FAQ

General questions

What is Protoframework?

Protoframework is a Service-oriented framework allowing to exchange Services between applications. See the overview.

Which version of Java should I use?

The latest version of the project require Java 8. See distribution for more information.

Do you provide some ready-to-use applications to use with the framework?

Yes, see built-in Applications.

Is it possible to show a diagram of an architecture for a configuration

Yes, the browser allows to see and edit any configuration.

I don't understand very well how all of this work, do you have an overview?

Yes, see the key concepts. You can also look at the tutorials.

I don't understand how to read the diagrams used in this wiki

See diagrams overview for an explanation.

I want to know the elapsed time since the framework start, is it possible?

Yes it is possible, see Getting the elapsed time.

Is it possible to see a sequence diagram of the modules exchanging services?

Yes it is possible, see Getting the elapsed time.

Types of modules

Can I use other languages than Java to use the framework?

Yes, you can currently use modules defined with these languages:

• Python Modules which are implemented in Python
• Groovy Modules which are implemented in Groovy scripts
• C Modules which are implemented in C
• Or any User-defined module types which allow to define your own kind of modules

and of course Java modules.

Interfacing with other applications

Is it possible to call and control the framework from an external application?

Yes, see Framework Owner.

That's great, but more generally, I want to know how I can communicate with my own code

I see, go to interfacing with an external application.

Where are the list of evolutions for each release of the tool?

See Release history.

Are there ways to configure the framework

See Framework configuration.

I have a problem, how can I troubleshoot my definition?

See Troubleshooting.

Modules questions

A lot of examples don't show the application, module, or service ID, why?

The IDs of the applications, modules, and services are not mandatory. if you don't set them, they will be genrated automatically by the framework.

I have to use a complex data structure from several modules, but I don't want to decode it for each module, is it possible?

Yes, it is possible to decode a data structure once, and distribute it as Java objects for several modules. See distributing data structures as objects.

I want to define a generic module, and instanciate it, is it possible?

Yes, see Generic modules.

I have some difficulties to understand how I can define my applications

See the advanced configuration tutorial for more information.

I want to use a Simulink / Scade / etc Module, but it is not supported, what can i do?

You can define your own custom user-defined Module type, see user-defined module types.

Is it possible to disable a module in my configuration?

It is possible, see enabling or disabling a module. You can even re-enable it at runtime if you want.

Is it possible to use properties to customize the architecture?

It is possible, see using user-defined properties to customize the framework architecture.

That's great, but I want to do more than that, I want to remove a service depending on a property

It is not possible but there is no case where you would have this need. A declared service which you never use will not bother you. It will be as if he never existed.

Configuration questions

I have to define several related configurations. Is it possible to reuse parts of configuration files?

Yes, see xInclude support. You can also use conditions to customize the framework architecture.

Is it possible to bundle my configuration in a zip file?

Yes it is possible, see framework distribution options.

I would like to prepare different set of datas for a service, and send one or the other depending on the context

It is possible, see make a copy of a service.

I want to specify a data which can be of several different types, is it possible?

Yes, you can either:

• Define the data type as any. In that case you can use any type you want for the data,
• Define the data type as a switch type. In that case the data is of one of the types specified in the list,
• Define the data type as a union. In that case you will use the same concept as in C

I dont understand some services names in this wiki

You might mean declarations such as http://dassault-aviation.com/jena:owlObjectRequest?. It means that:

• The service namespace is "http://dassault-aviation.com/jena"
• The service name is "owlObjectRequest"

Maybe you are wondering what something like http://dassault-aviation.com/jena:owlObjectRequest means for a service for example? See module infobox fields.