Architecture

The prototype framework project allows to exchange services between modules. The framework is based on the concept of:

• Applications which contain the executable libraries (jar files)
• Modules which are the executable units in the Applications
• Services which are processing units which are provided or required by Modules

Overview

The framework is based on loose coupling between the applications. The Services and applications definitions are declared in an XML configuration:

• The configuration specifies the Services interfaces
• Each module declaration module specifies which services it provides or requires, and which communication protocols will be used to connect the modules
• The framework will automatically connect the modules which share services, and will manage the data sharing between modules at runtime

Typically modules don't know about each other^[1]

See also key concepts

:

• They don't have compile-time dependencies
• They don't have runtime dependencies. The framework takes care of their integration

Note that:

• The setup phase will create definition classes which will manage the definition
• The start phase will create runtime classes which will manage the runtime

Runtime sequence

Suppose the following architecture:

The runtime sequence for the Service invocation has the following phases:

• Invocation: The Module A which is a provider sets values for the Service datas, then invokes the Service
• Notification: The Module B and Module C which are subscribers for the Service are notified from the Service invocation, then get the values for the Service datas

The sequence diagram for the invocation and notifications is:

Configuration

The framework configuration is defined in one or several XML files, each one refering to several separated configurations. Tha main elements are:

• The data data types defined for the framework
• The services defined in the framework. The Service datas refer to types defined in the data types
• The applications instanciated in the framework. These applications provide or subscribe to Services
• The properties of the applications