4. SVM INTEGRATED WITH ATOM$^3$

SVM can be used as a plugin for AToM$^3$ (A Tool for Multi-formalism Meta-modeling, developed at MSDL, McGill University by Prof. Hans Vangheluwe). It simulates the DCharts models designed in AToM$^3$ on-the-fly, and generates textual model descriptions from the graphical models. It is also able to generate target code directly from the graphical models.

The functionality of the SVM simulator and code synthesizer can be added to an existing AToM$^3$ environment. If the user does not have AToM$^3$ installed yet, he/she must download it from the AToM$^3$ homepage

http://atom3.cs.mcgill.ca/

and install it manually (simply by extracting the package).

After AToM$^3$ is installed, the user should take the following steps to install the SVM plugin:

1. Download and install a recent version of SVM. Though the CVS version is not stable, it is recommended for AToM$^3$ users, because it has increased compatibility with AToM$^3$ and an improved code generator.

2. Add the SVM directory to the PATH environment variable and PYTHONPATH environment. This is to allow the user and the AToM$^3$ environment to invoke SVM directly from any other directory.

3. Copy the plugins/AToM$^3$/DCharts/ directory (and all the files in it) to the AToM$^3$ directory.

4. Start AToM$^3$ and select the ``Options'' item in the ``File'' menu. Modify the settings in the ``Options'' dialog according to Figure 4.1. (Set the ``Dir. for Code Generation'' to ``DCharts''; Set the ``Initial Meta-Model'' is to ``DCharts''; and click on the ``new'' button to insert ``DCharts'' to the ``Path Directories''.)

   Figure 4.1: Settings in the AToM$^3$ ``Options'' dialog to enable the DCharts meta-model

   

5. Restart AToM$^3$ and the DCharts meta-model will be loaded automatically. It is now possible to design DCharts models in the AToM$^3$ environment.