parts search means, 4 ... Parts expansion means, 4x ... Parts expansion means, 5 ... Variable attribute management means, 6 ... Software parts group, 6x ... Software parts group , 60 ... Software component, 61 ... Variable definition part, 61x ... Variable definition part, 62
... program template, 63 ... software component after macro expansion, 64 ... macro variable determination command, 65 ... input variable determination command, 7 ... variable determination knowledge storage unit, 70 ... variable determination knowledge, 8 ... variable attribute storage unit, 9 ... system specification, 10 ... program, 11a, 11b, 11c ... program generation goal, 11x ... tentative goal, 12 ... partial program, 1
3 ... Search target data area, 14 ... Search result, 15 ... Variable name search result.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A program that meets the requirements of a target system is automatically selected by selecting a software component based on the input system specification and then expanding the selected software component again based on the system specification. For automatically generating a program, software configured by a model of a program that is a basis of the configuration of a target program and a variable determination instruction having an identification symbol for the variable determination knowledge in the variable determination knowledge storage unit A software component group, which is a collection of components, and a variable determination storage unit that stores variable determination knowledge that can be commonly called from the plurality of software components, and various variable determination knowledge in the process of developing the software component. , The variable decision information described in the software component is required. An automatic program generation device, characterized in that variable decision knowledge stored in the variable decision knowledge storage unit is read and used based on an identification symbol of the sense. 2. A program that matches the requirements of the target system is automatically created by selecting a software component based on the input system specification and then expanding the selected software component again based on the system specification. For automatically generating a program, a model of a program that is a basis of the configuration of a target program, and a variable determination instruction having a first identification symbol for the first variable determination knowledge in the variable determination knowledge storage unit And a macro expansion instruction for expanding the macro according to the template of the program, the first variable determination instruction, and the target system specification, and a variable used to hold the contents of the target system specification used in the macro expansion instruction. The macro variable and the second for the second variable decision knowledge in the variable decision knowledge storage unit
Storing a software component group, which is a set of software components configured by a macro variable determination command having an identification symbol, and first and second variable determination knowledge that can be commonly called from the plurality of software components. And a variable decision storage unit for storing various variable decision knowledge required in the process of developing the software component, the first and second identification symbols of the variable decision knowledge described in the software component are used. In addition, the automatic program generation device is characterized in that the first and second variable decision knowledge stored in the variable decision knowledge storage unit is read and used.