Aggregate handling of operator overloading

• US 20060130025A1
• Filed: 11/23/2004
• Published: 06/15/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: National Instruments Corporation (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: National Instruments Corporation (Emerson Electric Company)
• Inventors: Walpole, Shawn D.
• Granted Patent: US 7,451,436 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/141
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming

Abstract

System and method for aggregate handling of operator overloading. A program is created, including an aggregate comprising multiple data elements of one or more data types, and an operator applied to the aggregate. At least one of the data types is user-defined, and specifies a user-defined operator function for the operator. The aggregate is analyzed to determine one or more operator functions implementing the operator for the data elements, and executable code invoking the one or more operator functions for the plurality of data elements generated, e.g., for each data element in the aggregate: if the data type of the data element specifies an operator function for the operator, executable code invoking the function may be generated, and if not, then if the data element is another aggregate, the analyzing/generating is performed for the other aggregate, and if the data element is not an aggregate, an error may be indicated.

Claims

1. A memory medium comprising program instructions implementing a program development environment, wherein the program instructions are executable by a processor to implement:

creating a program in response to user input, wherein the program includes an aggregate comprising a plurality of data elements of one or more data types, wherein the program further includes an operator applied to the aggregate, wherein at least one of the one or more data types comprises a user-defined data type, and wherein the user-defined data type specifies a user-defined operator function for the operator;

analyzing the aggregate to determine one or more operator functions implementing the operator for the plurality of data elements, including the user-defined operator function; and

in response to said analyzing, generating executable code invoking the one or more operator functions for the plurality of data elements.

2. The memory medium of claim 1, wherein said analyzing and said generating comprises:

for each data element in the aggregate;

if said analyzing determines that the data type of the data element specifies an operator function for the operator for the data type, generating executable code invoking the operator function; and

if said analyzing determines that the data type of the data element does not specify an operator function for the operator,

determining if the data element is another aggregate;

if the data element is another aggregate, performing said analyzing and said generating on the other aggregate;

if the data element is not an aggregate, indicating an error.

5. The memory medium of claim 1, wherein the aggregate comprises an array.

6. The memory medium of claim 1, wherein the aggregate comprises a cluster.

7. The memory medium of claim 1, wherein the operator comprises:

a unary operator;

or

a binary operator.

8. The memory medium of claim 1, wherein the binary operator operates on the aggregate and one of:

a different aggregate;

a data element of an intrinsic data type;

or

a data element of a user-defined data type.

9. The memory medium of claim 1, wherein said analyzing and said generating are performed at compile-time.

10. The memory medium of claim 9, wherein said analyzing and said generating are performed as part of compiling the program.

11. The memory medium of claim 1, wherein the program instructions are further executable to implement:

executing the program, wherein said executing the program comprises executing the executable code invoking respective operator functions to apply the operator to each data element whose data type specifies an operator function for the operator.

12. The memory medium of claim 1, wherein said analyzing and said generating are performed for each aggregate in a recursive manner.

13. The memory medium of claim 1, wherein said analyzing and said generating are performed for each aggregate in an iterative manner.

14. The memory medium of claim 1, wherein the program comprises a graphical program.

15. The memory medium of claim 14, wherein the graphical program comprises a plurality of interconnected nodes that visually indicate functionality of the graphical program.

16. The memory medium of claim 14, wherein the graphical program comprises a graphical data flow program.

17. The memory medium of claim 1, wherein the program is operable to perform one or more of:

an industrial automation function;

a process control function; and

a test and measurement function.

3. The memory medium of claim 3, wherein the operator comprises an intrinsic operator, and wherein the user-defined operator function for the operator comprises an overloaded operator function for the operator.

4. The memory medium of claim 3, wherein the operator comprises a user-defined operator, and wherein the user-defined operator function for the operator comprises an overloaded operator function for the user-defined operator.

18. A method or aggregate handling of operator overloading, the method comprising:

creating a program in response to user input, wherein the program includes an aggregate comprising a plurality of data elements of one or more data types, wherein the program further includes an operator applied to the aggregate, wherein at least one of the one or more data types comprises a user-defined data type, and wherein the user-defined data type specifies a user-defined operator function for the operator;

analyzing the aggregate to determine one or more operator functions implementing the operator for the plurality of data elements, including the user-defined operator function, and

in response to said analyzing, generating executable code invoking the one or more operator functions for the plurality of data elements.

19. A system for aggregate handling of operator overloading, the method comprising:

a processor; and

a memory medium coupled to the processor, wherein the memory medium comprises program instructions which are executable by the processor to;

create a program in response to user input, wherein the program includes an aggregate comprising a plurality of data elements of one or more data types, wherein the program further includes an operator applied to the aggregate, wherein at least one of the one or more data types comprises a user-defined data type, and wherein the user-defined data type specifies a user-defined operator function for the operator;

analyze the aggregate to determine one or more operator functions implementing the operator for the plurality of data elements, including the user-defined operator function, and

generate executable code invoking the one or more operator functions for the plurality of data element s in response to said analyzing.

20. A system for aggregate handling of operator overloading, the method comprising:

means for creating a program in response to user input, wherein the program includes an aggregate comprising a plurality of data elements of one or more data types, wherein the program further includes an operator applied to the aggregate, wherein at least one of the one or more data types comprises a user-defined data type, and wherein the user-defined data type specifies a user-defined operator function for the operator;

means for analyzing the aggregate to determine one or more operator functions implementing the operator for the plurality of data elements, including the user-defined operator function, and

means for generating executable code invoking the one or more operator functions for the plurality of data elements in response to said analyzing.

21. A memory medium comprising program instructions implementing a graphical program development environment, wherein the program instructions are executable by a processor to perform:

creating a graphical program in response to user input, wherein the graphical program includes an aggregate comprising a plurality of data elements of one or more data types, wherein the graphical program further includes an operator applied to the aggregate, wherein at least one of the one or more data types comprises a user-defined data type, and wherein the user-defined data type specifies a user-defined operator function for the operator;

analyzing the aggregate to determine one or more operator functions implementing the operator for the plurality of data elements, including the user-defined operator function, and

in response to said analyzing, generating executable code invoking the one or more operator functions for the plurality of data elements.

22. A memory medium comprising program instructions implementing a program development environment, wherein the program instructions are executable by a processor to implement:

creating a program in response to user input, wherein the program includes an aggregate comprising a plurality of data elements of one or more data types, wherein the program further includes an operator applied to the aggregate;

a) analyzing the aggregate,

b) in response to said analyzing, for each data element in the aggregate;

b1) if said analyzing determines that the data type of the data element specifies an operator function for the operator for the data type, generating executable code invoking the operator function; and

b2) if said analyzing determines that the data type of the data element does not specify an operator function for the operator,

determining if the data element is another aggregate;

if the data element is another aggregate, performing a) and b) on the other aggregate;

if the data element is not an aggregate, indicating an error.