[kepler-dev] Kepler parameters

[Edward A. Lee]

The ptolemy.vergil.actor.DocViewer class is the key one.
It gets (rather indirectly) invoked when in Vergil you right
click on a icon and select Get Documentation.

Edward

At 10:06 AM 5/29/2008, Paul Allen wrote:
>Thanks Chad, Edward.
>
>It sounds like it would be useful for me to check out the Documentation utility that Edward  mentions. Is that in the ptII CVS tree? I don't see any likely candidates there.
>
>Thanks,
>-Paul
>
>Edward A. Lee wrote: 
>>
>>Paul,
>>
>>Parameters appear in the MoML file only if they are overridden.
>>Actually, this is true not only of parameters, but actually of everything.
>>If you define a composite actor class, and then have several instances of
>>it, the contents of the instances do not appear in the MoML file unless
>>they are overridden.
>>
>>There are two reasons for doing this:
>> - It is more object-oriented (i.e., inheritance actually works)
>> - MoML files are _much_ smaller than they would be.
>>
>>There is a paper describe the (rather deep) mechanism behind this:
>>
>><http://ptolemy.eecs.berkeley.edu/publications/papers/07/classesandInheritance/index.htm>http://ptolemy.eecs.berkeley.edu/publications/papers/07/classesandInheritance/index.htm
>>
>>It would be easy to create a utility that describes (in MoML or any
>>other language) the full interface of an actor. In fact, the Documentation
>>utility does this...
>>
>>Edward
>>
>>At 08:13 AM 5/29/2008, Paul Allen wrote:
>>  
>>>
>>>Could somebody clarify something about actor parameters/properties for me?
>>>
>>>It appears to me that just by looking at a MOML file I can't figure out 
>>>the entire set of parameters/properties that can be set for an actor. 
>>>E.g., I look at the "Timed Plotter" actor in the 
>>>02-LotkaVolterraPredatorPrey.xml example workflow. The "Timed Plotter" 
>>>shows a "legend" parameter that can be set, but the MOML file doesn't 
>>>mention it. It's not until I dynamically ingest/parse the MOML file, or 
>>>manually look at the Java implementation of the actor that I get a clue 
>>>that the "legend" parameter is available. So, in general, I've got to 
>>>examine Java code or load/parse the actor/workflow in order to see the 
>>>entire list of settable parameters for an actor. Is that true?
>>>
>>>I assume that is true. That leads me to wonder what determines when an 
>>>actor parameter property is represented in a MOML file. Is it when a 
>>>parameter has a definite value? How are defaults handled? Will a 
>>>parameter with a non-null default value always appear in the MOML file? 
>>>The "legend" parameter of the ptolemy.actor.lib.gui.TimedPlotter actor 
>>>certainly shows that when there is no default and no value set, the 
>>>parameter isn't mentioned in the MOML file.
>>>
>>>Thanks for the info.
>>>- Paul
>>>
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>Kepler-dev mailing list
>>><mailto:Kepler-dev at ecoinformatics.org>Kepler-dev at ecoinformatics.org
>>>http://mercury.nceas.ucsb.edu/ecoinformatics/mailman/listinfo/kepler-dev
>>>    
>>
>>
>>------------ 
>>Edward A. Lee
>>Chair of EECS and Robert S. Pepper Distinguished Professor
>>231 Cory Hall, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-1770
>>phone: 510-642-0253, fax: 510-642-2845
>><mailto:eal at eecs.Berkeley.EDU>eal at eecs.Berkeley.EDU, http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Homepages/lee.html  
>>
>>
>>  
>
>------------ 
>Edward A. Lee
>Chair of EECS and Robert S. Pepper Distinguished Professor
>231 Cory Hall, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-1770
>phone: 510-642-0253, fax: 510-642-2845
>eal at eecs.Berkeley.EDU, http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Homepages/lee.html