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Generating and Starting an SDL Explorer


There are two ways to generate and start a explorer:

In the following, the more complex way will be described first, to give a full understanding of the process. The quick way is described in Quick Start of an SDL Explorer.

Generating an Explorer

The Explorer is implemented as a precompiled run-time kernel to the SDL to C Compiler. To start an Explorer for an SDL system, or a part of an SDL system, it is thus necessary to first generate an executable explorer. This is done from the Organizer.

To generate an executable explorer:

  1. Select a system, block, or process diagram in the Organizer.
  2. Select Make from the Generate menu. The Make dialog is opened.
  3. Turn on the options Analyze & generate code and Makefile.
  4. From the Standard kernel option menu, select Validation.
  5. If you need to check the Analyzer options, click the Analyze Options button. In the dialog, set the options and click the Set button. For more information about these options, see Analyzing Using Customized Options.
  6. Click the Make button.
    An explorer for the system is now generated in the current directory with the name <system>_xxx.val (on UNIX), or <system>_xxx.exe (in Windows), where the _xxx suffix is platform or kernel/compiler specific. The Status Bar of the Organizer reports the progress of the generation; the last message should be "Compiler done."
  7. Open the Organizer Log window from the Tools menu and check that no errors occurred and that an explorer was generated.

Starting an SDL Explorer

An executable explorer can be run in two different modes; graphical mode and stand-alone mode (textual mode).

Graphical Mode

In graphical mode, the Explorer takes advantage of the graphical user interface and integration mechanism of the SDL Suite. A separate graphical user interface, the Explorer UI, is started, giving access to the monitor system through the use of menus, command buttons, etc.

To start an explorer in graphical mode:

  1. Select SDL > Explorer UI from the Organizer's Tools menu. The graphical user interface of the Explorer is opened (see The Graphical Interface).
  2. Select Open from the Explorer UI's File menu. A File Selection Dialog dialog is opened.
    • Alternatively, click the Open quick button in the tool bar.
  3. In the dialog, locate and select an executable explorer and click OK.

A welcome message is printed in the text area of the Explorer UI. The monitor system is now ready to accept commands. Please see Supplying Values of External Synonyms for some additional information that may affect the start-up.

Stand-alone Mode (Textual Mode)

In stand-alone mode, the Explorer uses the input and output devices currently defined on your computer, which provide a textual, command line based user interface. A very limited graphical support is provided when running the Explorer in this mode.

To start an explorer in stand-alone mode, the generated explorer is executed directly from the OS prompt, e.g.

csh% ./system_vla.val

A welcome message is printed on the terminal:

Welcome to SDL EXPLORER

Command :

The monitor system is now ready to accept commands. Please see Supplying Values of External Synonyms for some additional information that may affect the start-up.

Note:

On UNIX, before an explorer can be run in stand-alone mode, you must execute a command file from the operating system prompt. The file is called telelogic.sou or telelogic.profile and is located in the binary directory that is included in your $path variable.
For csh-compatible shells: source <bin.dir>/telelogic.sou
For sh-compatible shells: . <bin.dir>/telelogic.profile

Quick Start of an SDL Explorer

An explorer can also be generated and automatically started in graphical mode in one single step.

To quick start an explorer, click the Explore quick button in the Organizer's tool bar. The following things happen:

It is possible to start an explorer for a part of an SDL system (a block or a process) by selecting the block/process and then clicking on the Explore button.

Restarting an SDL Explorer

An executing explorer can be restarted from the beginning to reset its state completely:

Supplying Values of External Synonyms

The SDL system for the explorer may contain external synonyms that do not have a corresponding macro definition (see External Synonyms). In that case, you will be asked to supply the values of these synonyms, either by selecting a file with synonym definitions or by entering each synonym value from the keyboard.

In stand-alone mode, the following prompt appears:

External synonym file :

Enter the name of a file containing synonym definitions, or press <Return> to be prompted for each synonym value.

In graphical mode, a file selection dialog is opened. Either select a file (*.syn) containing synonym definitions, or press Cancel to be prompted for each value in a separate dialog. In this dialog, the name and type of the synonym is shown together with an input text field. You can now do one of the following:

If a synonym file is selected in the file selection dialog, this file is also used when the explorer is restarted. (If you by any chance want to use another synonym file you have to start a new Explorer UI.)

If you set the environment variable SDTEXTSYNFILE to a file before starting the SDL Suite, this file will automatically be used. If SDTEXTSYNFILE is set to "[[" all synonyms are given "null" values.

The syntax of a synonym file is described in Reading Values at Program Start up.

Actions on Explorer Start-up

When an explorer is started, the static process instances in the system are created, but their initial transitions are not executed.

In some cases when the Explorer is started, a message is printed that it is not possible to generate test values for all sorts and/or signal parameters. This has to do with the automatic test value generation mechanism that is used in the Explorer. It happens if there are signals coming from the environment of the SDL system that have parameters of a sort that the test value generation cannot handle. To overcome this, define some test values for the sort that the Explorer is complaining about. See Defining Signals from the Environment for more information.


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