SimpleGraphics

Abstract

Visualization of complex software applications is an exciting and challenging field. Useful displays are invaluable for developers in analysis of their software systems, and for meaningful system presentations to customers at a higher conceptual level.There have been many notable visualization examples applicable to data centric systems, including the GRASP code visualizer[11], the UW Illustrating Compiler[14], and the Information Space Visualizations embodied in Cone Trees[7] and Data Walls[8]. As conceptual and abstraction levels of these advanced graphics increases and becomes more prevalent, and as the real-world applications become more complicated from concurrency and distribution, the interfacing cohesion process becomes more difficult.This paper describes concepts and issues for integrating visualization techniques into multi-threaded and distributed applications, and shows foundation use available across application domains. SimpleGraphics is a term used in this paper to describe these powerful and rapidly developed visualizations applied to soft real-time applications. For the applications described here to meet the "simple" criteria they must be both conceptually simple and quickly developed - in say under 10 minutes. This leads to their use when appropriate in a "what if" manner, as well as taking them out if no longer needed. Looking ahead, the newer embedded devices, such as the AutoPC or the PalmPilot, have a small graphic foot print and will probably not allow for complicated graphics, leading to more use of abstractions like SimpleGraphics. Newer object oriented concurrency and distribution abstractions are being explored and applied to augment the work since the last International Real-Time Ada Workshop (IRTAW)[6][5]. With pervasive concurrent and distributed systems under development, it becomes clear that better controls and visualizations techniques are necessary, and Ada provides elegant solution techniques that can evolve with changing requirements. The graphic language, Tcl/Tk[9], is used here both for it's portability and its higher abstraction (through less syntax) supporting rapid development feedback.The benefits and impacts from this work include highlighting multi-threaded real-time issues, showing rapid turnaround through reuse, robust development through objects, better visualization techniques, and techniques for interfacing to other languages. In short, the goals of the 9th IRTAW are addressed in various aspects within this body of work.