=================================================================== RCS file: /home/cvs/OpenXM/doc/issac2000/design-outline.tex,v retrieving revision 1.2 retrieving revision 1.3 diff -u -p -r1.2 -r1.3 --- OpenXM/doc/issac2000/design-outline.tex 2000/01/02 07:32:11 1.2 +++ OpenXM/doc/issac2000/design-outline.tex 2000/01/03 04:27:52 1.3 @@ -1,4 +1,4 @@ -% $OpenXM: OpenXM/doc/issac2000/design-outline.tex,v 1.1 1999/12/23 10:25:08 takayama Exp $ +% $OpenXM: OpenXM/doc/issac2000/design-outline.tex,v 1.2 2000/01/02 07:32:11 takayama Exp $ \section{Design Outline} @@ -10,19 +10,19 @@ Data integration concerns with the exchange of data be softwares or same softwares. OpenMath \cite{OpenMath} and MP (Multi Protocol) \cite{GKW} are, for example, general purpose mathematical data protocols. -They provides a standard way to express mathematical objects. +They provide a standard way to express mathematical objects. For example, \begin{verbatim} 123 \end{verbatim} -means the (OpenMath) integer $123$ in OpenMath, XML expression. +means the (OpenMath) integer $123$ in OpenMath/XML expression. Control integration concerns with the establishment and management of -inter software communications. +inter-software communications. Control involves, for example, a way to ask computation to other processes -and a method to interrupt computations on servers. +and a method to interrupt computations on servers from a client. RPC, HTTP, MPI, PVM are regarded as a general purpose control protocols or -infrastructure. +infrastructures. MCP (Mathematical Communication Protocol) by Wang \cite{iamc} is such a protocol specialized to mathematics. @@ -41,26 +41,25 @@ our motivations. \item Noro, who is one of the authors of OpenXM, has developed a general purpose computer algebra system Risa/Asir \cite{asir}. A set of functions for interative distributed computations were introduced -in Risa/Asir version 95xxxx release in 1995. +in Risa/Asir version 950831 released in 1995. The model of computation was RPC (remote procedure call) and it had its own serialization method for objects. -One special feature of this system was that computations of remote servers can -be interrupted. A robust interruption method was provided by having two communication channels like ftp, which implements the simple network management protocol. -As an application of this robust and interractive system, +As an application of this robust and interractive distributed computation +system, a huge Gr\"obner basis was computed to determine all replicable functions by Noro and McKay \cite{noro-mckay}. However, the protocol was closed in asir and we thought that we should design an open protocol. \item Takayama, who is also one of the authors of OpenXM, has developed a special purpose computer algebra system Kan/sm1 \cite{kan}, -which is a Gr\"obner engine for ring of differential operators $D$ and +which is a Gr\"obner engine for the ring of differential operators $D$ and a package for computational algebraic geometry via D-module computations. In order to implement algorithms in D-modules due to Oaku (see, e.g., \cite{sst-book}), factorizations and primary ideal decompositions were necessary. -Kan/sm1 does not have an implementation for these and had invoked +Kan/sm1 does not have an implementation for these and called Risa/asir as a C library or a unix external program. This approach was not satisfactory. Especially, we could not write a clean interface code between these @@ -69,17 +68,17 @@ We thought that it is necessary to provide a data and for Risa/asir to work as a server of factorization and primary ideal decomposition. \item The number of mathematical softwares is increasing rapidly in the last -decades of 20th century. +decade of the 20th century. These are usually ``expert'' systems for one area of mathematics such as ideals, groups, numbers, polytopes, and so on. -They has their own interfaces and data format. -Interfaces are usually specialied to specific field of mathematics +They have their own interfaces and data formats. +Interfaces are usually specialied to a specific field of mathematics or poor because developers do not have time for designing user interface languages. It is fine for intensive and serious users of these systems. %% x2 stands for x^2, specialized for polynomial ring. However, for users who want to explore a new area of mathematics with these -softwares or users who needs these systems only occasionally, +softwares or users who need these systems only occasionally, a unified system will be more convinient. For example, if we can call and use mathematical softwares like CoCoa, GAP, Macaulay2, Porta, Singular, Snapea, $\ldots$ @@ -89,7 +88,7 @@ of mathematics. This is an unification of user interfa softwares. \item We believe that open integrated systems is a future of mathematical softwares. -However, it might be just a dream without relizability. +However, it might be just a dream without realizability. We wanted to build a prototype system of such an open system by using existing standards, technologies and several mathematical softwares. We want to see how far we can go with this approach. @@ -102,24 +101,25 @@ fundamental architecture. three types: DATA, COMMAND, and others. The messages are called OX (OpenXM) messages. -Mathematical data are wrapped with OX messages. -We uses standards of mathematical data formats such as OpenMath and MP -and our own data format (CMO --- Common Mathematical Object format) +Mathematical data are wrapped with {\it OX messages}. +We use standards of mathematical data formats such as OpenMath and MP +and our own data format ({\it CMO --- Common Mathematical Object format}) as data expressions. \item Servers, which provide services to other processes, are stackmachines. The stackmachine is called the -OX stackmachine. +{\it OX stackmachine}. Existing mathematical softwares are wrapped with this stackmachine. -Minimal requirements for a target software wrapped with OX stackmachine +Minimal requirements for a target software wrapped with the OX stackmachine are as follows: \begin{enumerate} \item The target must have a seriealized interface such as a character based interface. -\item An output of the target must be machine understandable. -It should follow a grammer that can be parsed with other softwares. +\item An output of the target must be understandable for computer programs; +it should follow a grammer that can be parsed with other softwares. \end{enumerate} \end{enumerate} -We are implementing a package which is realizing our wishes stated as motivations. +We are implementing a package, OpenXM package, +which aims to realize our wishes stated as motivations. It is based on above fundamental architecture. For example, the following is a command sequence to ask $1+1$ from the asir client to the OX sm1 server: @@ -129,11 +129,11 @@ the asir client to the OX sm1 server: ox_execute_string(P,"add"); ox_pop_cmo(P); \end{verbatim} The current system, OpenXM on TCP/IP, -uses client-server model and the TCP/IP for interprocess +uses client-server model and the TCP/IP is used for interprocess communications. -A design and implementation on MPI already exist for Risa/asir and -a OpenXM on MPI is a work in progress. -We focus only on the system based on TCP/IP in this paper. +A prototype OpenXM system on MPI \cite{MPI} already exists for Risa/asir and +a general OpenXM on MPI is a work in progress. +However, we focus only on the system based on TCP/IP in this paper.