Rhapsody Tech Blog

The Blog for Rhapsody (Power) Users.

Month: June 2017

Too hot to work…

June 20, 2017 / / 2 Comments

There are people who deny the climate change… I’m not one of them. It is hot here today.. and my Home Office does not have an Aircon… Well… just ignore the heat and keep on writing! Today an item about Class Variables in ‘C’.

Support Case

I got a question in support@willert.de (An email address normally only for customers with a valid support contract. But we will do our best to answer all questions from all people)

The question was: Does Rhapsody in ‘C’ has a possibility to use Class variables, i.e Attributes that are shared over all instances?

The answer is, yes with some little tricks!

Class Variables

Class variables are actually not difficult. Normally, Attributes are generated inside the Class structure and can never be declared static, that is a disadvantage of ,C‘.

But we also have types that we can use. A Type will be generated outside the Class structure. In combination with a <> „New Term“ we can, with a minimal amount of hand labour, create a Class Variable that helps us in creating a real Singleton.

 

The stereotype does the following:

– It sets the name for the variable (prefixed with the class name) and the visibility. – The variable is declared „static“ so it is not visible outside the C file.

– Visibility is set to private.

 

TheType must be „LanguageType“ and the declaration must be the desiredType. %s is the name of theType.

The nice thing about this is that it really looks good in your browser tree, very logical what is happening, as it should be!

Happy Modeling with Rhapsody!

Walter van der Heiden wvdheiden@willert.de

 

The more Objects you ‘C’…

June 19, 2017 / / 1 Comment

A BLOG entry… on this holiday in (most of) Germany.

Many years ago i was asked to work on a project in Germany, in Düsseldorf to be precise. That is when I found out that Germans have lots of holidays, probably more than anywhere in the world, at least a lot more then in the Netherlands.
The number is varying depending in where in Germany you are. The southern states have the most, the Northern states the least. The southern states are also the economically best ones…

Coincidence? I think not.

Since I’m now at home where everybody works, i have enough time to write a BLOG entry. Today about a question that is keeping the embedded world busy since a long time:

Shall I use ‘C’ or ‘C++’?

The answer is not really simple (as expected…). There is a simple answer, it is: “It depends”. Does not help…

Depends on what? Well… on a couple of things:

  • How is your ‘C++’ knowledge? It is not recommended to use an important project for your first ‘C++’ experience…. Stay with ‘C’ if you are comfortable with it.
  • Is there a decent ‘C++’ compiler for your target environment? With decent I mean a real, full-fledged, used by many others ‘C++’ compiler. Not a ‘C++’ front-end, not a crippled C++ compiler.
  • Do you have a lot of legacy code available in ‘C’ or in ‘C++’. Then that should be the language of choice

In earlier days other arguments would have been: how much memory does your target have? Today this is no longer valid. We (Willert) have Rhapsody frameworks available for C and C++ fr many targets. We can also compare between both languages and we have measured that in many case C++ is smaller and faster than C!

For the hard-core ‘C’ programmers: Rhapsody in ‘C’ is an excellent way to learn Object Orientation and eventually ‘C++’!

I learned to program ‘C’ in 1982 in school. I tried to learn ‘C++’ end of the 1990’s. Bought me a book (Unfortunately “The C++ Programming Language by Bjarne Stroustrup”, not exactly a learning book…..) After reading this I was no a single bit wiser about ‘C++’ . I found it very difficult to understand what Classes and Objects were. When I started using Rhapsody in ‘C’ I  started to understand OO while the OO was expressed in ‘C’, which I could read and understand.

So a real answer cannot be given but the trend is towards ‘C++’. My Advise: If you can use ‘C++: do it, if you can’t, think twice about alternatives.

Happy Modeling with Rhapsody!

Walter van der Heiden (wvdheiden@willert.de)

Was ist grün und stinkt nach Fisch….

June 14, 2017 / / 0 Comments

This week we are in Bremen, “we” being my son Robbert (who does an internship @ Willert) and me. The title is German and means:

“What is green and smells fishy”. This is what German soccer fans sing when they play against the local soccer team “Werder Bremen”. Because Bremen is near the sea and you can eat fish here. (Which tastes excellent by the way…) Later some pictures, now some Rhapsody!

Rhapsody First-Aid:

Sometimes Rhapsody is not working as it should. Many “problems” can be solved by installing Rhapsody in the right way and by using it the right way.

Here are some quick solutions that might help improving your Rhapsody Experience:

  • Use the 32-bit version of Rhapsody.
  • OK, Rhapsody brings its own Java JDK but please see that you have a 32-bit version of Java installed.
  • When possible, install “as Administrator”. Just install as admin, do not login as admin!!
  • Do not use “Install for all users” when installing. Please….
  • Do only use “Install all files in one directory” when you install outside “c:\Program Files”, otherwise: don’t!
  • Rhapsody installs in 2 directories: Programs (default: “c:\Program Files”) and Data (default: “c:\users\<you>”)
  • Always install the developer. You can later start the correct version by editing the “rhapsody.ini” file or via the command-line.
  • Edit rhapsody.ini to start the version/language you need. DefaultEdition = Developer/Architect/Designer …, DefaultLanguage = C/C++/Java
  • Install only the languages you _really_ need.
  • If you have multiple versions of Rhapsody installed: only the last one is the default!
  • Before trying to fix stuff: remember that a re-install does not take long.

After installing:

  • When starting Rhapsody for the first time: do it “as Administrator”.
  • Rhapsody heavily relies on the rhapsody.ini in the Data directory (Share) check of there are no duplicates (e.g in the c:\windows directory)
  • Using Rhapsody as Eclipse starts the Version/Language as set in rhapsody.ini
  • Rhapsody is sensitive for having a “Bad Windows”. Many crashes are an indication for a DLL Problem.
  • In 8.2 there is a known Problem when “Active Code View” is on and a diagram is opened.

We hope that this helps you when installing and using Rhapsody!

 

Walter van der Heiden (wvdheiden@willert.de)

Backups are for woozies

June 11, 2017 / / 0 Comments

I always use to say: Rhapsody is a program for real men.

Not that it is unsuitable for women… far from that. I’m jokingly trying to make clear that Rhapsody leaves a lot to the users attention.

Unlike most Windows versions Rhapsody will never warn you when an action can have consequences that might hurt. Hence the “real men”. Apparently they don’t cry in these situations. Unless they have the flu but that’s a different story.

Rhapsody comes in various flavours, C/C++/Java/ADA (C# was discontinued a while ago) and also some SysML and UML Versions. However, there is only one rhapsody.exe on your hard-drive (unless you have multiple versions installed, yeah, yeah)
The command line or rhapsody.ini combined with your license file determines which version is started. Rhapsody says in the menu bar which version you just started, this is where you should pay attention to prevent a lot of work afterwards.

Language

You can open a Rhapsody in ‘C’ model in Rhapsody in ‘C++’, in fact it will still be a Rhapsody in ‘C’ model and ‘C’ will be generated. The “last opened model” list will show you the last opened models regardless of the language. The trouble is when you inadvertently start with a ‘C++’ model and wanted a ‘C’ model. You can repair that but there will always be remains of the original language.

Rhapsody “Version”

I don’t mean 7.4 or 8.0. I mean Architect or Developer. Starting the wrong Rhapsody is not so bad, you will notice when you start using options that are not supported. The models are the same, Rhapsody cannot determine with which version they were made. So you’re OK there.

Version

Now i talk about 7.x or 8.x. That is different. Opening a “new” model with an older version of Rhapsody will not work, you get an error message. Opening an old model with a new Rhapsody works. Unfortunately…. no warning is issued, even not when you press save!

You notice the problem once you try to open the saved model with an older version of Rhapsody again…. no luck…

You can see that your model was older than the Rhapsody version, your model browser will show a “settings” folder that contains entries named CGCompatibilityPreXY. This indicates the model was made in an older version of Rhapsody.

I saved in a new version… what now…

Since 7.4 Rhapsody knows a “Save As” (One ’s’…) where you can select an older version to save to. Looks nice but remember: only 2 versions back… Luckily some newer versions of Rhapsody do not use a different format for the models so you always can go back 4 versions. But going from 8.2 to 7.4 is a lengthy process and involves 6 different Rhapsody versions…. The success is also limited, most versions of Rhapsody complain when doing “save As” that “information will get lost” but no indication is given to what might get lost…

What to do with CGCompatibilityPreXY?

Get rid of them ASAP. How? Easy! Before opening the model with a newer Rhapsody, generate code with the older version. Store that and then open with the new Rhapsody. First generate code and compare. If nothing has changed: lucky you! If there are changes: check if they interfere with your software. If yes either try to find out yourself what you can do about it or ask us: support@willert.de. We will help you as good as possible.
Now click on one of the CGCompatibilityPreXY’s, open the properties, switch to “Locally overridden” and check if this property might influence your model and/or code. If you don’t know: generate code and compare. If you need one of the properties: set it in your own profile, if you don’t need it: dump it. Go on until all properties are accounted for and then delete the CGCompatibilityPreXY file. repeat that for all files until you are done. Beware that there are properties in the CGCompatibilityPreXY files that are only for compatibility reasons. They will not appear in the standard property files! The only way to add them is to add them in the site.prp (or siteC.prp file) (I don’t like that as well but there is no other way)

Crash…

Rhapsody is a very stable program. The latest versions are suffering from some instability however. This is not al to blame on IBM. Most of the problems are caused by Microsoft and IT departments that treat software developers as all the other windows users in the company. Windows policies, lack of rights, incompetent system administrators, a deadly combination. As already said in <<>> link, installing is something to consider carefully.

But… what to do after a crash… or better before a crash. By default Rhapsody makes autosaves, every 10 minutes. So when a crash happened and you start Rhapsody again it will ask you (when opening the crashed model again) “Autosave exists, load autosave?” Be careful what you answer here… it is a one-time answer…. The one you choose will be selected, the other deleted. As I said before… Rhapsody is a program for real man. If in doubt: make a copy first. Or better: use config management.

There is General::Model::AutoSaveInterval, set that to a lower value to increase the saves.General::Model::BackUps can be set to One or Two to make backups of your model when you save. General::Model::SaveBeforeCodeGeneration can be set to TRUE so that code generation automatically saves your model.

 

Happy Modeling with Rapsody!

Walter van der Heiden (wvdheiden@willert.de)

Properties. Stairway to heaven, highway to hell….

June 8, 2017 / / 3 Comments

Where to change?

One of the cool features of Rhapsody is the large number of properties that allow you to configure many things to your needs.

One of the scariest features is the large number of properties that allow you to really make a mess of your model….

The truth here is somewhere in the middle. Properties are definitely very cool but should be used with care.

  1. Do not use Factory.prp or Factory<Lang>.prp to let Rhapsody use your properties. Not never…. Every installation uses its own Factory files and they can be changed so copying them from an old installation is not an option. It is called “Factory” for a reason.
  2. If you really have to change something globally, please use the “Include” statement in the prp files so that  your properties are stored independent of the Rhapsody installation.
  3. Using changes in Site or Factory are not really the best way of doing stuff. You have to install the same files on _every_ workstation in your organization otherwise it is possible that you are confronted with unwanted behavior.
  4. Properties belong in a profile so that you can load many settings in one go. You can store the profiles under the Rhapsody Share directory (Share\properties). When you create a txt file with the same base name as the property file you can add a description and the “New Project” Dialog will show your property file under “Settings”
  5. Not all properties can be set in a profile, model level properties for instance cannot be set on profile level.

Limit Roundtrip errors

A default setting in Rhapsody that really does not make any sense is the Roundtrip settings. Default Rhapsody lets you change whatever you want and hides the results for you. I’ve had crying man on the phone that were desperate while Rhapsody generated code that they could not understand. The default is OK for Rhapsody Experts, they know what to expect but for newbies it is just wrong.

So change:
Browser::Settings::ShowSourceArtifacts to TRUE and
C_Roundtrip::General::RoundtripScheme to Basic

That will limit your changes to what you can change anyway (Function contents and other stuff that is between  /*#[ …. */ and /*#]*/

Model Beautifier

Curves are nice but in different types of models. Not in UML models. For reasons beyond our understanding IBM has chosen curved as default. There are a lot of properties involved to cure  that. This is done best in a profile. In Subject “StatechartDiagram” you can find al the properties you need.
StatechartDiagram::Transition::line_style set to rectilinear (or rounded_rectilinear)
I think you can handle the rest of the properties yourself. Another that is useful is:
StatechartDiagram::Requirement::RequirementNotation set to Box_style if you want.
ObjectModelGe::Requirement::ShowAnnotationContents can be set to “Specification” because that is what you want to see.
As you see, all model elements have properties in different diagram types, yes… you have to change them all. A bit of work but very rewarding!

User defined Types

When using your own types you will notice that the PreDefinedTypes packages stay there (and cannot be deleted). You can however hide them with:Browser::Settings::ShowPredefinedPackage to False.
Then you can either create a package with your own types, or use a package with external types and include <stdint.h> to use C99 (or define C++ stdint types)
Change: General::Model::CommonTypes and add your own type packages (Use fully qualified names when using subpackages!, multiple packages can be separated by ‘,’) to have only your own types when selecting the type for attributes or arguments etc. In General::Model::DefaultType you can set the default (“TypePkg::Type”).

 

Happy Modeling with Rhapsody!

Walter van der Heiden (wvdheiden@willert.de)

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