[kepler-dev] Kepler parameters

[Matthew Jones]

This is just the regular documentation window. In Kepler, right click on 
an actor and select Documentation->Display to see the documentation 
utility.  The source code for it is in the ptolemy tree.

Matt

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
>>
>> 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
>>> 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
>> eal at eecs.Berkeley.EDU, http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Homepages/lee.html  
>>
>>
>>   
> 
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-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Matthew B. Jones
Director of Informatics Research and Development
National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS)
UC Santa Barbara
jones at nceas.ucsb.edu                       Ph: 1-907-523-1960
http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/ecoinfo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~