Statechart tool to generate C
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From: ql on 24 Oct 2009 11:53 Since this forum mentions my book ("Practical Statecharts in C/C++") and the website (www.state-machine.com), I'd like to clarify some misconceptions about state machines, UML, and tools. For starters, I'd recommend reading a few articles about modern state machines in embedded systems (see also www.state-machine.com/resources/papers.htm). 1. The articles "Who Moved My State" (http://www.ddj.com/cpp/ 184401643) and "Back to Basics" (http://www.ddj.com/cpp/184401737) explain what state machines are and what kind of programming problem they address. You learn how state machine can become very powerful "spaghetti-code reducers" and how they are fundamentally different from flowcharts. The article gives also some guidelines for designing state machines and concrete C and C++ code examples (the code is available for download at http://www.state-machine.com/writings/cuj.htm). 2. The article "Déjà vu" (http://www.ddj.com/cpp/184401665) introduces the more advanced concept of hierarchical state nesting and shows how it counteracts the "state and transition explosion" problem of traditional non-hierarchical state machines. The source code accompanying this article is available for download at http://www.state-machine.com/writings/cuj.htm. 3. The article "UML at $10.99" (http://www.ddj.com/embedded/188101799) shows that contrary to widespread misconceptions, modern hierarchical state machines are applicable to the tiniest, deeply embedded microcontrollers. This article shows an tiny state machine framework and real-time kernel running in a USB Toolstick from Silicon Labs (8051-based C8051F300 MCU), with just 8K of flash ROM and 256 bytes or RAM. The bottom line is that to use state machines effectively, you first need to make a paradigm shift from the traditional sequential programming (such as a traditional RTOS or just a "superloop") to event-driven programming. Event-driven programming leads to inversion of control (a.k.a. the Hollywood Principle: "Don't call us, we'll call you") between the application and the event-driven infrastructure. This inversion of control, in turn, means that the event-driven infrastructure for executing state machines naturally takes a form of an application framework. Which brings us to the tools based on state machines. As it turns out, virtually all such code-generating tools have an event-driven framework buried inside (e.g., the Rhapsody tool generates code for either the OXF or the IDF framework). In fact, the framework is the most important enabler of automatic code generation. But you don't need a big tool to use an event-driven framework. You just need the framework. For example, the QP family of very lightweight, open source frameworks (https://sourceforge.net/projects/ qpc/) are designed for manual coding of hierarchical state machines . The code you need to write directly in C or C++ is actually simpler than the state machine specification for the SMC compiler (https:// sourceforge.net/projects/smc/) mentioned in this forum. SMC is not hierarchical. Miro Samek http://www.state-machine.com
From: Chris H on 24 Oct 2009 15:04 In message <T4KdnXOGUPe8Sn_XnZ2dnUVZ8ludnZ2d(a)lyse.net>, David Brown <david.brown(a)hesbynett.removethisbit.no> writes >Chris H wrote: >> In message <hbt1hj$411$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>, Cesar Rabak >> <csrabak(a)bol.com.br> writes >>> Dan Henry escreveu: >>>> On Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:53:35 +1100, "Marc Hillman" >>>> <7owsx1j02(a)sneakemail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> I'm looking for a Statechart (Harel) tool that supports C code >>>>> generation, and is free (not trial copies). Any suggestions? >>>> IAR's visualSTATE http://www.iar.com/vs >>>> >>> But it is not free, is it? >> Nothing in this life is free. >> >Perhaps you should find yourself a better life? I have a very good life. It is based in reality. -- \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ \/\/\/\/\ Chris Hills Staffs England /\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
From: Jon Kirwan on 24 Oct 2009 16:11 On Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:04:32 +0100, Chris H <chris(a)phaedsys.org> wrote: >In message <T4KdnXOGUPe8Sn_XnZ2dnUVZ8ludnZ2d(a)lyse.net>, David Brown ><david.brown(a)hesbynett.removethisbit.no> writes >>Chris H wrote: >>> In message <hbt1hj$411$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>, Cesar Rabak >>> <csrabak(a)bol.com.br> writes >>>> Dan Henry escreveu: >>>>> On Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:53:35 +1100, "Marc Hillman" >>>>> <7owsx1j02(a)sneakemail.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> I'm looking for a Statechart (Harel) tool that supports C code >>>>>> generation, and is free (not trial copies). Any suggestions? >>>>> IAR's visualSTATE http://www.iar.com/vs >>>>> >>>> But it is not free, is it? >>> Nothing in this life is free. >>> >>Perhaps you should find yourself a better life? > >I have a very good life. :) >It is based in reality. Most people believe that. It's generally false. http://www.amazon.com/Species-Denial-Jeremy-Griffith/dp/1741290015 Jon
From: Cesar Rabak on 24 Oct 2009 17:16 Chris H escreveu: > In message <hbt1hj$411$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>, Cesar Rabak > <csrabak(a)bol.com.br> writes >> Dan Henry escreveu: >>> On Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:53:35 +1100, "Marc Hillman" >>> <7owsx1j02(a)sneakemail.com> wrote: >>> >>>> I'm looking for a Statechart (Harel) tool that supports C code >>>> generation, and is free (not trial copies). Any suggestions? >>> IAR's visualSTATE http://www.iar.com/vs >>> >> But it is not free, is it? > > Nothing in this life is free. > This affirmation is a fallacy that gives opportunity to another very interesting thread ;-) -- Cesar Rabak GNU/Linux User 52247. Get counted: http://counter.li.org/
From: Cesar Rabak on 24 Oct 2009 17:17
Marco escreveu: > On Oct 23, 12:52 pm, Cesar Rabak <csra...(a)bol.com.br> wrote: >> Dan Henry escreveu:> On Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:53:35 +1100, "Marc Hillman" >>> <7owsx1...(a)sneakemail.com> wrote: >>>> I'm looking for a Statechart (Harel) tool that supports C code generation, >>>> and is free (not trial copies). Any suggestions? >>> IAR's visualSTATEhttp://www.iar.com/vs >> But it is not free, is it? >> > > > it allowed some states or so for free in the trial version (not sure > if trial legal for commercial use) I haven't looked into this in a > while The OP wrote "not trial copies" so. . . -- Cesar Rabak GNU/Linux User 52247. Get counted: http://counter.li.org/ |