=================================================================== RCS file: /home/cvs/OpenXM/doc/issac2000/design-outline.tex,v retrieving revision 1.1 retrieving revision 1.5 diff -u -p -r1.1 -r1.5 --- OpenXM/doc/issac2000/design-outline.tex 1999/12/23 10:25:08 1.1 +++ OpenXM/doc/issac2000/design-outline.tex 2000/01/11 05:35:48 1.5 @@ -1,2 +1,139 @@ -% $OpenXM$ +% $OpenXM: OpenXM/doc/issac2000/design-outline.tex,v 1.4 2000/01/07 07:52:26 ohara Exp $ + +\section{Design Outline} + +As Schefstr\"om clarified in \cite{schefstrom}, +integration of tools and softwares has three dimensions: +data, control, and user interface. + +Data integration concerns with the exchange of data between different +softwares or same softwares. +OpenMath \cite{OpenMath} and MP (Multi Protocol) \cite{GKW} are, +for example, general purpose mathematical data protocols. +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. + +Control integration concerns with the establishment and management of +inter-software communications. +Control involves, for example, a way to ask computation to other processes +and a method to interrupt computations on servers from a client. +RPC, HTTP, MPI, PVM are regarded as a general purpose control protocols or +infrastructures. +MCP (Mathematical Communication Protocol) +by Wang \cite{iamc} is such a protocol specialized to mathematics. + +Although, data and control are orthogonal to each other, +real world requires both. +NetSolve \cite{netsolve}, OpenMath$+$MCP, MP$+$MCP \cite{iamc}, +and MathLink of Mathematica provide both data and control integration. +These are currently studied ways of data and control integration. +Each integration method has their own special features due to their +own design goals and design motivations. +OpenXM is a project aiming to integrate data, control and user interfaces +from a different emphasis of a set of design goals with other projects. +To explain our design outline, we start with a list of +our motivations. +\begin{enumerate} +\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 interactive distributed computations were introduced +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. +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 interactive distributed computation +system, speed-up was achieved for a huge Gr\"obner basis computation +to determine all odd order 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 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 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 +two systems. +We thought that it is necessary to provide a data and control protocol +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 +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 have their own interfaces and data formats. +Interfaces are usually specialized 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 need these systems only occasionally, +a unified system will be more convenient. +For example, if we can call and use mathematical softwares +like CoCoa, GAP, Macaulay2, Porta, Singular, Snapea, $\ldots$ +from Asir, Axiom, Maple, muPAD, Mathematica, and so on, +it will be wonderful in research and education +of mathematics. This is an unification of user interfaces of mathematical +softwares. +\item We believe that an open integrated system is a future of mathematical +softwares. +However, it might be just a dream without realizability. +We want 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. +\end{enumerate} + +Motivated with these, we started the OpenXM project with the following +fundamental architecture. +\begin{enumerate} +\item Communication is an exchange of messages. The messages are classified into +three types: +DATA, COMMAND, and others. +The messages are called OX (OpenXM) messages. +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 stack machines. +The stack machine is called the +{\it OX stack machine}. +Existing mathematical softwares are wrapped with this stack machine. +Minimal requirements for a target software wrapped with the OX stack machine +are as follows: +\begin{enumerate} +\item The target must have a serialized interface such as a character based +interface. +\item An output of the target must be understandable for computer programs; +it should follow a grammar that can be parsed with other softwares. +\end{enumerate} +\end{enumerate} +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: +\begin{verbatim} + P = sm1_start(); + ox_push_cmo(P,1); ox_push_cmo(P,1); + 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 is used for interprocess +communications. +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. + +