Design and implementation of a platform independent prototype specification editor

Abstract

The Computer Aided Prototyping System (CAPS) developed at the Computer Science Department, Naval Postgraduate School is an integrated set of tools that is used for rapid prototyping of real time systems. The PSDL editor, a key component of CAPS, allows user to specify prototype design graphically through data flow diagrams and data flow component property menus, and automatically translates the graphical objects into textual specification written in the Prototype System Description Language (PSDL). This thesis builds upon the previous work done on the CAPS editor design and develops an improved Java based graphic/text editor for the PSDL. New functionality is added to increase the user friendliness of the editor and maintain design consistency in real time. The new enhanced editor provides undo/redo and other essential editing functionality, automatic completion of stream types, as well as automatic checking and propagation of the timing constraints. The new editor is more powerful than ever. It tested successfully in the classroom to generate prototypes and has been used as a tool for software engineering graduate students to design their computer aided prototype project.