Pattern modeling methods and systems

• US 8,336,025 B1
• Filed: 02/08/2007
• Issued: 12/18/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The MathWorks, Inc.
• Original Assignee: The MathWorks, Inc.
• Inventors: Hosagrahara, Arvind S., Smith, Paul F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kendall, Chuck
• Application Number:
  US11/703,732
• Time in Patent Office: 2,140 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 717/111
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/24 Object-oriented
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming

Abstract

In a computer-implemented method, models are designed with a design tool. A selected construct is determined. A selected computing environment, into which the selected construct is being placed, is identified, the computing environment being selected from at least one textual and at least one graphical computing environments. A template based on the selected computing environment is selected. The selected template is inserted into the selected computing environment.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

determining, by a computer, a user selected construct within a design tool;

receiving, by the computer, a selection of a computing environment within the design tool, the computing environment being selected from at least one textual computing environment and at least one graphical computing environment;

identifying, by the computer, the selected computing environment into which the user selected construct is placed;

determining, by the computer, a position of the user selected construct placed in the selected computing environment;

selecting, by the computer, a template based on the selected computing environment and the user selected construct; and

inserting, by the computer, the selected template into the selected computing environment at the determined position in the selected computing environment.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the textual computing environment includes at least one of a C environment, a Python environment, a Javascript environment, a hardware description language environment, an Octave environment, or a dynamically typed language environment, and the graphical computing environment includes at least one of a time-based graphical modeling environment, a block-based environment, a chart-based environment, a state-based diagram environment, a data flow diagram environment, an entity flow network diagram environment, an electronic design automation environment, a Schematic Layout environment, or a Unified Modeling Language environment.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the construct includes computer-readable medium encoded with at least one of:

IF-END-IF,

IF-cascade of ELSE IF-END IF,

SWITCH condition—

cascade of CASE,

DO-WHILE loop,

REPEAT-UNTIL loop,

Proportional-Integral-Derivative controller,

Proportional-Integral controller,

Proportional-Derivative controller,

Integral-Derivative controller,

Proportional controller,

Derivative controller,

Integral controller,

IF-nested IF condition-nested IF condition-END IF-END IF,

FOR loop,

SIMPLE STATE MACHINE,

TOP LEVEL ARCHITECTURE,

IF-THEN-ELSE-IF,

IF-THEN-IF,

IF-THEN,

IF-THEN-ELSE,

IF,

cascade of IF-THEN,

FOR-WHILE,

FOR-loop,

WHILE-loop,

parameterized construct,

case,

combination of logical signals,

vector signals,

conditions,

conditions with subconditions,

UNLESS conditions,

algorithmic components,

physical systems,

physical subsystems, or

conditions that are visually separated.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the design tool is a standalone graphical application.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the design tool comprises a floating tool bar window.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

creating a construct based on a user input;

storing the created construct in the design tool;

creating a construct icon that corresponds to the created construct; and

displaying the construct icon corresponding to the created construct in a list of constructs on a user interface screen.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising:

at least one of exporting or importing the created construct among selected client computers; and

sharing the created construct among the selected computers.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising:

automatically updating design tools of the selected client computers with the created construct.

9. The method according to claim 7, further comprising:

automatically updating a list of constructs of a user interface screen associated with selected client computers with the created construct icon; and

displaying the created construct icon in the updated list of constructs of the user interface screen of selected client computers.

10. A method for designing models, comprising at least one of:

downloading software to a computer system, which software, when executed by the computer system, causes the computer system to perform operations comprising the method of claim 1;

or

providing downloadable software to a computer system, which software, when executed by the computer system, causes the computer system to perform operations comprising the method of claim 1.

47. The method according to claim 2, wherein the dynamically typed language environment is MATLAB®

, the time-based graphical modeling environment is SIMULINK®

, or the state-based diagram environment is STATEFLOW®

.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising software that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform operations, the computer-readable medium comprising:

instructions for determining a user selected construct within a design tool;

instructions for receiving a selection of a computing environment within the design tool, the computing environment being selected from at least one textual computing environment and at least one graphical computing environment;

instructions for identifying the selected computing environment into which the selected user construct is placed;

instructions for determining a position of the user selected construct placed in the selected computing environment;

instructions for selecting a template based on the selected computing environment and the user selected construct; and

instructions for inserting the selected template into the selected computing environment at the determined position in the selected computing environment.

12. The non-transitory medium according to claim 11, wherein the textual computing environment includes at least one of a C environment, a Python environment, a Javascript environment, a hardware description language environment, an Octave environment, or a dynamically typed language environment, and the graphical computing environment includes at least one of a time-based graphical modeling environment, a block-based environment, a chart-based environment, a state-based diagram environment, a data flow diagram environment, an entity flow network diagram environment, an electronic design automation environment, a Schematic Layout environment, or a Unified Modeling Language environment.

13. The non-transitory medium according to claim 11, wherein the construct includes at least one of:

IF-END-IF,

IF-cascade of ELSE IF-END IF,

SWITCH condition—

cascade of CASE,

DO-WHILE loop,

REPEAT-UNTIL loop,

Proportional-Integral-Derivative controller,

Proportional-Integral controller,

Proportional-Derivative controller,

Integral-Derivative controller,

Proportional controller,

Derivative controller,

Integral controller,

IF-nested IF condition-nested IF condition-END IF-END IF,

FOR loop,

SIMPLE STATE MACHINE,

TOP LEVEL ARCHITECTURE,

IF-THEN-ELSE-IF,

IF-THEN-IF,

IF-THEN,

IF-THEN-ELSE,

IF,

cascade of IF-THEN,

FOR-WHILE,

FOR-loop,

WHILE-loop,

parameterized construct,

case,

combination of logical signals,

vector signals,

conditions,

conditions with subconditions,

UNLESS conditions,

algorithmic components,

physical systems,

physical subsystems, or

conditions which are visually separated.

14. The non-transitory medium according to claim 11, wherein the design tool is a standalone graphical application.

15. The non-transitory medium according to claim 11, wherein the design tool comprises a floating tool bar window.

16. The non-transitory medium according to claim 11, further comprising:

instructions for creating a construct based on a user input;

instructions for storing the created construct in the design tool;

instructions for creating a construct icon which corresponds to the created construct; and

instructions for displaying the construct icon corresponding to the created construct in a list of constructs on a user interface screen.

17. The non-transitory medium according to claim 16, further comprising:

instructions for at least one of exporting or importing the created construct among selected client computers.

18. The non-transitory medium according to claim 17, wherein the exporting and importing the created construct comprises:

automatically updating design tools of the selected client computers with the created construct.

19. The non-transitory medium according to claim 17, further comprising:

automatically updating a list of constructs of a user interface screen associated with selected client computers with the created construct icon; and

displaying the created construct icon in the updated list of constructs of the user interface screen of selected client computers.

48. The non-transitory medium according to claim 12, wherein the dynamically typed language environment is MATLAB®

, the time-based graphical modeling environment is SIMULINK®

, or the state-based diagram environment is STATEFLOW®

.

20. A computer and a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising software that, when executed by the computer, causes the computer to perform operations, the computer-readable medium comprising:

instructions for determining a user selected construct within a design tool;

instructions for receiving a selection of a computing environment within the design tool, the computing environment being selected from at least one textual computing environment and at least one graphical computing environment;

instructions for identifying the selected computing environment into which the selected construct is placed;

instructions for determining a position of the selected user construct placed in the selected computing environment;

instructions for selecting a template based on the selected computing environment and the user selected construct; and

instructions for inserting the selected template into the selected computing environment at the determined position in the selected computing environment.

21. The computer and non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 20, wherein the textual computing environment includes at least one of a C environment, a Python environment, a Javascript environment, a hardware description language environment, an Octave environment, or a dynamically typed language environment, and the graphical computing environment includes at least one of a time-based graphical modeling environment, a block-based environment, a chart-based environment, a state-based diagram environment, a data flow diagram environment, an entity flow network diagram environment, an electronic design automation environment, a Schematic Layout environment, or a Unified Modeling Language environment.

22. The computer and non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 20, wherein the construct includes at least one of:

IF-END-IF,

IF-cascade of ELSE IF-END IF,

SWITCH condition—

cascade of CASE,

DO-WHILE loop,

REPEAT-UNTIL loop,

Proportional-Integral-Derivative controller,

Proportional-Integral controller,

Proportional-Derivative controller,

Integral-Derivative controller,

Proportional controller,

Derivative controller,

Integral controller,

IF-nested IF condition-nested IF condition-END IF-END IF,

FOR loop,

SIMPLE STATE MACHINE,

TOP LEVEL ARCHITECTURE,

IF-THEN-ELSE-IF,

IF-THEN-IF,

IF-THEN,

IF-THEN-ELSE,

IF,

cascade of IF-THEN,

FOR-WHILE,

FOR-loop,

WHILE-loop,

parameterized construct,

case,

combination of logical signals,

vector signals,

conditions,

conditions with subconditions,

UNLESS conditions,

algorithmic components,

physical systems,

physical subsystems, or

conditions which are visually separated.

23. The computer and non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 20, wherein the design tool is a standalone graphical application.

24. The computer and non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 20, wherein the design tool comprises a floating tool bar window.

25. The computer and non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 20, the computer-readable medium further comprising:

instructions for creating a construct based on a user input;

instructions for storing the created construct in the design tool;

instructions for creating a construct icon which corresponds to the created construct; and

instructions for displaying the construct icon corresponding to the created construct in a list of constructs on a user interface screen.

26. The computer and non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 25, the computer-readable medium further comprising:

instructions for at least one of exporting or importing the created construct among selected client computers.

27. The computer and non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 26, further comprising:

automatically updating design tools of the selected client computers with the created construct.

28. The computer and non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 26, further comprising:

automatically updating a list of constructs of a user interface screen associated with each selected computer with the created construct icon; and

displaying the created construct icon in the updated list of constructs of the user interface screen of each selected computer.

49. The computer and non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 21, wherein the dynamically typed language environment is MATLAB®

, the time-based graphical modeling environment is SIMULINK®

, or the state-based diagram environment is STATEFLOW®

.

29. A design tool comprising:

a processor configured to;

determine a user selected construct within the design tool;

receive a selection of a computing environment within the design tool, the computing environment being selected from at least one textual computing environment and at least one graphical computing environment;

identify the selected computing environment into which the selected construct is placed;

determine a position of the user selected construct placed in the selected computing environment;

select a template based on the selected computing environment and the user selected construct; and

insert the selected template into the selected computing environment at the determined position in the selected computing environment.

30. The design tool according to claim 29, wherein the textual computing environment includes at least one of a C environment, a Python environment, a Javascript environment, a hardware description language environment, an Octave environment, or a dynamically typed language environment, and the graphical computing environment includes at least one of a time-based graphical modeling environment, a block-based environment, a chart-based environment, a state-based diagram environment, a data flow diagram environment, an entity flow network diagram environment, an electronic design automation environment, a Schematic Layout environment, or a Unified Modeling Language environment.

31. The design tool according to claim 29, wherein the construct includes at least one of:

IF-END-IF,

IF-cascade of ELSE IF-END IF,

SWITCH condition—

cascade of CASE,

DO-WHILE loop,

REPEAT-UNTIL loop,

Proportional-Integral-Derivative controller,

Proportional-Integral controller,

Proportional-Derivative controller,

Integral-Derivative controller,

Proportional controller,

Derivative controller,

Integral controller,

IF-nested IF condition-nested IF condition-END IF-END IF,

FOR loop,

SIMPLE STATE MACHINE,

TOP LEVEL ARCHITECTURE,

IF-THEN-ELSE-IF,

IF-THEN-IF,

IF-THEN,

IF-THEN-ELSE,

IF,

cascade of IF-THEN,

FOR-WHILE,

FOR-loop,

WHILE-loop,

parameterized construct,

case,

combination of logical signals,

vector signals,

conditions,

conditions with subconditions,

UNLESS conditions,

algorithmic components,

physical systems,

physical subsystems, or

conditions which are visually separated.

32. The design tool according to claim 29, wherein the design tool comprises a standalone graphical application.

33. The design tool according to claim 29, wherein the design tool comprises a floating tool bar window.

34. The design tool according to claim 29, wherein the processor is further configured to:

create a construct based on a user input;

store the created construct;

create a construct icon which corresponds to the created construct; and

display the construct icon corresponding to the created construct.

35. The design tool according to claim 34, wherein the processor is further configured to:

at least one of export or import the created construct among selected client computers.

36. The design tool according to claim 35, wherein the export or import comprises:

automatically updating storage of each selected client computer with the created construct and displaying selected client computers with the created construct icon.

50. The system according to claim 30, wherein the dynamically typed language environment is MATLAB®

, the time-based graphical modeling environment is SIMULINK®

, or the state-based diagram environment is STATEFLOW®

.

37. A system comprising:

a construct determining mechanism to determine a user selected construct within a design tool, the construct determining mechanism comprising at least one processor;

a computing environment determining mechanism to identify a selected computing environment into which the user selected construct is placed, the computing environment being selected from at least one textual computing environment and at least one graphical computing environment, the computing environment determining mechanism comprising at least one processor;

a position determining mechanism to determine a position of the user selected construct laced into the selected computing environment, the position determining mechanism comprising at least one processor;

a template selector to select a template based on the selected computing environment and the user selected construct, the template selector comprising at least one processor; and

a template inserter to insert the selected template into the selected computing environment, wherein the template inserter inserts the selected template at the determined position into the selected computing environment, the template inserter comprising at least one processor.

38. The system according to claim 37, wherein the textual computing environment includes at least one of a C environment, a Python environment, a Javascript environment, a hardware description language environment, an Octave environment, or a dynamically typed language environment, and the graphical computing environment includes at least one of a time-based graphical modeling environment, a block-based environment, a chart-based environment, a state-based diagram environment, a data flow diagram environment, an entity flow network diagram environment, an electronic design automation environment, a Schematic Layout environment, or a Unified Modeling Language environment.

39. The system according to claim 37, wherein the construct includes at least one of:

IF-END-IF,

IF-cascade of ELSE IF-END IF,

SWITCH condition—

cascade of CASE,

DO-WHILE loop,

REPEAT-UNTIL loop,

Proportional-Integral-Derivative controller,

Proportional-Integral controller,

Proportional-Derivative controller,

Integral-Derivative controller,

Proportional controller,

Derivative controller,

Integral controller,

IF-nested IF condition-nested IF condition-END IF-END IF,

FOR loop,

SIMPLE STATE MACHINE,

TOP LEVEL ARCHITECTURE,

IF-THEN-ELSE-IF,

IF-THEN-IF,

IF-THEN,

IF-THEN-ELSE,

IF,

cascade of IF-THEN,

FOR-WHILE,

FOR-loop,

WHILE-loop,

parameterized construct,

case,

combination of logical signals,

vector signals,

conditions,

conditions with subconditions,

UNLESS conditions,

algorithmic components,

physical systems,

physical subsystems, or

conditions which are visually separated.

40. The system according to claim 37, wherein the design tool is a standalone graphical application.

41. The system according to claim 37, wherein the design tool comprises a floating tool bar window.

42. The system according to claim 37, further comprising:

a construct creating mechanism to create a construct based on a user input and store the created construct in the design tool;

a mechanism to create a construct icon corresponding to the created construct; and

a design tool bar window to store an icon of the created construct and display the construct icon corresponding to the created construct.

43. The system according to claim 42, further comprising:

an exporting and importing mechanism to at least one of export or import the created construct among selected client computers.

44. The system according to claim 43, wherein the exporting and importing mechanism comprises:

an updating mechanism to automatically update design tools and design tool windows of the selected client computers with respective created construct and created construct icon.

45. The system according to claim 37, further comprising:

a host computer which is programmed for perform steps of;

creating a construct based on a user input;

creating a construct icon corresponding to the created construct; and

exporting the created construct among selected client computers so that users of the selected computers share the created construct.

51. The system according to claim 38, wherein the dynamically typed language environment is MATLAB®

, the time-based graphical modeling environment is SIMULINK®

, or the state-based diagram environment is STATEFLOW®

.

46. A hierarchical computing system comprising:

one or more processors configured to execute;

a first computing layer including at least one textual computing environment;

a second computing layer including at least one graphical computing environment;

a third computing layer disposed on the first and second computing layers;

a fourth computing layer disposed on the third computing layer and including constructs, the one or more processors configured to execute instructions to perform steps of;

determining a user selected construct for placing into a selected computing environment,

identifying the selected computing environment,

transforming the user selected construct with the third layer into a format compatible with the selected computing environment, and

inserting the transformed construct into a corresponding first or second computing layer.