[kepler-dev] use cases for actor matching

[Jenny Guilian WANG]

Dear all,

We have integrated our schema mapping tool SCIA into Kepler,
to support actor matching, i.e., suggesting connections
from the output ports of a list of source actors to
the input ports of a list of target actors.  The list of
source actors and the list of target actors are selected
by the user through a dialog, which can be accessed from
the workspace popup menu item "Suggest Channels" below
Configure, Type Check Workflow, Semantic Search, Create
Workflow Archive (KSW).

BTW, only the supporting files are currently in the
Kepler CVS, under kepler/lib/scia, since we are still
formatting the code and adding comments according to
Chad's code review comments, and adding new features.

It seems to work for matching actors.  However, we
are keen to try actors that have sufficiently many
ports so that semi-automatic tool matching makes more
sense than simple manual matching.

Could anybody help point out any complicated actor matching problems
in workflows based on the existing or being-developed workflow components
in Kepler?

Thanks a lot,

Jenny & Joseph