[kepler-dev] Creating custom actors, specifically Jython/Python

[Dan Higgins]

Dion,
    I think Christopher summed up the reason the Python actor was 
deleted from Kepler. It just took forever for Kepler to start up when it 
was in place (Yes, it WAS even worse than it is now ;-)  ). Secondly, no 
one in the Kepler group was using it. There have been several questions 
about it, so maybe we should think about putting it back, but it would 
take a fair amount of work to fix the startup problem.

    I am curious about just what you want to do and why a Python 
scripting actor would be preferred over the RExpression actor (which I  
find useful for all sorts of scripting, but maybe that is just 
familiarity with R). Certainly, the Python/Jython actor is more directly 
tied to the guts of Ptolemy/Kepler.

    And you are correct, the documentation on creating custom actors is 
out of date. Basically, one just follows the Ptolemy directions for 
creating Java atomic actors, but getting it to appear in the actor tree 
in Kepler is not described well. Are you working with the development 
version of Kepler? (i.e. do you have CVS access?) There is more 
documentation there/

Dan Higgins - NCEAS

Christopher Brooks wrote:
> The problem with jython is that it wants to analyze all the jar files.
> Unfortunately, this was happening at Kepler start up time, even
> though the Python actor was available but not being used.  Since
> Kepler has lots of jar files, this slowed things down.
>
> The real fix here is for Kepler to have a proxy for each actor so
> that it can do lazy loading.   However, this won't happen until after
> 1.0.
>
> BTW - I'm sorry I missed the Kepler 1.0 meeting, could someone who was
> there sum up?  Also, I'll be away 6/29 through 7/11.
>
> _Chrisotpher
>
>
>
> --------
>
>     I am desperately trying to create/reincarnate a python actor.  I see a
>     general scripting actor as absolutely crucial to kepler.
>     
>     Please somebody help with general guideline on how to make a custom
>     actor.  The current documentation is out of date.  For example, how
>     are all the lsid numbers generated?  How is the xml script generated?
>     What properties are neccesary?  How to package a kar file?  What is
>     neccesary?  A single example from scratch would go a long way.
>     
>     There is a jython actor in the ptolemy source: what would be the
>     simplest way to revive this actor?  There should be no technical
>     reason to not have this actor as the RExpression actor is similar but
>     more complex.
>     
>     I am really needing this actor, if anybody has *any* help whatsover I
>     would appreciate it.
>     
>     Regards,
>     Dion
>     
>     -- 
>     
>     ***************************
>     Division of Bioinformatics
>     The Westfalian Wilhelms University of Muenster
>     Botanical Institute, Schlossplatz 4
>     D48149 Muenster
>     Germany
>     
>     Phone: +49-251-83-21633
>     Fax:     +49-251-83-21631
>     Skype:  dionjw
>     http://www.uni-muenster.de/Biologie.Botanik/ebb/
>     _______________________________________________
>     Kepler-dev mailing list
>     Kepler-dev at ecoinformatics.org
>     http://mercury.nceas.ucsb.edu/ecoinformatics/mailman/listinfo/kepler-dev
> --------
> _______________________________________________
> Kepler-dev mailing list
> Kepler-dev at ecoinformatics.org
> http://mercury.nceas.ucsb.edu/ecoinformatics/mailman/listinfo/kepler-dev
>   


-- 
*******************************************************************
Dan Higgins                                  higgins at nceas.ucsb.edu
http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/    Ph: 805-893-5127
National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) Marine Science Building - Room 3405
Santa Barbara, CA 93195
*******************************************************************