XML to annotations mapping definition with patterns

Currently, the most commonly created formal languages are configuration languages. So far source code annotations and XML are the leading notations for configuration languages. In this paper, we analyse the correspondence between these two formats. We show that there are typical XML to annotations mapping solutions (mapping patterns) that indicate a correspondence between embedded and external metadata formats in general. We argue that mapping patterns facilitate creating configuration tools and we use a case study to show how they can be used to devise a mapping between these two notations.

Supporting multiple configuration sources using abstraction

Software engineers have long recognized the need to shift focus from developing systems to developing system families. One way to develop software family is to develop configurable systems. A configuration (initial settings of a program), written in application-specific language, can be expressed using many different formats, such as XML, YAML, attribute-oriented programming, etc., each one having pros and cons. Often the target group of users is too wide to meet their expectations by using only one format. This paper analyzes options that system providers have in supporting multiple configuration languages or sources. An enhanced abstraction tool is chosen as the best solution, and its architecture is briefly presented. The main contribution to the tool’s design is advocation of the declarative representation of mapping of input languages to output format.

A Calculus for Reconfigurable Component-Based Systems

The concept of reconfigurable systems is almost always restricted to the abstract design level, in which configuration languages are used to manipulate software connections. In this paper, we propose to deal with reconfiguration abstraction also in the formal specification level. We show that the process algebra 1⁄4-calculus, widely applied to specify composable systems, is not suitable to capture all the properties required by these kinds of systems. To deal with these restrictions of 1⁄4, we propose the R1⁄4-calculus. R1⁄4 is a 1⁄4-calculus extension that uses the concept of components as unit of specification. Its semantics allows for the reconfiguration of formal specifications in the same way configuration languages do.