[kepler-dev] Workflow management in 2.0

[Christopher Brooks]

Hi Sean,

The executive summary is that having File->Save save KAR files
is fine with me as long as there is a way to export MoML files.

The details:

I see that you propose moving the File->Save functionality to
File->Export, which seems reasonable to me.  Kepler should be able
to export MoML files for a few reasons, two of which are below:

1) Currently, Ptolemy can look for and find .xml files that define composites.

For example, ptolemy/actor/lib/Sinewave.xml starts with:

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE class PUBLIC "-//UC Berkeley//DTD MoML 1//EN"
     "http://ptolemy.eecs.berkeley.edu/xml/dtd/MoML_1.dtd">
<class name="Sinewave" extends="ptolemy.actor.TypedCompositeActor">

This defines an actor-oriented class which can be (and is) referred to
by other classes.

Will this lookup mechanism work with KAR files?  Supporting actor-oriented
classes might not appear to be that important, but they are very useful
for reducing file size in large models and in promoting code reuse.
It could be that KAR files already support this.  If so, then is there
a documented example that has some tests?


2) Another issue is that Ptolemy can download actors from remote locations.
ptII/ptolemy/moml/demo/Networked/Networked.xml is a model that looks for
a .xml file at a remote location and downloads it.  This functionality
is not used very much, but it does rely on finding a MoML file.  If you
move away from saving MoML files, will it be possible to use this remote
functionality?  Or, is this supported in KAR files.  Maybe this functionality
is little used so it is not worth much work.



KAR files have many advantages, the primary advantage being that they bundle
up most everything that is needed.  However, my understanding is that KAR
files in Kepler 1.0 included possible Jar files.  Will this be supported in
2.0?

Bundling files have advantages, but a downside is that we lose the ability to
use standard file based tools on the files contained in the bundle.  For
example, if I want to spell check the Ptolemy models, I just run spell on
the .xml files.  With KAR files, we would need to expand the bundled files
and then run spell.  Being able to run xml syntax checkers and other tools
can be very useful.

BTW - One of our sponsors is interested in creating a database view of the
set of MoML files used in their product.  In someways, this is moving in
the opposite direction of KAR files where instead the database would contain
a description of all the MoML code used.


Is there a design document for KAR?  Or is this what we are working on :-)

It might help to define KAR files from the user view.
https://kepler-project.org/users/features/ says

"Kepler workflows and custom­ized components can be saved, reused, and shared with
colleagues using the Kepler archive format (KAR)."

Keeping that goal in mind might help with decision about including jar files
or making other decisions.

_Christopher



Sean Riddle wrote:
> Hey all,
> 
> I've created a page on the wiki of possible changes to workflow 
> management for 2.0 (and a stub of a wishlist for post-2.0). Here it is: 
> https://kepler-project.org/developers/teams/build/workflow-management-proposal-for-2.0 
> 
> 
> The main thrust is that I think we should get away from saving workflows 
> by default as MOML files, but instead save them as KAR files into the 
> library. Please let me know what you think. I welcome comments and/or 
> changes.
> 
> - Sean
> 
> 
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-- 
Christopher Brooks (cxh at eecs berkeley edu) University of California
CHESS Executive Director                      US Mail: 337 Cory Hall
Programmer/Analyst CHESS/Ptolemy/Trust        Berkeley, CA 94720-1774
ph: 510.643.9841 fax:510.642.2718	      (Office: 545Q Cory)
home: (F-Tu) 707.665.0131 (W-F) 510.655.5480