ACP3 1.1 README Updated: Tue Sep 1 15:38:36 1998 by Jeff Dalton ACP3 stands for Air Campaign Planning Process Panel. This file briefly describes the status of the current release, the contents of the ACP3 directory (as distributed) and some of the conventions that are used. For instructions on how to install ACP, see the file INSTALL in this directory. Instructions on how to use ACP3 can be found in INSTALL and in this file, below. Recommended parameters for different screen types are described in the file doc/command-line-arguments. Major parts of ACP3 ------------------- +------------------+ +------------------+ +------------------+ | | | | | | | KQML Watcher | | Process Models | | Viewers | | | | | | | <-->| |--->| |--->| Graph View | | KQML to Process- | | Workflow Stepper | | Matrix View | | Step Mapper | | Process State | | Info Panel | | | | | | | +------------------+ +------------------+ +------------------+ Status as of this release ------------------------- The KQML Watcher can understand a range of KQML messages that it translates into event descriptions that can be understood by the Workflow Stepper. The messages that are sent to ACP3 do not cover all actions in the process, so some events must be inferred. The Workflow Stepper works with a complete model of the process, including all levels of expansion into subactions. When it is told of an event (the start or finish of the execution of an action), it can determine what later actions are then able to execute and can usually determine what earlier, unmonitored events must have occurred. All of the resulting status changes are then sent to the Viewers. The Stepper also determines the status of actions overall, i.e. across all courses of action. Graph and Matrix Views are available. The Matrix can display at the same time the status of all actions and subactions in the process, both for each COA and overall. The Graph can be switched between showing the overall status and showing the status for one particular COA, and it is possible to "drill down" to subactions by clicking on a node. The viewers use process descriptions that could be derived from the model used by the Workflow Stepper, but at present they are created independently. The process models used by the Graph Viewer are created by a process editor editor based on the Viewer. One known problem is that the graph does not contain anything to indicate which process step is being displayed. Using ACP3 ---------- To familiarize yourself with ACP3, read the INSTALL file and follow the instructions for testing the installation. When running ACP3, the user's current directory must be the one in which ACP3 was installed. In that directory, the command bin/acp3 can be used to run ACP3. A number of parameters, such as the size of the fonts ACP3 should use, can be specified by arguments on the command line. The supported arguments and the recommendations for specific screen types are described in the file doc/command-line-arguments A typical way to run ACP3 might be: cd acp3-home-directory bin/acp3 ACP3 registers itself as a KQML agent called "ACP3" with the KQML name server running on the host specified by the Unix environment variable ANS_HOST. (It defaults to the host that is running ACP3.) Note that ANS_HOST can be used to specify only the host, not the port on which the server is listening. The port is fixed at 5500. For further information on running ACP3, see the INSTALL file. Subdirectories and their contents --------------------------------- acp3-logs/ The directory in which ACP3 creates log files when it runs. This directory must be writable by everyone who will run ACP3. bin/ Various executables, including shell scripts for running Java programs. config/ Files of parameter values that can be used with the "-load" command-line argument when running ACP3. doc/ Documentation of various sorts. See doc/README. doc/javadoc/ Documentation produced by javadoc, usually via "make javadoc". html/ HTML files that correspond to the run-time information displays, together with any included images. IMG/ Images used at run-time by ACP3. kqml/ The Java KQML code used by ACP3. The actual files are in kqml/java-src. kqml/lib/kqml.jar is what's normally put in the CLASSPATH. It is a symbolic link to kqml.jar in kqml/java-src. This version was obtained from Terry Padgett on 23 Jan 1998. log/ Various MPA agent log files that can be used for testing. oplan/ The oplan package. By convention, this directory contains only subpackages and files (such as Release.java) that apply to the the oplan package as a whole. oplan/acp3/ The oplan.acp3 package -- classes specific to ACP3. oplan/op3/ The oplan.op3 package -- classes relevant to process panels generally. This package is currently empty. oplan/test/ The oplan.test package. This contains a number of simple main programs used to test various aspects of the system, features of Java, etc. oplan/util/ The oplan.util package -- general-purpose classes, not specific to process panels. Some classes are in subpackages. ProcessModels/ Saved process descriptions used by the viewers and by the workflow stepper. Web Page Supporting ACP3 ------------------------ http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/~arpi/ACP3 is a web page which supports the different releases of ACP3. It contains the distributed system, instructions on installation and use, background information, associated publications, and sample screen images. In future releases, there may be a demonstration (an applet) that can be run from a web-browser.