The document outlines a five-step process for building distributed systems using the RTI Connext platform, focusing on articulating concepts, defining structure, configuring behavior, and adjusting quality of service policies. It highlights challenges in distributed systems, including design considerations and performance factors, while providing coding examples in Lua to illustrate component behavior. The training also covers practical applications and transformations, emphasizing rapid development and dynamic scripting capabilities.

1. RTI QuickStart Training
Build it Fast:
5 Steps from Concept to Working
Distributed System
Rajive Joshi, Ph.D.
Principal Solution Architect
Webinar
Real-Time Innovations Inc.
September 25, 2013

2. Once Upon a Late Night …

3. Agenda
• Why is building distributed systems hard?
• The 5 Critical Steps – Best Practice
• The Prototyper – Separating Structure and
Behavior
• Defining structure using XML
• Coding behavior using Lua – A Small Fast Dynamic
Scripting Language
• Real-World Example
• Summary

4. Why is Building Distributed Systems Hard?
• Logical Design Considerations
– Data flows
– Data delivery: availability, timing, ordering, reliability, filtering,
fault tolerance, etc.
– Component behaviors
• Physical Design Considerations
– Platform Differences: CPU, OS, Programming Languages
– Discovery and Network configurations
– Low Level Device I/O
• Performance & Scalability Considerations
– # of data flows
– # of components/endpoints
– Latency vs. Throughput

5. The 5 Critical Steps
Articulate Concept
1. Draw a diagram of the components and the interconnecting data-
flows
Define Structure
2. Define the data types for the interconnecting data flows (in IDL or
XML)
3. Define the system structure as a collection of data-oriented
component interfaces (in XML)
Configure Behavior
4. Code the component behavior (in the Lua scripting language)
5. Adjust QoS policies to achieve the desired data-flow behavior
Best
Practice

6. The RTI Connext Platform Continues to Grow…
C/C++/Java/C#/Ada
• Code Generation
• Edit/Compile/Link/Run
Lua Scripting (in RTI Prototyper Runtime)
• Edit/Run(live update)
New!

7. The RTI Prototyper with Lua
1. -- Interface: parameters, inputs, outputs
2. local A, B, C = 30, 30, 10 -- Change the 'C' parameter to to see various flower shapes
3. local ShapeWriter = CONTAINER.WRITER[3] -- Triangles
4.
5. -- Global counter (preserved across invocations)
6. if not count then count = 0 else count = count + 1 end
7.
8. local shape = ShapeWriter.instance;
9. local angle = count % 360;
10.
11. shape['x'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.cos(angle) + B * math.cos((A/B-C)*angle)
12. shape['y'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.sin(angle) + B * math.sin((A/B-C)*angle)
13.
14. shape['shapesize'] = 5
15. shape['color'] = "RED"
16.
17. ShapeWriter:write() Lua Component
N inputs M outputs
DDS

8. Prototyper (Container)
The RTI Prototyper with Lua
Lua Engine
1. -- Interface: parameters, inputs, outputs
2. local A, B, C = 30, 30, 10 -- Change the 'C' parameter to to see various flower shapes
3. local ShapeWriter = CONTAINER.WRITER[3] -- Triangles
4.
5. -- Global counter (preserved across invocations)
6. if not count then count = 0 else count = count + 1 end
7.
8. local shape = ShapeWriter.instance;
9. local angle = count % 360;
10.
11. shape['x'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.cos(angle) + B * math.cos((A/B-C)*angle)
12. shape['y'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.sin(angle) + B * math.sin((A/B-C)*angle)
13.
14. shape['shapesize'] = 5
15. shape['color'] = "RED"
16.
17. ShapeWriter:write()
DDS
Lua Component
Behavior

9. Prototyper (Container)
The RTI Prototyper with Lua
Lua Engine
1. -- Interface: parameters, inputs, outputs
2. local A, B, C = 30, 30, 10 -- Change the 'C' parameter to to see various flower shapes
3. local ShapeWriter = CONTAINER.WRITER[3] -- Triangles
4.
5. -- Global counter (preserved across invocations)
6. if not count then count = 0 else count = count + 1 end
7.
8. local shape = ShapeWriter.instance;
9. local angle = count % 360;
10.
11. shape['x'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.cos(angle) + B * math.cos((A/B-C)*angle)
12. shape['y'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.sin(angle) + B * math.sin((A/B-C)*angle)
13.
14. shape['shapesize'] = 5
15. shape['color'] = "RED"
16.
17. ShapeWriter:write()
Lua Component
Behavior
DDS
Settings
(Structure/
Wiring)
Bind the
Component
Interface
(to data-space)

10. Prototyper (Container)
The RTI Prototyper with Lua
Lua Engine
1. -- Interface: parameters, inputs, outputs
2. local A, B, C = 30, 30, 10 -- Change the 'C' parameter to to see various flower shapes
3. local ShapeWriter = CONTAINER.WRITER[3] -- Triangles
4.
5. -- Global counter (preserved across invocations)
6. if not count then count = 0 else count = count + 1 end
7.
8. local shape = ShapeWriter.instance;
9. local angle = count % 360;
10.
11. shape['x'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.cos(angle) + B * math.cos((A/B-C)*angle)
12. shape['y'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.sin(angle) + B * math.sin((A/B-C)*angle)
13.
14. shape['shapesize'] = 5
15. shape['color'] = "RED"
16.
17. ShapeWriter:write()
Lua Component
Behavior
DDS
Settings
(Structure/
Wiring)
Bind the
Component
Interface
(to data-space)
Prototyper
determines
when the
Lua Component
runs

11. Prototyper (Container)
The RTI Prototyper with Lua
Lua Engine
1. -- Interface: parameters, inputs, outputs
2. local A, B, C = 30, 30, 10 -- Change the 'C' parameter to to see various flower shapes
3. local ShapeWriter = CONTAINER.WRITER[3] -- Triangles
4.
5. -- Global counter (preserved across invocations)
6. if not count then count = 0 else count = count + 1 end
7.
8. local shape = ShapeWriter.instance;
9. local angle = count % 360;
10.
11. shape['x'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.cos(angle) + B * math.cos((A/B-C)*angle)
12. shape['y'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.sin(angle) + B * math.sin((A/B-C)*angle)
13.
14. shape['shapesize'] = 5
15. shape['color'] = "RED"
16.
17. ShapeWriter:write()
Lua Component
Behavior
DDS
Settings
(Structure/
Wiring)
Bind the
Component
Interface
(to data-space)
Prototyper
determines
when the
Lua Component
runs
Lua Component
state preserved
across runs
(code can change!)

12. Prototyper (Container)
The RTI Prototyper with Lua
Lua Engine
1. -- Interface: parameters, inputs, outputs
2. local A, B, C = 30, 30, 10 -- Change the 'C' parameter to to see various flower shapes
3. local ShapeWriter = CONTAINER.WRITER[3] -- Triangles
4.
5. -- Global counter (preserved across invocations)
6. if not count then count = 0 else count = count + 1 end
7.
8. local shape = ShapeWriter.instance;
9. local angle = count % 360;
10.
11. shape['x'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.cos(angle) + B * math.cos((A/B-C)*angle)
12. shape['y'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.sin(angle) + B * math.sin((A/B-C)*angle)
13.
14. shape['shapesize'] = 5
15. shape['color'] = "RED"
16.
17. ShapeWriter:write()
DDS
Settings
(Structure/
Wiring)
RTI
Community
Portal
Download
Lua Component
Behavior
For details, see:
Getting Started
Guide
Bind the
Component
Interface
(to data-space)

13. Dynamically Scriptable (in Lua)
Distributed Components
(using DDS)
Data Distribution Service (DDS)
1. -- Interface: parameters, inputs, outputs
2. local A, B, C = 30, 30, 10 -- Change the 'C' parameter to to see various flower shapes
3. local ShapeWriter = CONTAINER.WRITER[3] -- Triangles
4.
5. -- Global counter (preserved across invocations)
6. if not count then count = 0 else count = count + 1 end
7.
8. local shape = ShapeWriter.instance;
9. local angle = count % 360;
10.
11. shape['x'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.cos(angle) + B * math.cos((A/B-C)*angle)
12. shape['y'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.sin(angle) + B * math.sin((A/B-C)*angle)
13.
14. shape['shapesize'] = 5
15. shape['color'] = "RED"
16.
17. ShapeWriter:write()
1. -- Interface: parameters, inputs, outputs
2. local A, B, C = 30, 30, 10 -- Change the 'C' parameter to to see various flower shapes
3. local ShapeWriter = CONTAINER.WRITER[3] -- Triangles
4.
5. -- Global counter (preserved across invocations)
6. if not count then count = 0 else count = count + 1 end
7.
8. local shape = ShapeWriter.instance;
9. local angle = count % 360;
10.
11. shape['x'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.cos(angle) + B * math.cos((A/B-C)*angle)
12. shape['y'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.sin(angle) + B * math.sin((A/B-C)*angle)
13.
14. shape['shapesize'] = 5
15. shape['color'] = "RED"
16.
17. ShapeWriter:write()
1. -- Interface: parameters, inputs, outputs
2. local A, B, C = 30, 30, 10 -- Change the 'C' parameter to to see various flower shapes
3. local ShapeWriter = CONTAINER.WRITER[3] -- Triangles
4.
5. -- Global counter (preserved across invocations)
6. if not count then count = 0 else count = count + 1 end
7.
8. local shape = ShapeWriter.instance;
9. local angle = count % 360;
10.
11. shape['x'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.cos(angle) + B * math.cos((A/B-C)*angle)
12. shape['y'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.sin(angle) + B * math.sin((A/B-C)*angle)
13.
14. shape['shapesize'] = 5
15. shape['color'] = "RED"
16.
17. ShapeWriter:write()
1. -- Interface: parameters, inputs, outputs
2. local A, B, C = 30, 30, 10 -- Change the 'C' parameter to to see various flower shapes
3. local ShapeWriter = CONTAINER.WRITER[3] -- Triangles
4.
5. -- Global counter (preserved across invocations)
6. if not count then count = 0 else count = count + 1 end
7.
8. local shape = ShapeWriter.instance;
9. local angle = count % 360;
10.
11. shape['x'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.cos(angle) + B * math.cos((A/B-C)*angle)
12. shape['y'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.sin(angle) + B * math.sin((A/B-C)*angle)
13.
14. shape['shapesize'] = 5
15. shape['color'] = "RED"
16.
17. ShapeWriter:write()

14. The Outcome
Rapid
Application
Development

15. Transformation
xs, ys
ws
xs, ys
xc
shapes/ShapePubSub.lua
Scale

16. Transformation
Scriptable
(in Lua)
shapes/ShapePubSub.lua

17. Transformation - Try it Out Yourself
1. local SIZE_FACTOR = 0.5 -- change the factor to see the size changing
2. local reader = CONTAINER.READER[1] -- input
3. local writer = CONTAINER.WRITER[1] -- output
4.
5. reader:take() -- take all the samples on from the data-space
6.
7. for i, shape in ipairs(reader.sample) do -- iterate through all the samples
8.
9. if (not reader.info[i].valid_data) then break end -- skip invalid content
10.
11. writer.instance['color'] = shape['color']
12. writer.instance['x'] = shape['x']
13. writer.instance['y'] = shape['y']
14. writer.instance['shapesize'] = shape['shapesize'] * SIZE_FACTOR -- transform
15.
16. writer:write() -- output transformed sample
17. end
Data Distribution Service (DDS)
Prototyper:
shapes/ShapePubSub.lua
Subscriber
(Shapes Demo)
Publisher
(Shapes Demo)

18. Transformation - Try it Out Yourself
Dynamic
Live
Code
Update
1. local SIZE_FACTOR = 0.5 -- change the factor to see the size changing
2. local reader = CONTAINER.READER[1] -- input
3. local writer = CONTAINER.WRITER[1] -- output
4.
5. reader:take() -- take all the samples on from the data-space
6.
7. for i, shape in ipairs(reader.sample) do -- iterate through all the samples
8.
9. if (not reader.info[i].valid_data) then break end -- skip invalid content
10.
11. writer.instance['color'] = shape['color']
12. writer.instance['x'] = shape['x']
13. writer.instance['y'] = shape['y']
14. writer.instance['shapesize'] = shape['shapesize'] * SIZE_FACTOR -- transform
15.
16. writer:write() -- output transformed sample
17. end
1. local SIZE_FACTOR = 5 -- change the factor to see the size changing
2. local reader = CONTAINER.READER[1] -- input
3. local writer = CONTAINER.WRITER[1] -- output
4.
5. reader:take() -- take all the samples on from the data-space
6.
7. for i, shape in ipairs(reader.sample) do -- iterate through all the samples
8.
9. if (not reader.info[i].valid_data) then break end -- skip invalid content
10.
11. writer.instance['color'] = shape['color']
12. writer.instance['x'] = shape['x']
13. writer.instance['y'] = shape['y']
14. writer.instance['shapesize'] = shape['shapesize'] * SIZE_FACTOR -- transform
15.
16. writer:write() -- output transformed sample
17. end
before
after
shapes/ShapePubSub.lua

19. Correlation
xs, ys
ws
xc, yc
wc
xs, ys
xc
shapes/Correlator.lua

20. -- Interface: parameters, inputs, outputs
local reader1 = CONTAINER.READER[1]
local reader2 = CONTAINER.READER[2]
local writer = CONTAINER.WRITER[#CONTAINER.WRITER]
-- Globals (preserved across invocations)
if not shapesize then shapesize={} end -- shapesize of the output stream
-- Cache the 'shapesize' for a color from the 2nd input stream ---
reader2:take()
for i, shape in ipairs(reader2.sample) do
if (not reader2.info[i].valid_data) then break end
local color = shape['color']
shapesize[color] = shape['x']
end
-- Merge the 'shapesize' for a color with x and y from the 1st input stream ---
reader1:take()
for i, shape in ipairs(reader1.sample) do
if (not reader1.info[i].valid_data) then break end
local color = shape['color’]
writer.instance['color'] = color
writer.instance['x'] = shape['x']
writer.instance['y'] = shape['y']
writer.instance['shapesize'] = shapesize[color] or shape['shapesize']
writer:write()
end
shapes/Correlator.lua
How many lines of C/C++/Java
code would it take?

21. Correlation - Try it Out Yourself
1. local SIZE_FACTOR = 0.5 -- change the factor to see the size changing
2. local reader = CONTAINER.READER[1] -- input
3. local writer = CONTAINER.WRITER[1] -- output
4.
5. reader:take() -- take all the samples on from the data-space
6.
7. for i, shape in ipairs(reader.sample) do -- iterate through all the samples
8.
9. if (not reader.info[i].valid_data) then break end -- skip invalid content
10.
11. writer.instance['color'] = shape['color']
12. writer.instance['x'] = shape['x']
13. writer.instance['y'] = shape['y']
14. writer.instance['shapesize'] = shape['shapesize'] * SIZE_FACTOR -- transform
15.
16. writer:write() -- output transformed sample
17. end
Data Distribution Service (DDS)
Prototyper:
shapes/Correlator.lua
Subscriber
(Shapes Demo)
Publishers
(Shapes Demo)

22. Choreography
xs, ys
ws
xc, yc
wc
xs, ys
xc
Pub-Sub  mediation  Request-Reply
Pub-Sub
Request-Reply
How many RED objects?
shapes/Choreography.lua
Choreography.xml

23. Splitting
xs, ys
ws
xs, ys
ws
xs, ys
ws
shapes/SplitterDelayNAverage.lua
Delay by
N samples
Average over
N samples

24. Aggregation
xs, ys
ws
xc, yc
wc
x, y
w
xt, yt
Wt
shapes/Aggregation.lua

25. Data Generation/Simulation
Shapes/Flower.lua
xs, ys
xc

26. Device I/O
xc, yc
wc
shapes/mouse/MouseInputAdapter.lua
shapes/mouse/mouse.c

27. Data Capture
xs, ys
ws
xc, yc
wc
xt, yt
Wt
shapes/ShapeSubscriber.lua

28. Examples Included in the Download
Real-Time Processing Category Example
Simulation/Data Generation shapes/Flower.lua
shapes/Figure8.lua
shapes/ShapePublisher.lua
Data Capture shapes/ShapeSubscriber.lua
Transformation shapes/ShapePubSub.lua
Aggregation shapes/Aggregation.lua
Correlation shapes/Correlator.lua
Splitting shapes/SplitterDelayNAverage.lua
Choreography (pattern mediation) shapes/Choreography.lua
Choreography.xml
Device I/O shapes/FileInputAdapter.lua
shapes/mouse/MouseInputAdapter.lua

29. Why should I care?
• Fast Development and Deployment
– No automatic code generation, compile, or re-start
– Be able to try our a variety of ideas quickly and interactively
• Extreme Usability
– Intuitive: don’t reinvent, leverage the language
– Minimalistic: eliminate accidental complexity
– Orthogonal: avoid redundancy, stackable concepts
• Sophisticated Use Cases
– Non-trivial, e.g.:
correlation, splitting, aggregation, transformation, choreography, I/O,
data collection, data generation, etc.
• Separation of Concerns
– Structure vs. Behavior
– Developer vs. Integrator
Do you care
about time to
market?

30. Agenda
• Why is building distributed systems hard?
• The 5 Critical Steps – Best Practice
• The Prototyper – Separating Structure and
Behavior
• Defining structure using XML
• Coding behavior using Lua – A Small Fast Dynamic
Scripting Language
• Real-World Example
• Summary

31. Prototyper (Container)
The RTI Prototyper with Lua
Lua Engine
DDS
Settings
(Structure/
Wiring)
USER_QOS_PROFILES.xml
XML Based
Application
Configuration
RTI
Community
Portal
Download
1. -- Interface: parameters, inputs, outputs
2. local A, B, C = 30, 30, 10 -- Change the 'C' parameter to to see various flower shapes
3. local ShapeWriter = CONTAINER.WRITER[3] -- Triangles
4.
5. -- Global counter (preserved across invocations)
6. if not count then count = 0 else count = count + 1 end
7.
8. local shape = ShapeWriter.instance;
9. local angle = count % 360;
10.
11. shape['x'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.cos(angle) + B * math.cos((A/B-C)*angle)
12. shape['y'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.sin(angle) + B * math.sin((A/B-C)*angle)
13.
14. shape['shapesize'] = 5
15. shape['color'] = "RED"
16.
17. ShapeWriter:write()
Lua Component
Behavior
For details, see:
Getting Started
Guide
Structure

32. <!-- Domain Library -->
<domain_library name="MyDomainLibrary" >
<domain name="MyDomain" domain_id="25">
<register_type name="type" kind="dynamicData" type_ref="MyType"/>
<topic name="MyTopic" register_type_ref="type"/>
</domain>
</domain_library>
<!-- Participant library -->
<participant_library name="MyParticipantLibrary">
<domain_participant name="MyParticipant"
domain_ref="MyDomainLibrary::MyDomain">
<publisher name="MyPublisher">
<data_writer name="MyWriter" topic_ref="MyTopic"/>
</publisher>
<subscriber name="MySubscriber">
<data_reader name="MyReader" topic_ref="MyTopic"/>
</subscriber>
</domain_participant>
</participant_library>
<types>
Defining structure using XML
Settings: XML Based Application Configuration

33. Prototyper (Container)
The RTI Prototyper with Lua
Lua Engine
1. -- Interface: parameters, inputs, outputs
2. local A, B, C = 30, 30, 10 -- Change the 'C' parameter to to see various flower shapes
3. local ShapeWriter = CONTAINER.WRITER[3] -- Triangles
4.
5. -- Global counter (preserved across invocations)
6. if not count then count = 0 else count = count + 1 end
7.
8. local shape = ShapeWriter.instance;
9. local angle = count % 360;
10.
11. shape['x'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.cos(angle) + B * math.cos((A/B-C)*angle)
12. shape['y'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.sin(angle) + B * math.sin((A/B-C)*angle)
13.
14. shape['shapesize'] = 5
15. shape['color'] = "RED"
16.
17. ShapeWriter:write()
DDS
Settings
(Structure/
Wiring)
USER_QOS_PROFILES.xml
XML Based
Application
Configuration
RTI
Community
Portal
Download
Lua Component
Behavior
For details, see:
Getting Started
GuideBehavior

34. Why Lua?
• Fast
– One of the fastest popular
scripting languages (from
literature*)
• Very Small (~250KB)
– Can be built for a variety of OSes
or no-OS
• Easy to Learn
• Solid foundation (1993)
– Minimal
– Clean
• Embeddable & Extensible
– Naturally in C
• Growing Community
– Popular in Gaming
– Adopted by Wireshark, Eclipse
M2M, Wikipedia, CoronaSDK, etc.
– Rich Libraries/Ecosystem
• Open-Source! Free!!

35. Where can I learn Lua?
www.lua.org
Don’t worry. It’s easy!

36. Parse XML
configuration files
Create DomainParticipant specified
by the configuration name
Print valid
configuration names
Prompt user for
configuration name
Wait For
Data to arrive OR ‘period’ to elapse
(whichever happens first)
Execute the Lua Code Component
Lua ‘intentExit’? or
Completed ‘runDuration’?
Configuration name
Specified?
NO
YES
NO
YES
Prototyper with
Lua
Runtime Container
Workflow

37. RTI Prototyper with Lua
Runtime Container
• When can the Lua Component run?
– On any one or more of the following events
• on Start
• on Data arrival
• on Period (timer)
• on Stop
– User Configurable, e.g.
• Data (Event) Driven : lua.onPeriod = false
• Timer (Polling) Driven : lua.onData = false
– Default: data + timer driven
1. -- Interface: parameters, inputs, outputs
2. local A, B, C = 30, 30, 10 -- Change the 'C' parameter to to see various flower shapes
3. local ShapeWriter = CONTAINER.WRITER[3] -- Triangles
4.
5. -- Global counter (preserved across invocations)
6. if not count then count = 0 else count = count + 1 end
7.
8. local shape = ShapeWriter.instance;
9. local angle = count % 360;
10.
11. shape['x'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.cos(angle) + B * math.cos((A/B-C)*angle)
12. shape['y'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.sin(angle) + B * math.sin((A/B-C)*angle)
13.
14. shape['shapesize'] = 5
15. shape['color'] = "RED"
16.
17. ShapeWriter:write()
Lua Component
Behavior

38. Lua Component Programming Model
Interface
• Incoming data is consumed using a
READER table
• Outgoing data is produced using a
WRITER table
• Container status and component’s
intents are communicated using a
CONTEXT table
N inputs M outputs
CONTAINER.
READER[1]
CONTAINER.
WRITER[1]
CONTAINER.
READER[N] CONTAINER.
WRITER[M]
-- Lua Component Code --
CONTAINER.CONTEXT
Lua Component Code
• Decides when to read/take incoming data
• Decides when to write outgoing data
• Maintains global state across invocations
• Dynamically Reconfigurable, i.e. code can
be changed while the container is running

39. Writing Data
local foo = 'HelloPublisher::HelloWriter’
-- or --
local foo = 1
local foo_writer = CONTAINER.WRITER[foo]
foo_writer.instance['x'] = 100
foo_writer.instance['y'] = 100
foo_writer.instance['shapesize'] = 30
foo_writer.instance['color'] = "BLUE"
foo_writer:write()

40. Reading Data
local foo = 'HelloPublisher::HelloReader’
-- or --
local foo = 1
local foo_reader = CONTAINER.READER[foo]
foo_reader:take()
for i, shape in ipairs(foo_reader.sample) do
print("t color:", shape['color']) – key
print("t x:", shape['x'])
print("t y:", shape['y'])
print("t shapesize:”, shape['shapesize'])
end

41. Agenda
• Why is building distributed systems hard?
• The 5 Critical Steps – Best Practice
• The Prototyper – Separating Structure and
Behavior
• Defining structure using XML
• Coding behavior using Lua – A Small Fast Dynamic
Scripting Language
• Real-World Example
• Summary

42. Real-World Example: Batch Process Control
(ANSI/ISA-88)

43. Real-World Example: Batch Process Control
(ANSI/ISA-88)
Station(s)

44. Real-World Example: Batch Process Control
(ANSI/ISA-88)
Station(s)
Recipe(s)

45. Real-World Example: Batch Process Control
(ANSI/ISA-88)
Station(s)
Recipe(s)
Production
Lot
Production
Lot
Production
Lot

46. Real-World Example: Chocolate Manufacturing
Recipes
Production
Lot
Stations
Production
Lot

47. Step 1: Draw a diagram of the components and
the interconnecting data-flows
Station
Controller
Production
Lot
Recipe
Recipe
Configurator
To Other
Station
Controllers
From Other
Station
Controllers
Production
Lot

48. Step 1: Draw a diagram of the components and
the interconnecting data-flows
Station
Controller
Production
Lot
Recipe
Recipe
Configurator
Production
Lot
Task
Generator
Production
Lot
To Other
Station
Controllers
From Other
Station
Controllers

49. Step 2: Define the data types for the
interconnecting data flows (in IDL or XML)
Recipe
typedef long StationControlId;
struct RecipeType {
// Uniquely identifies the recipe
string<64> recipeName; //@key
// Defines the sequence of station
// controllers that must be
// traversed to make the product
sequence<StationControlId> steps;
};
<typedef name="StationControlId" type="long" />
<struct name="RecipeType”>
<member name="recipeName" stringMaxLength="64" type="string" key="true" />
<member name="steps" sequenceMaxLength="-1" type="nonBasic"
nonBasicTypeName="StationControlId" />
</struct>
XML
IDL

50. Step 2: Define the data types for the
interconnecting data flows (in IDL or XML)
enum LotStatus {
WAITING_FOR_SC,
PROCESSING_AT_SC,
COMPLETED
};
struct ProductionLotType {
long lotId; //@key
// Identfies the product
string<64> productName;
// Identifies the recipe used
string<64> recipeName;
LotStatus status;
StationControlId assignedSC;
};
Production
LotIDL

51. Step 2: Define the data types for the
interconnecting data flows (in IDL or XML)
<enum name="LotStatus" bitBound="32">
<enumerator name="WAITING_FOR_SC" />
<enumerator name="PROCESSING_AT_SC" />
<enumerator name="COMPLETED" />
</enum>
<struct name="ProductionLotType">
<member name="lotId" type="long" key="true" />
<member name="productName" stringMaxLength="64" type="string" />
<member name="recipeName" stringMaxLength="64" type="string" />
<member name="status" type="nonBasic" nonBasicTypeName="LotStatus" />
<member name="assignedSC" type="nonBasic” nonBasicTypeName="StationControlId" />
</struct>
Production
LotXML

52. Step 3: Define the system structure as a collection of
data-oriented component interfaces (in XML)
<domain_library name="FactoryDomainLib">
<domain name="ChocolateFactory" domain_id="90">
<register_type name="ProductionLotType" kind="dynamicData"
type_ref="FactoryTypes::ProductionLotType"/>
<register_type name="RecipeType" kind="dynamicData"
type_ref="FactoryTypes::RecipeType"/>
<topic register_type_ref="ProductionLotType" name="ProductionLot"/>
<topic register_type_ref="RecipeType" name="Recipe"/>
</domain>
</domain_library>
Production
Lot
Recipe

53. Step 3: Define the system structure as a collection of
data-oriented component interfaces (in XML)
<domain_participant name="RecipeConfigurator"
domain_ref="FactoryDomainLib::ChocolateFactory">
<participant_qos base_name="ChocolateManufacture_Library::ChocolateManufacture_Profile">
<participant_name>
<name>RecipeConfigurator</name>
<role_name>RecipeConfigurator</role_name>
</participant_name>
<property>
<value>
<element>
<name>lua.file</name>
<value>RecipeConfigurator.lua</value>
</element>
<element>
<name>lua.onStart</name>
<value>true</value>
</element>
</value>
</property>
</participant_qos>
<publisher name="RecipePublisher">
<data_writer topic_ref="Recipe" name="RecipeWriter">
<datawriter_qos base_name="ChocolateManufacture_Library::ChocolateManufacture_Profile"/>
</data_writer>
</publisher>
</domain_participant>
Recipe
Recipe
Configurator

54. Step 3: Define the system structure as a collection of
data-oriented component interfaces (in XML)
<participant_library name="FactoryParticipantLib">
<domain_participant name="TaskGenerator"
domain_ref="FactoryDomainLib::ChocolateFactory">
<participant_qos base_name="ChocolateManufacture_Library::ChocolateManufacture_Profile">
<participant_name>
<name>TaskGenerator</name>
<role_name>TaskGenerator</role_name>
</participant_name>
<property>
<value>
<element>
<name>lua.file</name>
<value>TaskGenerator.lua</value>
</element>
<element>
<name>lua.onStart</name>
<value>true</value>
</element>
</value>
</property>
</participant_qos>
<publisher name="TaskPublisher">
<data_writer topic_ref="ProductionLot" name="TaskWriter">
<datawriter_qos base_name="ChocolateManufacture_Library::ChocolateManufacture_Profile"/>
</data_writer>
</publisher>
</domain_participant>
Task
Generator
Production
Lot

55. Step 3: Define the system structure as a collection of
data-oriented component interfaces (in XML)
<domain_participant name="StationController"
domain_ref="FactoryDomainLib::ChocolateFactory">
<participant_qos base_name="ChocolateManufacture_Library::ChocolateManufacture_Profile">
<participant_name>
<name>StationController#$(STATION_CONTROLLER_ID)</name>
<role_name>StationController</role_name>
</participant_name>
<property>
<value>
<element>
<name>lua.file</name>
<value>StationController.lua</value>
</element>
<element>
<name>lua.onStart</name>
<value>true</value>
</element>
</value>
</property>
</participant_qos>
</domain_participant>
Station
Controller
Production
Lot
Production
Lot
Recipe

56. Step 3: Define the system structure as a collection of
data-oriented component interfaces (in XML)
<publisher name="SCPublisher">
<data_writer topic_ref="ProductionLot" name="LotWriter">
<datawriter_qos base_name="ChocolateManufacture_Library::ChocolateManufacture_Profile"/>
</data_writer>
</publisher>
<subscriber name="SCSubscriber">
<data_reader topic_ref="Recipe" name="RecipeReader">
<datareader_qos base_name="ChocolateManufacture_Library::ChocolateManufacture_Profile"/>
</data_reader>
<data_reader topic_ref="ProductionLot" name="LotReader">
<datareader_qos base_name="ChocolateManufacture_Library::ChocolateManufacture_Profile"/>
<filter name="MyLots" kind="builtin.sql">
<expression>assignedSC = $(STATION_CONTROLLER_ID) AND status = 0</expression>
</filter>
</data_reader>
</subscriber>
</domain_participant>
Station
Controller
Production
Lot
Production
Lot
Recipe

57. Step 4: Code the component behavior in the Lua
scripting language
Recipe
Configurator
if ( CONTAINER.CONTEXT.onStartEvent ) then
print("Starting RecipeConfigurator")
ConfigWriter = PROTOTYPER.WRITER["RecipePublisher::RecipeWriter”]
outputRecipe = ConfigWriter.instance
outputRecipe.recipeName = "DarkChocolateRecipe"
local stations = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13 }
for i, station in ipairs( stations ) do
step = "steps[".. i .."]"
outputRecipe[step] = station
end
ConfigWriter:write()
outputRecipe.recipeName = "WhiteChocolateRecipe"
local stations = { 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13 }
for i, station in ipairs( stations ) do
step = "steps[".. i .."]"
outputRecipe[step] = station
end
ConfigWriter:write()
outputRecipe.recipeName = "MilkChocolateRecipe"
local stations = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 }
for i, station in ipairs( stations ) do
step = "steps[".. i .."]"
outputRecipe[step] = station
end
ConfigWriter:write()
end

58. Step 4: Code the component behavior in the Lua
scripting language
if ( CONTAINER.CONTEXT.onStartEvent ) then
print("Starting TaskGenerator”)
TaskWriter = PROTOTYPER.WRITER["TaskPublisher::TaskWriter"]
count = 0
end
local taskLot = TaskWriter.instance
-- We use the count to simulate the continuous generation of tasks
count = count+1
taskLot.lotId = count
taskLot.status = 0
taskLot.assignedSC = 1
if (count <= 1) then
taskLot.productName = "DarkChocolate"
taskLot.recipeName = "DarkChocolateRecipe"
taskLot.assignedSC = 1
elseif (count <= 2) then
taskLot.productName = "WhiteChocolate"
taskLot.recipeName = "WhiteChocolateRecipe"
elseif (count <= 3) then
taskLot.productName = "MilkChocolate"
taskLot.recipeName = "MilkChocolateRecipe"
end
TaskWriter:write()
if ( count > 3 ) then
CONTAINER.CONTEXT.intentExit = true
end
Task
Generator

59. Step 4: Code the component behavior in the Lua
scripting language
-- State initialization to perform the first time the script runs
if ( CONTAINER.CONTEXT.onStartEvent ) then
-- Sentinel values returned by recipeGetNextSCNumber()
NEXT_STATION_COMPLETED=-1
-- Enumerated values that may appear in the Lot.status
LOT_STATUS_WAITING_FOR_SC=0
LOT_STATUS_PROCESSING_AT_SC=1
LOT_STATUS_COMPLETED=2
-- Possible value for the SC's stationState
SC_STATE_READY = 'READY'
SC_STATE_PROCESSING = 'PROCESSING'
-- The number for this station conroller is passed as an
-- environment variable
mySCNumber = tonumber(os.getenv("STATION_CONTROLLER_ID"))
print("Starting SC#" .. mySCNumber)
stationState = SC_STATE_READY
delayCount = 0
-- Queues all the lots that are waiting to be processed by the SC
taskQUEUE = {}
-- Indexed by the recipe name. Stores the next SC# for that recipe
recipeTable = {}
End
-- Helper functions
-- :
Station
Controller

60. Step 5: Adjust QoS policies to achieve the
desired data-flow behavior
Recipe
QoS
<datawriter_qos>
<reliability>
<kind>RELIABLE_RELIABILITY_QOS</kind>
<max_blocking_time>
<sec>60</sec>
</max_blocking_time>
</reliability>
<history>
<kind>KEEP_ALL_HISTORY_QOS</kind>
</history>
<durability>
<kind>TRANSIENT_LOCAL_DURABILITY_QOS</kind>
</durability>
</datawriter_qos>
<datareader_qos>
<reliability>
<kind>RELIABLE_RELIABILITY_QOS</kind>
</reliability>
<history>
<kind>KEEP_ALL_HISTORY_QOS</kind>
</history>
<durability>
<kind>TRANSIENT_LOCAL_DURABILITY_QOS</kind>
</durability>
</datareader_qos>
Production
Lot
QoS

61. Working Distributed System
Recipes
Production
Lot
Stations
Production
Lot
Station
Controllers
Task Generator
Recipe
Configurator

62. Agenda
• Why is building distributed systems hard?
• The 5 Critical Steps – Best Practice
• The Prototyper – Separating Structure and
Behavior
• Defining structure using XML
• Coding behavior using Lua – A Small Fast Dynamic
Scripting Language
• Real-World Example
• Summary

63. Prototyper (Container)
The RTI Prototyper with Lua
Lua Engine
1. -- Interface: parameters, inputs, outputs
2. local A, B, C = 30, 30, 10 -- Change the 'C' parameter to to see various flower shapes
3. local ShapeWriter = CONTAINER.WRITER[3] -- Triangles
4.
5. -- Global counter (preserved across invocations)
6. if not count then count = 0 else count = count + 1 end
7.
8. local shape = ShapeWriter.instance;
9. local angle = count % 360;
10.
11. shape['x'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.cos(angle) + B * math.cos((A/B-C)*angle)
12. shape['y'] = 120 + (A+B) * math.sin(angle) + B * math.sin((A/B-C)*angle)
13.
14. shape['shapesize'] = 5
15. shape['color'] = "RED"
16.
17. ShapeWriter:write()
DDS
Settings
(Structure/
Wiring)
USER_QOS_PROFILES.xml
XML Based
Application
Configuration
RTI
Community
Portal
Download
Lua Component
Behavior
For details, see:
Getting Started
Guide

64. RTI Prototyper with Lua Enables…
• Fast Development & Deployment
– No automatic code generation, compile, or re-start
– Fewer lines of code
– Change behavior (code) on the fly
• Extreme Usability
– Engage domain experts (don’t need to be a middleware expert)
– Natural and intuitive programming model
• Sophisticated Use Cases
– Mediation of communication patterns: pub-sub, request-reply
– Non-trivial, eg:
correlation, splitting, aggregation, transformation, choreography, I/O,
data collection, data generation, etc.
• Separation of Concerns
– Easy to Maintain and Evolve for Large and Small Teams
– Developer focused on processing, not infrastructure configuration
– System integrator can independently manage configuration & QoS

65. The 5 Critical Steps
Articulate Concept
1. Draw a diagram of the components and the interconnecting data-
flows
Define Structure
2. Define the data types for the interconnecting data flows (in IDL or
XML)
3. Define the system structure as a collection of data-oriented
component interfaces (in XML)
Configure Behavior
4. Code the component behavior in the Lua scripting language
5. Adjust QoS policies to achieve the desired data-flow behavior
LATER: Optimize selected components in C/C++/Java/C#,
but only if necessary!

66. Key Benefits
• Get stuff done fast(er)!
• Quickly try out new ideas, and show a working proof
of concept.
• Get more done with the same staff.
• Ease into the learning curve of DDS by getting
something up and running first, and then learn more as
you need to.
• Explore tradeoff between data-model choices.
• Experiment with QoS policies for a given data model.
• Script test scenarios for existing DDS system!
• Test and validate an existing system. Build your own
test harness.

67. Ready to Ride?
• Download it (experimental version):
– community.rti.com  Downloads  RTI Prototyper with
Lua  Pick your flavor (Mac, Linux, Windows, Raspberry
pi)
• Install it:
– Windows: Unzip
– Others: Run the installer:
chmod +x rti_prototyper_with_lua-5-1.0.0-x64Darwin10gcc4.2.1.run
./rti_prototyper_with_lua-5-1.0.0-x64Darwin10gcc4.2.1.run
Choose an existing directory
• Try it:
– Apply the 5 Critical Steps to build your working distributed
system

68. …Late Nights No More!

69. THANK YOU
http://blogs.rti.com/tag/lua/
http://community.rti.com/search/site/lua