RISE-XMLCOMP subproject
Experts predict that every entity found on the web (XML data, software such
as applets or 3-tier applications) will be coalesced to active documents
(active components, docware). Active documents consist of XML tags with both
static and dynamic semantics (see as an example the RXML language of the
Swedish Web Service company Roxen). Active
documents are structured documents in the spirit of OpenDoc and XML but have
a life of their own. They will be able to migrate, they will be shipped
everywhere on the web, they will be embedded into other active documents and
combined with others visually via drag-and-drop techniques. Active documents
will replace desktops, browser clients, 3-tier architectures, and complete
applications: everything will be an active document. However, the worlds of
web documents and programming languages are still separate: each world
develops its own component technology, i.e. component composition does not
work uniformly for data and software in active documents. Nevertheless,
integration will be inevitable and a common composition technology is needed.
The foundations of such a technology have been developed in the
EASYCOMP European FET basic research project [UA12,
UA13]. However, the project will mainly develop a basic model for XML based
compositions. Applications of that model, such as the uniform specification
of static and dynamic semantics for XML documents with specification
languages should be tackled by the RISE-I project.
Subproject members
Peter Fritzson , subproject leader
Adrian Pop, PhD student
Subproject description
Ontology languages, developed in the Semantic Web,
such as DAML, and the new W3C Recommendations
Resource Description Framework(RDF) and
Web Ontology Language (OWL)
provide mechanisms to specify class hierarchies and constraints on the
classes. On the other hand, in static semantics of programming languages,
Natural Semantics [K87] is one of the most advanced, but still easy to use,
specification technologies [PF96]. It has been successfully used for such
complex semantic tasks as compiler frontends and additionally allows for the
specification of dynamic semantics, i.e. interpreters.
For active documents, specification languages for both static and dynamic
semantics will be indispensable. Hence, this work applies Natural
Semantics. Since the technology will be integrated with existing languages,
such as RDF and OWL, Natural Semantics will be one of the first languages
for static and dynamic XML semantics, and an ideal candidate to be included
in the family of specification languages of the RuleML initiative .
To summarize: the structure will be specified by XML Schemata, the static
semantics by OWL/Natural Semantics and the dynamic semantics by Natural
Semantics.
As a case study for the framework, we choosed the
Modelica language.
Modelica is an object-oriented modeling language designed to allow
convenient, component-oriented modeling of complex physical systems, e.g.,
systems containing mechanical, electrical, electronic, hydraulic,
thermal, control, electric power or process-oriented subcomponents.
Because the Modelica language is at the border between modeling lanuguages
and programming languages it makes an attractive case study.
XML will be used to describe the structure of the Modelica language and
OWL/Natural Semantics for certain static semantics.
Adapting our Natural Semantics framework to OWL will allow the specification
of both static and dynamic semantics of
XML documents.
Subproject plan
- Phase 1: Definition and composition of XML dialects (ModelicaXML case study)
- Phase 2: Using OWL to specify semantics of different languages (ModelicaOWL case study)
- Phase 3: Adaptation of the Natural Semantics tool RML to DAML/OWL
Subproject status
- Phase 1: Results:
- Development of ModelicaXML, the XML representation of the Modelica language [PopFritzson2003].
- Composition and transformation of Modelica models using ModelicaXML [PopIlieAssmannFritzson2004]. The composition/transformation
is guided by the Modelica language semantics [Fritzson2003]
- Facilate translation between Modelica and other modeling and simultation languages/tools.
- Automatic generation of model documentation using standard XML technologies (MathML, XHTML, SVG, X3D).
- Investigation on the use of Semantic Web languages (RDF/OWL) to express some of the Modelica language semantics.
Phase 2: Future
Phase 3: Future
Publications
- [Fritzson2003]
Peter Fritzson:
Principles of Object-Oriented Modeling and Simulation with Modelica.
(Book), Published by Wiley-IEEE Press, 2003.
- [PopFritzson2003]
Adrian Pop,
Peter Fritzson:
ModelicaXML:A Modelica XML Representation with Applications,
Modelica 2003 Conference
- [PopIlieAssmannFritzson2004]
Adrian Pop,
Ilie Savga,
Uwe Assmann,
Peter Fritzson:
Composition of XML dialects: A ModelicaXML case study,
Software Composition Workshop (SC2004),
affiliated with
European Joint Conferences on Theory and
Practice of Software (ETAPS'04)
, March 27 - April 4, 2004, Barcelona, Spain
Acknowledgment
This subproject is part of the RISE project at PELAB, IDA, Linköpings universitet,
and supported by
SSF.
Peter Fritzson (petfr@ida.liu.se)