KR20220156153A - Method and system for assisting software development using visual representation of state transition of and message exchange between software components - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided are a method for assisting software development using visual representation of state transition of a software component and message exchange between software components, and a system thereof. The software development method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, as a method performed in a computing device, may comprise the steps of: displaying multiple state objects representing multiple states which a first component of physical components of a hardware device can have; displaying multiple action objects representing each of multiple actions causing transition between the multiple states; and displaying a message related to a first action among the multiple actions, wherein the message is a first message causing the execution of the first action or a second message sent by the first action.

Description

Software development support method and system using visual representation of state change and message exchange of software components

A method and system for supporting software development using visual representations of state changes and message exchanges of software components. More specifically, software that visually expresses state transitions of software components and message exchanges that cause them, which can be provided in a GUI (Graphic User Interface)-based Integrated Development Environment (IDE), etc. It relates to a method and system for providing a development environment.

An integrated development environment (IDE) is a tool that integrates various elements such as coding, debugging, compiling, and distribution required in the software development process to increase developer productivity. The integrated development environment has evolved to provide a GUI-based interface. As exemplary integrated development environments, Eclipse, Visual Studio, and the like can be cited.

In an integrated development environment, it is necessary to provide a guide that allows developers without much programming experience to easily develop. To this end, it is desirable to provide a function for maximally setting the basic frame of the code through an intuitive user input.

In addition, it is desirable to provide a visualization function to intuitively understand the logical structure and detailed design details of the components constituting the software under development.

US Patent No. 7613599 US Patent Publication No. 2013-0086551

A technical problem to be achieved through an embodiment of the present disclosure is to provide a software development support method and system that intuitively express various states in which components constituting software may be placed and transitions between states.

A technical problem to be achieved through another embodiment of the present disclosure is to provide a software development support method and system that intuitively express various messages exchanged between software components and state transitions caused thereby. .

A technical problem to be achieved through another embodiment of the present disclosure is a software development support method for automatically visualizing state transitions and message exchanges of software components using source codes describing operations of software components, and a method for supporting software development thereof. to provide the system.

A technical problem to be achieved through another embodiment of the present disclosure is to provide a software development support method and system capable of efficiently viewing state transitions and message exchanges of two or more software components on one screen.

A technical problem to be achieved through another embodiment of the present disclosure is to provide a software development support method and system in which a software developer or a third party can interactively inquire the interaction between various software components. .

A technical problem to be achieved through another embodiment of the present disclosure is to provide a software development support method and system that intuitively express state transitions and message exchanges inside software for controlling physical components constituting a hardware device. is to provide

The technical problems of the present disclosure are not limited to the technical problems mentioned above, and other technical problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description below.

A software development method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is a method performed in a computing device, comprising the steps of displaying a plurality of state objects each representing a plurality of states that a first component among physical components of a hardware device may have. , displaying a plurality of action objects each indicating a plurality of actions that cause a transition between the plurality of states, and displaying a message related to a first action among the plurality of actions - the message is the first action object. A first message that triggers the execution of 1 action or a second message sent by the first action.

In one embodiment, the first message is a message that causes the first action to be executed in a first state among the plurality of states, and the displaying of the message includes an object representing the first state and the The method may include displaying an object representing the first message between objects representing the first action.

In one embodiment, the displaying of the object representing the first message may include placing at least a portion of the object representing the first message on a connection line between the object representing the first state and the object representing the first action. It may include a step of displaying so as to overlap.

In one embodiment, the object representing the first message may include a text object representing the first message.

In one embodiment, the displaying of the message further includes displaying detailed information related to the first message, wherein the detailed information is configured to send the first message to the first component. It includes identification information of a source component, and the source component may be a second component different from the first component among the components.

In one embodiment, the detailed information may further include identification information of an action causing the source component to send the first message.

In an embodiment, the displaying of the detailed information may include displaying the detailed information in response to a user input of selecting or pointing to an object representing the first message.

In one embodiment, the displaying of the message includes displaying objects representing a second component and a third component that send the first message to the first component, respectively, and the second component The method may further include displaying at least a portion of a diagram representing a state transition of the second component in response to a user input of selecting or pointing to an object representing the component.

In one embodiment, the displaying of at least a portion of a diagram representing the state transition of the second component may include sending the first message to the first component among actions performed by the second component. 2 may include displaying an object representing the action.

In an embodiment, the displaying of at least a portion of the diagram indicating the state transition of the second component may include displaying the diagram in a translucent manner.

In one embodiment, the second message is a message sent by the first action to a target component, and the target component is the first component or a second component different from the first component among the components. can be

In one embodiment, the displaying of the message may include displaying an object representing the second message adjacent to the object representing the first action.

In one embodiment, the displaying of the message may include displaying an object representing the second message in response to a user input of selecting or pointing to an object representing the first action.

In one embodiment, the displaying of the message may include the second message sent to the second component by the first action and the third message sent to the third component by the first action. In response to a user input of selecting or pointing to an object representing the third message, displaying at least a portion of a diagram representing state transition of the third component can include

In one embodiment, the displaying of at least a portion of the diagram representing the state transition of the third component may include selecting an object representing a third action triggered by the third message among actions performed by the third component. It may include displaying.

In one embodiment, the method may further include displaying a graphic object representing a relationship between the plurality of states and the plurality of actions.

In one embodiment, the first action is an action of transitioning the first component from a first state to a second state, and displaying a graphic object representing the relationship includes an object representing the first state and the second state. The method may include displaying a graphic object visually connecting an object representing one action, and displaying a graphic object visually connecting an object representing the first action and an object representing the second state.

In one embodiment, the method may further include displaying objects representing each of the components of the first group among the components.

In one embodiment, each of the components of the first group may be a component that exchanges messages with the first component.

In one embodiment, the displaying of objects representing each of the components of the first group may include displaying the objects on a mini-map, and transmitting and receiving messages between the components of the first group and the first component. A step of visually indicating a direction on the mini-map may be included.

In an embodiment, the method may further include displaying a diagram showing state transitions of a second component different from the first component among the components.

In one embodiment, displaying graphic objects related to the state transition of the first component on a first layer, and displaying graphic objects related to the state transition of the second component on a second layer, The step of displaying the second layer at a distance from the first layer may be further included.

In one embodiment, the method may further include displaying graphic objects representing message exchange between the first component and the second component between the separated first layer and the second layer.

In one embodiment, providing a user interface for toggling the visibility of at least one of the first layer and the second layer, and corresponding to a message exchanged between a component associated with a layer invisible by a user and another component. A step of making the graphic objects to be invisible may be further included.

In one embodiment, the step of loading the source code corresponding to the components, the step of analyzing the source code, based on the analysis result, storage of information related to the message sent or received by the first component The displaying of the message related to the first action may include displaying the message based on information stored in the storage.

In one embodiment, the analyzing of the source code may include parsing the source code to generate an abstract syntax tree, and analyzing the abstract syntax tree to generate instructions related to transmission and reception of messages. Identifying information about a target component of a message sent by the first component based on the identified instruction; and sending a message to the first component based on the identified instruction. It may include identifying information about the sending source component.

In one embodiment, the step of detecting the update of the source code, and in response to the detection of the update of the source code, updating and displaying at least a part of the diagram representing the state transition of the first component. can do.

A computer readable non-transitory storage medium according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes instructions, and when executed by a processor, the instructions cause the processor to: displaying a plurality of state objects respectively representing the states of the plurality of states; displaying a plurality of action objects each representing a plurality of actions that cause a transition between the plurality of states; Displaying a message related to the action, wherein the message is a first message causing execution of the first action or a second message sent by the first action.

A software development support apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a processor, a memory, and a computer program loaded into the memory and executed by the processor, wherein the computer program is a physical component of a hardware device. An instruction for displaying a plurality of state objects each representing a plurality of states that a first component may have, and an instruction for displaying a plurality of action objects each representing a plurality of actions that cause a transition between the plurality of states. and an instruction for displaying a message related to a first action among the plurality of actions, wherein the message is a first message causing execution of the first action or a second message sent by the first action. can do.

1 is a configuration diagram of a software development support system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
2 is a reference diagram abstracting an exemplary hardware device that may be referred to when understanding some embodiments of the present disclosure.
3 is a flowchart of a software development support method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.
4 is a diagram illustrating an example FSM view that may be referenced for understanding some embodiments of the present disclosure.
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining in detail some steps of the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 3 .
6 and 7 are FSM diagrams of each of the illustrative components that may be referenced in understanding some embodiments of the present disclosure.
FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining in detail some of the operations described with reference to FIG. 5 .
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary user interface that may be referenced to understand an operation of acquiring a user input for selecting a first message among the operations described with reference to FIG. 8 .
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary user interface that may be referenced to understand an operation of obtaining a user input requesting an FSM view of a second component among operations described with reference to FIG. 8 .
11 to 13 are views illustrating exemplary user interfaces that may be referenced to understand an operation of displaying an FSM view of a second component together with an FSM view of a first component among operations described with reference to FIG. 8 .
FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining in detail some of the operations described with reference to FIG. 5 .
FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary user interface that may be referred to in order to understand an operation of obtaining a user input for selecting a first action among the operations described with reference to FIG. 14 .
FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary user interface that may be referenced to understand an operation of obtaining a user input requesting an FSM view of a second component among operations described with reference to FIG. 14 .
17 to 19 are views illustrating exemplary user interfaces that may be referenced to understand an operation of displaying an FSM view of a second component together with an FSM view of a first component among operations described with reference to FIG. 14 .
20 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of displaying an FSM diagram of each of a plurality of components in a three-dimensional manner by a software development support method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary user interface that may be referred to for understanding the method described with reference to FIG. 20 .
FIG. 22 is a diagram for explaining in detail some steps of the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 3 .
FIG. 23 is a diagram showing exemplary source code that can be referenced to understand some of the operations described with reference to FIG. 22 .
FIG. 24 is a diagram for explaining in detail some steps of the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 3 .
25 is a hardware configuration diagram of a developer terminal or IDE service server included in a software development system according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present specification will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Advantages and characteristics of the embodiments of this specification, and methods for achieving them will become clear with reference to the embodiments described below in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the technical idea of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments and can be implemented in various different forms, only the following embodiments complete the technical idea of the present invention, and the embodiments of this specification belong It is provided to completely inform those skilled in the art of the scope of the present invention, and the technical spirit of the present invention is only defined by the scope of the claims.

In adding reference numerals to components of each drawing, it should be noted that the same components have the same numerals as much as possible even if they are displayed on different drawings. In addition, in describing the embodiments of the present specification, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known configuration or function may obscure the subject matter, the detailed description will be omitted.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in this specification may be used in a meaning commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the embodiments of this specification belong. In addition, terms defined in commonly used dictionaries are not interpreted ideally or excessively unless explicitly specifically defined. Terminology used herein is for describing the embodiments and is not intended to limit the embodiments herein. In this specification, singular forms also include plural forms unless specifically stated otherwise in a phrase.

In addition, in describing the components of the embodiments of the present specification, terms such as first and second may be used. These terms are only used to distinguish the component from other components, and the nature, order, or order of the corresponding component is not limited by the term. When an element or software component is described as being “connected”, “coupled” or “connected” to another element or software component, the element may be directly connected or connected to the other element, but each component It should be understood that another component may be “connected”, “coupled” or “connected” between elements.

Hereinafter, some embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The configuration and operation of a software development support system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 1 .

As shown in FIG. 1, the software development support system according to the present embodiment includes an IDE service server 10 and developer terminals 20-1 and 20-2 that can access the IDE service server 10 through a network. can include The software development support system shown in FIG. 1 provides a server-based IDE such as a cloud-based IDE. The software development support system according to this embodiment does not necessarily have to be a server-based IDE. For example, another embodiment of the present disclosure may be an IDE that is installed only in the developer terminals 20-1 and 20-2 (client-alone). Some technical ideas provided by the server-based IDE described with reference to this embodiment are naturally applicable to IDEs installed only in the developer terminals 20-1 and 20-2 as they are. For example, such an IDE may be an IDE for developing equipment control programs for developing software that operates on hardware devices, such as manufacturing equipment. In this case, the IDE service corresponding to the IDE service server 10 of FIG. 1 may be installed in the developer terminals 20-1 and 20-2. Of course, various embodiments presented in this specification can be applied to such an IDE for facility control development.

The IDE service server 10 may be connected to the IDE storage 11 for storing outputs of development projects such as source codes through a network or an internal network (not shown). Also, the IDE service server 10 may transmit IDE GUI data including a plurality of views to the developer terminals 20-1 and 20-2. The IDE GUI may include a code view, a unit design view, a property view, and an FSM view.

The IDE provided by the software development support system according to the present embodiment includes a parser for parsing source code, an AST generation unit for generating an abstract syntax tree based on the parsed source code, and a source code based on the generated AST. It may include a message analyzer that identifies instructions for transmitting messages within the code and records message transmission and reception in a structure based on a source component and/or a target component of message transmission and reception.

Various operations of the IDE service server 10 may be understood in more detail with reference to some embodiments to be described later.

As an example of software that can be developed by the software development support method and system according to the present disclosure, software for controlling a hardware device, for example, a manufacturing facility, will be described.

The software development support method and software developed by the system according to the present disclosure may be composed of a plurality of structural units required for the overall operation of the hardware device or software components responsible for each of the plurality of functional units. . A software component may be composed of a plurality of functions that execute specific functions and variables involved in the execution of the functions.

A software component may correspond to physical components constituting a hardware device. Each software component may be implemented through source entities including instructions defining the state and operation of each corresponding physical component.

For example, the first source entity may implement a first component of the software to be developed, and the second source entity may implement a second component of the software to be developed. The first source object may point to the source code of the first source file, and the second source object may point to the source code of the second source file. However, the first source entity and the second source entity need not necessarily be recorded in different source files. For example, the first source entity and the second source entity may respectively indicate source codes of different regions of one source file.

On the other hand, each software component does not necessarily have to be produced as an individual binary. That is, it can be understood that each software component is recorded in an individual source entity for the implementation of different hardware components or functional units.

Meanwhile, physical components constituting the hardware device and respective software components corresponding thereto may be a finite-state machine (FSM). In other words, the components can be understood as abstract machines that can have only one state out of a finite number of states at a time, and change from one state to another due to some event or action. can do. In this specification, this state change will be referred to as transition or transition.

As described above, the IDE GUI provided by the IDE service server 10 includes the FSM view, and in the FSM view, state transitions of one or more components and messages causing them may be displayed. This will be described later with reference to FIG. 4 and below.

Referring now to FIG. 2, it is a reference diagram illustrating a machine abstracting an exemplary hardware device that may be referenced in understanding some embodiments of the present disclosure.

The machine has actor component units 31 to 33 corresponding to a specific part of the hardware device and a variable type unit 34 corresponding to a value structure composed of a plurality of values constituting a set having a common purpose, etc. can include

Each of the actor components 31, 32, and 33 takes an independent FSM (Finite State Machine)-based operation method, and for this purpose, each of the actor components 31, 32, and 33 uses state information 31a, 32a, and 33a. have Also, the actor components 31, 32, and 33 may exchange messages with each other. To this end, each of the actor components 31, 32, and 33 may have message queues 31b, 32b, and 33b. Although the message queues 31b, 32b, and 33b are illustrated as being implemented as First-In-First-Out (FIFO) in FIG. 2, message queues implemented in other ways may be included in each actor component.

Hereinafter, a software development support method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 3 . Hereinafter, in describing the method according to the present embodiment, description of the subject of each operation may be omitted, and in this case, it will be understood that the subject of the operation is a computing device. The computing device may be, for example, each of the developer terminals 20 - 1 and 20 - 2 described with reference to FIG. 1 . Also, the method according to the present embodiment may be divided and performed by a plurality of computing devices. For example, at least one of the IDE server 10 and the IDE storage 11 described with reference to FIG. 1 , the online communication server 200 and the developer terminals 20-1 and 20 of the online communication device 100 The method according to the present embodiment may be performed by the collaboration of -2).

In step S1, one or more source files included in the software development project are loaded, the source code is analyzed, and the result may be stored. Step S1 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 22 .

In step S3, a request to view an FSM diagram of one of the plurality of components constituting the software, for example, component #1, through the FSM view may be received. As described above, the software development support system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may provide a code view, a unit design view, a property view, and an FSM view. According to a user's selection, a command for switching to an FSM view displaying an FSM diagram of a corresponding component may be received. In some embodiments, an instruction may be received to simultaneously display an FSM view of two or more of the plurality of components making up the software. This will be described later.

In step S5, based on the source code analysis result performed in step S1, an FSM view targeting the component selected in step S2 may be displayed. An exemplary FSM view provided by the software development support system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described later with reference to FIG. 4 .

In step S7, it is determined whether or not there has been an update to the source code, and a routine for appropriately processing corrections, additions, deletions, etc. occurring in the source code can be performed. The routine for appropriately handling updates occurring in the source code may include, for example, an operation to reflect changes occurring to the component selected in step S2 to the FSM view displayed in step S3. Step S4 will be described later with reference to FIG. 24 .

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary FSM view 40 that may be referred to for understanding some embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 4 , the FSM view 40 includes a target component FSM diagram display area 41, a minimap display area 42, and a tool box 43 display area for editing and/or manipulation of components. can do.

In the FSM diagram display area 41, for example, objects corresponding to the state of the target component, a message causing state transition, and actions for processing the target component, and a connection line indicating a relationship between them may be displayed. Items provided in the FSM diagram display area 41 will be described later in detail with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7 .

Graphic objects 421a, 421b, and 421c each representing a plurality of components constituting the software may be displayed on the mini-map display area 42 . In one embodiment, in the mini-map display area 42, among all the components constituting the software, graphic objects 421a, 421b, and 421c representing some components related to the target component being displayed on the display area 41 are displayed. ) can be displayed. Some of the components related to the target component may be a component that transmits a message to the target component and/or a component that receives a message from the target component, but is not limited thereto.

In the mini-map display area 42, graphic objects indicating directions in which messages are exchanged between the target component and other components may be displayed, for example, connection lines 422a, 422b, and 422c. In some embodiments, the graphic objects may be displayed in the form of an animation indicating a moving direction of the message.

In this embodiment, as the mini-map display area 42 is provided, summary information about interactions (eg, message transmission/reception) between a viewing target component and other components in software may be intuitively provided to a viewer.

The tool box 40 may include, for example, buttons for editing the states of components, messages that cause state transitions, and actions for processing them.

Hereinafter, step S3 described with reference to FIG. 3 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 5 to 19 .

5 is a diagram for explaining in detail an operation of displaying an FSM view of one or more components based on a source code analysis result.

6 and 7 are reference diagrams illustrating FSM diagrams of exemplary software components #1 and #2.

Referring to FIG. 5 , in step S51, state objects representing a plurality of states that a target component may have may be displayed. Referring to FIG. 6 , objects 611, 612, and 613 representing states (state #11, state #12, and state #13) that component #1 may have may be displayed in step S51. Referring to FIG. 7 , objects 711 to 714 representing states (state #21, state #22, state #23, and state #24) that component #2 may have may be displayed in step S51. .

Referring back to FIG. 5 , in step S52 , action objects representing actions or events that cause changes or transitions among a plurality of states that a component may have may be displayed. Referring to FIG. 6 , actions for transitioning the state of component #1 (action #12, Objects 622 to 625 representing actions #13, action #14, and action #15, respectively, may be displayed. Referring to FIG. 7 , actions for transitioning the state of component #2, including an object 721 representing action #21 causing the state of component #2 to transition from state #21 to state #22 Objects 722 to 724 respectively representing action #24) may be displayed.

Referring back to FIG. 5 , in step S53, graphic objects representing relationships between a plurality of states and actions, for example, connection lines, may be displayed. Referring to FIG. 6 , component #1, including connection lines 641a and 641b having directionality, indicating a process in which component #1 having state #11 transitions to state #12 by action #11, and component #1 having action #11 Through actions #15 to #15, a plurality of connection lines indicating that the state can be changed to any one of states #11 to #13 may be displayed. Referring to FIG. 7 , a plurality of directional connection lines indicating that component #2 can change to any one of states #21 to #24 through actions #21 to #24 may be displayed. .

Referring back to FIG. 5 , in step S54, objects indicating a message causing execution of each action may be displayed. Objects representing the message may include text objects for identifying the message, such as the name of the message.

For example, referring to FIG. 6 , an object 631 indicating a message (Msg #11) causing execution of action #11 causing component #1 having state #11 to transition to state #12 may be displayed. have. In this embodiment, when component #1 receives Msg #11, the state of component #1 may change from state #11 to state #12, which can be achieved through execution of action #11.

As another example, referring to FIG. 7 , an object 731b indicating a message (Msg #21) causing execution of action #23 causing component #2 having state #22 to transition to state #21 may be displayed. have. In this embodiment, when component #2 receives Msg #21 while in state #21, it may transition to state #22 by action #21, and when component #2 is in state #22 or #23, Msg #21 Upon reception of , state #21 may be transitioned by action #23.

In some embodiments, an object representing a message may be displayed between objects representing related states and actions. For example, the object 631 corresponding to Msg #11 that triggers the execution of action #11 that causes the state of component #1 to transition from state #11 to state #12 is the object 611 representing state #11 and action # It can be displayed between objects 621 representing 11. In some embodiments, the object 631 corresponding to Msg #11 is displayed on the connection line 641a so as to at least partially overlap the connection line 641a connecting the object 611 representing the state #11 and the action #11. It can be.

Step S54 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 8 to 13 .

Referring back to FIG. 5 , in step S55, when each action is executed, messages generated by each action and sent to the corresponding component itself or to another component may be displayed. This will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 14 to 19 .

Hereinafter, step S54 of displaying the objects indicating the message that triggers the execution of each action, which has been described with reference to FIG. 5 , will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 8 to 13 .

Referring to FIG. 8 , first, in step S541, a user's input for selecting an object representing any one message associated with a target component (hereinafter, referred to as a “first component”) may be obtained. For example, a user input selecting an object 631 indicating Msg #11 related to component #1 shown in FIG. 6 may be obtained.

In step S542, identification information of one or more components sending the selected message to the first component may be displayed.

FIG. 9 shows an exemplary appearance in which an object 631 indicating Msg #11 associated with component #1 is selected or pointed to through a pointing means in step S541. In addition, FIG. 9 shows an example of displaying identification information of other components that send Msg #11 to component #1, that is, component #2 and #3.

Although not shown, in some embodiments, in step S542, the components sending the selected message to the first component and the forwarding direction of the message may be highlighted and displayed on the mini-map 42 described above. For example, the colors displayed on the mini-map 42 of the components sending the selected message to the first component may be changed, and the delivery direction of the message may be displayed as an animation on the mini-map 42 .

In step S543, a user input for selecting one of the components (hereinafter referred to as "second component") among the components for sending the message to the first component is obtained, and in step S544, the selected second component is obtained. Identification information of an action for sending the message among actions related to may be displayed.

In some embodiments, an operation of obtaining a user input for selecting one of several components in step S543 is omitted, and for each of all components sending the message to the first component, sending the message Identification information of the action may be displayed. FIG. 9 shows an example of displaying identification information of action #23 of component #2 and action #35 of component #3 that send Msg #11 to component #1.

Subsequently, in step S545, a user's input requesting the FSM view of the second component may be obtained. Referring to FIG. 10 , the user's input requesting the FSM view of the second component may be a user input of selecting or pointing to identification information of the second component and/or associated action displayed in steps S542 and S544.

In step S546, the FSM diagram view of the second component and the FSM diagram view of the first component may be displayed on one screen.

11-13 are diagrams illustrating various exemplary user interfaces in which an FSM view of a second component is displayed along with an FSM view of a first component, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring first to FIG. 11 , in step S546, the entire FSM diagram 70 of the second component, e.g., component #2, is displayed, and the FSM diagram of the first component, e.g., component #1, is an abbreviated or simplified view 60a. can be changed to and displayed. Referring to FIG. 11 , an object 723 representing action #23, which is an action of sending Msg #11 to the first component among actions associated with the second component, may be highlighted in a differentiated color and displayed.

Referring to FIG. 12 , in step S546, a part 70a of the FSM diagram of the second component may be displayed, and the FSM diagram of the first component may be changed to a reduced or simplified view 60a and displayed. Here, the portion 70a of the FSM diagram of the second component includes an object 723 representing action #23 of sending Msg #11 towards the first component among actions associated with the second component, and object 723 It may be a part corresponding to a predetermined area around it. Similar to the user interface shown in FIG. 11 , an object 723 indicating action #23 of sending Msg #11 to the first component may be highlighted and displayed.

Referring to FIG. 13 , in step S546, a part 70a of the FSM diagram of the second component may be displayed, and the FSM diagram 60 of the first component may be displayed side by side. Referring to FIG. 13 , within the portion 70a of the FSM diagram of the second component, an object 723 representing action #23 of sending Msg #11 to the first component may be highlighted. Also, within the FSM diagram 60 of the first component, the object 631 indicating the Msg #11 may be highlighted and displayed. Furthermore, a graphic object 1301 indicating that Msg #11 is generated and sent by action #23 may be displayed between the object 723 and the object 631 .

In some embodiments, in step S546, the FSM diagram of the second component may be processed to be translucent and displayed, and the FSM diagram of the second component may be displayed by at least partially overlapping or overlaying the FSM diagram of the first component.

According to the configuration of the present embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 13 so far, when a developer or a third party views an FSM diagram of a component constituting software, for example, a program for controlling a hardware device, the FSM of the first component While viewing the diagram, it is possible to conveniently browse the FSM diagram of the second component, which sends a specific message towards the first component to cause the associated action to be executed.

In addition, by displaying FSM diagrams of the first component and the second component side by side on one screen, the viewer can more intuitively understand the interaction between the first component and the second component.

In addition, in displaying the FSM diagram of the first component and the second component, by selectively displaying only one part related to the interaction, such as message exchange between the two components, changing between dozens or more of multiple states. Visual complexity that occurs when FSM diagrams of complex components are simultaneously displayed on one screen can be significantly reduced.

In addition, FSM diagrams of the first component and the second component are displayed on one screen, but the FSM diagram of the second component is translucently processed and displayed as an overlay on the FSM diagram of the first component, so that even when the display area is limited, the two components FSM diagrams can be displayed simultaneously.

Hereinafter, step S55 described with reference to FIG. 5 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 14 to 19 .

Referring to FIG. 14 , in step S551, a user's input for selecting an object representing one of several actions associated with the first component may be obtained. For example, a user input selecting an object 622 indicating action #12 for changing the state of component #1 shown in FIG. 6 from state #11 to state #13 may be obtained.

In step S552, one or more messages sent by the action selected in step S551 may be displayed.

In step S553, a user input for selecting one of the one or more messages displayed in step S552 may be obtained.

In step S554, identification information of a target component (hereinafter, referred to as a "second component") receiving the message selected in step S553 may be displayed.

In some embodiments, an operation of obtaining a user input for selecting one of several messages in step S553 is omitted, and all messages sent by the action selected in step S551 and identification information of components receiving the messages are can be displayed. 15 displays Msg #24, a message sent to component #2 by action #12 of component #1, and Msg #33, a message sent to component #3 by action #12 of component #1. An exemplary appearance is shown.

Subsequently, in step S555, a user's input requesting an FSM diagram view of the second component may be obtained. Referring to FIG. 16, the user's input requesting the FSM diagram view of the second component is selected or pointed to the message selected and displayed in steps S552 to S554 and/or identification information of the second component receiving the corresponding message. It may be a user input that

In step S556, the FSM diagram view of the second component and the FSM diagram view of the first component may be displayed on one screen.

17-19 are diagrams illustrating various exemplary user interfaces in which an FSM diagram view of a second component is displayed along with an FSM diagram view of a first component, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring first to FIG. 17, in step S556, the entire FSM diagram 60 of the first component, eg, component #1, is displayed, and the FSM diagram of the second component, eg, component #2, is an abbreviated or simplified view 70b. It can be displayed in the form of Referring to FIG. 17, an object 622 representing action #12, which is an action of sending Msg #24 toward a second component among actions associated with the first component, and Msg #24 in the FSM diagram 70b of the second component. An object 734 indicating may be displayed with a highlight in a differentiated color. Furthermore, a graphic object 1701 indicating that Msg #24 is sent by action #12 may be displayed between the object 622 and the object 734 .

Referring to FIG. 18 , in step S556, the FSM diagram of the first component may be changed to a reduced or simplified view 60a and displayed, and a portion 70a of the FSM diagram of the second component may be displayed. Here, the part 70a of the FSM diagram of the second component includes an object 734 representing Msg #24, which is a message sent by the first component and received by the second component, and a predetermined area around the object 734. It may be a part corresponding to . Similar to the user interface shown in FIG. 17, an object 622 representing action #12 and an object 734 representing Msg #24 may be displayed with emphasis, indicating that Msg #24 is sent by action #12. A graphical object 1701 may be displayed between objects 622 and 734 .

Referring to FIG. 19 , in step S556, the FSM diagram of the first component may be changed to an abbreviated or simplified view 60a and displayed, and the FSM diagram 70 of the second component may be displayed side by side. An object 622 representing action #12 and an object 734 representing Msg #24 can be displayed with emphasis, and a graphic object 1701 representing that Msg #24 is sent by action #12 is displayed as object 622. It can be displayed between and the object 734.

In some embodiments, the FSM diagram of the second component may be displayed translucently in step S556, and the FSM diagram of the second component may be displayed at least partially overlapping or overlaid on the FSM diagram of the first component.

According to the configuration of the present embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 14 to 19 so far, when a developer or a third party views an FSM diagram of a component constituting software, for example, a program for controlling a hardware device, the FSM of the first component While browsing the diagram, it is possible to conveniently browse the FSM diagram of the message sent by the specific action of the first component and the second component receiving the message.

In addition, by displaying FSM diagrams of the first component and the second component side by side on one screen, the viewer can more intuitively understand the interaction between the first component and the second component.

In addition, in displaying the FSM diagram of the first component and the second component, by selectively displaying only one part related to the interaction, such as message exchange between the two components, changing between dozens or more of multiple states. Visual complexity that occurs when FSM diagrams of complex components are simultaneously displayed on one screen can be reduced.

In addition, FSM diagrams of the first component and the second component are displayed on one screen, but the FSM diagram of the second component is translucently processed and displayed as an overlay on the FSM diagram of the first component, so that even when the display area is limited, the two components FSM diagrams can be displayed simultaneously.

Hereinafter, an exemplary method of displaying an FSM diagram of each of a plurality of components in a three-dimensional manner by a software development support method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIGS. 20 and 21 .

Referring first to FIG. 20 , in step S61 the FSM view of the first component may be displayed on the first layer, and in step S62 the FSM view of the second component may be displayed on the second layer. Here, the first layer and the second layer may be displayed apart from each other by a predetermined distance. In some embodiments, the first layer and/or the second layer may be displayed translucently.

In FIG. 21, an FSM diagram 60 of a first component, e.g., component #1, is flatly displayed on a first layer 2101, and an FSM diagram 70 of a second component, e.g., component #2, is displayed on a second layer. 2102, and an exemplary view in which a third layer, for example, an FSM diagram of component #3 is flatly displayed on a third layer 2103, is shown.

Referring back to FIG. 20 , in step S63, graphic objects representing message exchange between the first component and the second component, for example, connection lines, may be displayed around the first layer and the second layer.

Referring to FIG. 21 , connection lines 2111 and 2112 indicating message exchange between components #1 and #2 are displayed, and connection lines 2113 and 2113 indicating message exchange between components #2 and #3. A state in which the connection line 2114 is displayed is shown. If there is a message exchanged between component #1 and component #3, a connection line representing such a message can visually connect the first layer and the third layer.

Referring back to FIG. 20 , in step S64, a user interface for toggling the visibility of each of the layers displayed in steps S61 and S62 may be provided. For example, referring to FIG. 21 , an example of a state in which user interfaces 2431 to 2434 are provided for switching between displaying or not displaying layers in which FSM diagrams of components #1 to #4 are displayed is shown.

In step S65, in response to a user's input for making some of the layers invisible, the layer on which the FSM view of the corresponding component is displayed is hidden, and graphic objects representing messages exchanged by the corresponding component with other components are also hidden. can do. For example, referring to FIG. 21 , as the user interface 2434 is unchecked, the FSM diagram of component #4 is hidden, and graphic objects representing messages exchanged by component #4 with other components are also hidden.

According to the present embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 20 and 21 so far, when a developer or a third party views an FSM diagram of a component constituting software, for example, a program for controlling a hardware device, the FSM diagram of a plurality of components It is possible to provide an interface that allows a viewer to view the FSM diagram of a plurality of components at a glance by displaying them on each layer but stacking and displaying these layers in three dimensions.

In addition, according to this embodiment, the FSM diagram of a plurality of components is stacked and displayed in a two-dimensionally displayed layer, and an interaction between each component through a graphic object connecting between each layer, for example, a message Expressing the exchange allows the viewer to more intuitively understand the interaction between multiple components.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, layers in which FSM diagrams of a plurality of components are flatly displayed are three-dimensionally stacked and displayed, and each layer is processed to be translucent and partially overlapped with each other, so that even when the display area is limited, a number of FSM diagrams of components can be displayed simultaneously.

Hereinafter, step S1 described with reference to FIG. 3, that is, the source code analysis process will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 22 and 23.

22 is a diagram for explaining a source code analysis process according to some embodiments of the present disclosure in more detail, and FIG. 23 is an exemplary source code that can be referred to for understanding.

The source code analysis process to be described below may be performed when the IDE is executed and the software project is opened, and when the source code is modified or saved, but is not limited thereto. A source code analysis process to be described below can be performed as a static analysis of the source code itself without building and executing software.

First, in step S11, the source code may be parsed to generate an abstract syntax tree. As described above with reference to FIG. 1, the IDE provided by the software development support system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure generates an abstract syntax tree based on a parser that parses source code and the parsed source code. An AST generation unit that generates an AST, a message analysis unit that identifies an instruction for transmitting a message in the source code based on the generated AST, and records the message transmission and reception in a structure based on the source component and / or target component of message transmission and reception. can do. In step S11, for example, the source code of the plain text state is parsed by a parser, and based on the parsing result, instructions included in the source code may be structured in the form of an abstract syntax tree by an AST generation unit. In one embodiment, the abstract syntax tree may be generated for each source code or one for each component, but is not limited thereto.

In step S12, the abstract syntax trees generated in step S11 are analyzed to identify instructions related to message transmission and reception.

The exemplary source code shown in FIG. 23 includes instructions 2301 and 2302 for sending a message by action_12, which is an action of a component named Actor_1. Command 2301 is an exemplary command for the component to send msg_24 towards another component referenced by a member variable named actor2. Command 2302 is an exemplary command for the component to send msg_33 towards another component referenced by a member variable named actor3.

In step S12, instructions 2301 and 2302 may be identified from an abstract syntax tree generated from the source code shown in FIG. 23, for example.

In step S13, target components of a message sent by a specific component are identified based on the instructions identified from the abstract syntax trees generated according to the source code analysis results, and in step S14, a source component that sends a message to a specific component. can be identified. For example, information about components that are targets of each message sent by the first component may be identified, and information about components sending messages to the first component may also be identified.

In step S15, the information identified in step S14 may be stored in an appropriate structure. For example, information about target components may be structured and stored based on a source component that transmits a message, and information about source components may be structured and stored based on a target component that receives a message. Information may be stored in all of these ways.

When the FSM diagram for a specific component is displayed on the FSM view in step S5 described above, information identified and stored through steps S11 to S15 may be loaded and used.

and/or a message analyzer that records message transmission/reception in a structure based on the target component.

An IDE according to some embodiments of the present disclosure includes a parser for parsing source code, an AST generation unit for generating an abstract syntax tree based on the parsed source code, and a message in the source code based on the generated AST. It may include a message analysis unit that identifies commands to be transmitted and records message transmission and reception in a structure based on a source component and/or a target component of message transmission and reception.

Hereinafter, step S7 described with reference to FIG. 3, that is, a routine for processing source code update will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 24.

In step S5, when the source code is updated while the FSM view is being displayed, step S7 to be described below may be performed.

Referring to FIG. 24 , in step S71, whether a change or update such as addition, modification, deletion, etc. to the source code has occurred can be detected.

In step S72, at least a part of the source code analysis process described above with reference to FIGS. 22 and 23, for example, steps S11 to S15, may be performed again.

In step S73, the FSM view may be updated by reflecting changes detected in the source code to the FSM diagram of the component displayed in step S5.

So far, with reference to FIGS. 1 to 24 , software development support methods and systems according to some embodiments of the present disclosure have been described.

According to the above-described embodiments, when a developer or a third party browses an FSM diagram of a component constituting software, a specific message is sent to the first component so that a related action is performed while browsing the FSM diagram of the first component. You can conveniently browse the FSM diagram of the second component to be executed.

In addition, by displaying FSM diagrams of the first component and the second component side by side on one screen, the viewer can more intuitively understand the interaction between the first component and the second component.

In addition, in displaying the FSM diagram of the first component and the second component, by selectively displaying only one part related to the interaction, such as message exchange between the two components, changing between dozens or more of multiple states. Visual complexity that occurs when FSM diagrams of complex components are simultaneously displayed on one screen can be significantly reduced.

In addition, FSM diagrams of the first component and the second component are displayed on one screen, but the FSM diagram of the second component is translucently processed and displayed as an overlay on the FSM diagram of the first component, so that even when the display area is limited, the two components FSM diagrams can be displayed simultaneously.

According to the above-described embodiments, when a developer or a third party browses an FSM diagram of a component constituting software, the FSM diagram of a plurality of components is displayed on each layer, but by stacking and displaying these layers in three dimensions, the viewer It can provide an interface that allows the FSM diagram of multiple components to be viewed at a glance.

In addition, FSM diagrams of multiple components are layered and displayed in a three-dimensional manner by layering flatly displayed layers, and by expressing interaction between each component, for example, message exchange, through a graphic object connecting between each layer, the viewer enables a more intuitive understanding of the interaction between multiple components.

In addition, layers in which the FSM diagrams of multiple components are flatly displayed are layered and displayed in three dimensions, and each layer is translucent and displayed so that portions overlap with each other, so that even when the display area is limited, the FSM diagrams of multiple components can be displayed at the same time. can be displayed.

In short, according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, a function to visualize the logical structure and detailed design details of components constituting the software under development is provided so as to intuitively understand, so that the efficiency and convenience of the software development process can be increased. .

The technical idea of the present disclosure described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 24 so far may be implemented as computer readable code on a computer readable medium. The computer-readable recording medium may be, for example, a removable recording medium (CD, DVD, Blu-ray disc, USB storage device, removable hard disk) or a fixed recording medium (ROM, RAM, computer-equipped hard disk). can The computer program recorded on the computer-readable recording medium may be transmitted to another computing device through a network such as the Internet, installed in the other computing device, and thus used in the other computing device.

Hereinafter, a hardware configuration of an exemplary computing device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 25 . The computing device described with reference to FIG. 25 may be, for example, a hardware configuration of a developer terminal or an IDE service server described with reference to FIG. 1 .

25 is an exemplary hardware configuration diagram in which a computing device may be implemented in various embodiments of the present disclosure. The computing device 1000 includes one or more processors 1100, a system bus 1600, a communication interface 1200, a memory 1400 for loading a computer program 1500 executed by the processor 1100, A storage 1300 for storing the computer program 1500 may be included.

The processor 1100 controls the overall operation of each component of the computing device 1000 . The processor 1100 may include at least one of a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Micro Processor Unit (MPU), a Micro Controller Unit (MCU), a Graphic Processing Unit (GPU), or any type of processor well known in the art. can be configured to include Also, the processor 1100 may perform an operation for at least one application or program for executing a method/operation according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Computing device 1000 may include two or more processors.

Memory 1400 stores various data, commands and/or information. Memory 1400 may load one or more computer programs 1500 from storage 1300 to execute methods/actions according to various embodiments of the present invention. An example of the memory 1400 may be RAM, but is not limited thereto. The system bus 1600 provides a communication function between components of the computing device 1000 .

The system bus 1600 may be implemented as various types of buses such as an address bus, a data bus, and a control bus. The communication interface 1200 supports wired and wireless Internet communication of the computing device 1000 . The communication interface 1200 may support various communication methods other than Internet communication. To this end, the communication interface 1200 may include a communication module well known in the art. Storage 1300 may non-temporarily store one or more computer programs 1500 . The storage 1300 may include a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory, a hard disk, a removable disk, or any type of computer-readable recording medium well known in the art.

Computer program 1500 may include one or more instructions in which methods/operations according to various embodiments of the invention are implemented. When the computer program 1500 is loaded into the memory 1400, the processor 1100 may execute the one or more instructions to perform methods/operations according to various embodiments of the present invention.

Although the embodiments of this specification have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, those of ordinary skill in the art to which the embodiments of this specification belong will find other specific embodiments of this specification without changing the technical spirit or essential features. It can be understood that it can also be implemented in the form. Therefore, the embodiments described above should be understood as illustrative in all respects and not limiting. The protection scope of the present invention should be construed according to the claims below, and all technical ideas within the equivalent range should be construed as being included in the scope of the technical ideas defined by the present invention.

Claims (29)

A method performed on a computing device, comprising:
displaying a plurality of state objects each representing a plurality of states that a first component among physical components of a hardware device may have;
displaying a plurality of action objects each representing a plurality of actions causing a transition between the plurality of states; and
Displaying a message related to a first action among the plurality of actions, wherein the message is a first message causing execution of the first action or a second message sent by the first action
including,
How to support software development. According to claim 1,
The first message is a message that causes the first action to be executed in a first state among the plurality of states,
The displaying of the message includes displaying an object representing the first message between an object representing the first state and an object representing the first action.
How to support software development. According to claim 2,
The displaying of the object representing the first message may include displaying so that at least a portion of the object representing the first message is overlapped on a connection line connecting the object representing the first state and the object representing the first action. including,
How to support software development. According to claim 2,
The object representing the first message includes a text object representing the first message,
How to support software development. According to claim 2,
The displaying of the message further includes displaying detailed information related to the first message,
The detailed information includes identification information of a source component that sends the first message to the first component,
The source component is a second component different from the first component among the components,
How to support software development. According to claim 5,
The detailed information further includes identification information of an action that causes the source component to send the first message.
How to support software development. According to claim 5,
The displaying of the detailed information includes displaying the detailed information in response to a user input of selecting or pointing to an object representing the first message.
How to support software development. According to claim 2,
The displaying of the message includes displaying objects representing a second component and a third component respectively sending the first message to the first component,
In response to a user input of selecting or pointing to an object representing the second component, displaying at least a portion of a diagram representing a state transition of the second component,
How to support software development. According to claim 8,
The displaying of at least a portion of the diagram representing the state transition of the second component may include an object representing a second action of sending the first message to the first component among actions performed by the second component. Including the step of displaying,
How to support software development. According to claim 8,
Displaying at least a portion of the diagram representing the state transition of the second component comprises displaying the diagram translucently.
How to support software development. According to claim 1,
The second message is a message sent by the first action to a target component,
The target component is the first component or a second component different from the first component among the components,
How to support software development. According to claim 11,
The displaying of the message includes displaying an object representing the second message adjacent to the object representing the first action.
How to support software development. According to claim 11,
The displaying of the message includes displaying an object representing the second message in response to a user input of selecting or pointing to an object representing the first action.
How to support software development. According to claim 11,
The displaying of the message may include objects representing the second message sent to the second component by the first action and the third message sent to the third component by the first action, respectively. Including the step of displaying,
In response to a user input of selecting or pointing to an object representing the third message, displaying at least a portion of a diagram representing state transition of the third component,
How to support software development. According to claim 14,
The displaying of at least a portion of the diagram representing the state transition of the third component includes displaying an object representing a third action triggered by the third message among actions performed by the third component. doing,
How to support software development. According to claim 1,
Further comprising displaying a graphical object representing a relationship between the plurality of states and the plurality of actions.
How to support software development. According to claim 16,
the first action is an action of transitioning the first component from a first state to a second state;
The step of displaying a graphic object representing the relationship,
displaying a graphic object visually connecting an object representing the first state and an object representing the first action; and
Displaying a graphic object visually connecting an object representing the first action and an object representing the second state
including,
How to support software development. According to claim 1,
Further comprising displaying objects representing each of the first group of components among the components.
How to support software development. According to claim 18,
Each of the first group of components is a component that exchanges messages with the first component,
How to support software development. According to claim 18,
The step of displaying objects representing each of the components of the first group,
displaying the objects on a mini-map; and
Visually displaying message transmission/reception directions between the first group of components and the first component on the mini-map.
including,
How to support software development. According to claim 1,
Further comprising displaying a diagram showing a transition of a state of a second component different from the first component among the components,
How to support software development. According to claim 21,
displaying graphic objects related to the state transition of the first component on a first layer; and
displaying graphic objects related to the state transition of the second component on a second layer, the second layer spaced apart from the first layer;
Including more,
How to support software development. The method of claim 22,
Displaying graphic objects representing message exchange between the first component and the second component between the spaced first layer and the second layer;
Including more,
How to support software development. The method of claim 22,
providing a user interface for toggling visibility of at least one of the first layer and the second layer; and
Making graphic objects corresponding to messages exchanged with other components by a component associated with a layer that is invisible by the user invisible.
Including more,
How to support software development. According to claim 1,
loading source codes corresponding to the components;
analyzing the source code;
Based on the result of the analysis, storing information related to a message sent or received by the first component in a storage.
Including more,
Displaying the message related to the first action comprises displaying the message based on information stored in the storage.
How to support software development. According to claim 25,
Analyzing the source code,
generating an abstract syntax tree by parsing the source code;
analyzing the abstract syntax tree to identify instructions related to transmission and reception of messages;
based on the identified instruction, identifying information about a target component of a message sent by the first component; and
Identifying information about a source component that sends a message to the first component based on the identified instruction.
including,
How to support software development. According to claim 25,
detecting an update of the source code; and
In response to detecting the update of the source code, updating and displaying at least a part of a diagram representing a state transition of the first component.
Including more,
How to support software development. A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium containing instructions,
When executed by a processor, the instructions cause the processor to:
displaying a plurality of state objects each representing a plurality of states that a first component among physical components of a hardware device may have;
displaying a plurality of action objects each representing a plurality of actions causing a transition between the plurality of states; and
Displaying a message related to a first action among the plurality of actions, wherein the message is a first message causing execution of the first action or a second message sent by the first action
To perform operations including
A computer-readable, non-transitory storage medium. processor;
Memory; and
A computer program loaded into the memory and executed by the processor,
The computer program,
instructions for displaying a plurality of state objects each representing a plurality of states that a first component among physical components of the hardware device may have;
instructions for displaying a plurality of action objects each representing a plurality of actions that cause a transition between the plurality of states; and
An instruction for displaying a message related to a first action of the plurality of actions, wherein the message is a first message causing execution of the first action or a second message sent by the first action
including,
Software development support device.

Images