Terminology

The XCDL component architecture involves a number of key concepts, presented below.

Metadata

In the context of XCDL, metadata (generally defined as data about data) is additional data about the software project, to define build settings, dependencies, options, etc. Metadata is stored in various separate files, usually with names starting with dots, like .xcdl.json.

Components

A component is a generic unit of functionality, usually containing a number of related files and configuration data. More details in the Components sub-section below.

Component framework

The expression component framework is used to describe the collection of tools that allow software developers to manage a collection of components (usually organised in one or more component repositories) and to configure a build system to use these components.

Packages

A package is the unit of distribution of components. It includes one or more related components.

A typical package contains the following:

• some number of source files which will end up compiled in the project; some files may serve other purposes, for example to provide a linker script;
• exported header files which define the interface provided by the package;
• on-line documentation, for example reference pages for each exported function;
• some number of test cases, shipped in source format, allowing users to check that the package is working as expected on their particular hardware and in their specific configuration;
• one or more XCDL metadata files describing the package to the component framework.

Not all packages need to contain all of these. For example some packages such as device drivers may not provide a new interface, instead they just provide another implementation of an existing interface. However all packages must contain at least one metadata file that describes the package to the component framework (a .pdsc file for CMSIS packages or a .xpackage.json and several .xcdl.json files for XCDL/xPack packages).

It is possible to create a binary distribution file for a package containing all of the source code, header files, documentation, and other relevant files.

More details in the Packages section below and in the separate XCDL Packages section.

Portability

Portability is a mandatory requirement, all XCDL tools must be able to run on all primary desktop environments, like Windows, OS X and GNU/Linux.

Reference implementation

The reference implementation will include one or more Eclipse plug-ins as graphical configuration tools, and one or more command line tools for non graphical environments.

Component repositories

Generally a component repository is a managed collection of packages. To reduce complexity, packages of different types (CMSIS vs XCLD/xPack) will be grouped in different repositories.

The component framework must be able to manage multiple component repositories, of different types, at a time.

Physically a component repository is a hierarchy of folders, with folders usually directly mapping the hierarchy of packages.

The component framework includes tools that allow new packages or new versions of a package to be installed, old packages to be removed, and so on. The component repository includes special files, maintained by the administration tool, which contain details of the various registered packages.

Read-only

To preserve components integrity, the component repository is treated as a read-only resource that can be shared by multiple projects and multiple users. Application developers are not allowed to modify anything inside the component repository and build tools should involve separate build and install trees.

Usually application developers install packages by unpacking binary archives, downloaded from http/ftp servers.

Read-write

However, component writers need to modify files directly in the component repository. To simplify the development, the component framework should directly accept to register local folder structures, containing the source code and metadata used to build the packages.

Usually component writers install packages by cloning one or more Git repositories (one main repository with multiple submodules linked to it, one for each package).

XCDL metadata

The configuration tools require information about the various options provided by each package, their consequences and constraints, and other properties such as the location of online documentation. This information has to be provided in the form of XCDL metadata files. XCDL is short for eXtensible Component Definition Language, and is specifically designed as a way of describing configuration options.

XCDL objects

The XCDL definition language includes several objects used to define all the configuration details.

The XCDL objects are organised hierarchically, from leaf option objects up to the root repository object.

The virtual hierarchy

In addition to the physical view represented by the file system folders and files, the XCDL hierarchy can be considered a virtual view of the project resources.

In Eclipse, this virtual hierarchy can be presented in a custom project explorer. Inactive nodes will not be shown in the virtual hierarchy at all.

JavaScript mapping

As a design decision, the XCDL objects must map 1:1 to JavaScript objects, i.e. have properties whose names match the JavaScript naming convention and have only values of type string, number, object or array of objects (not necessarily of same type).

The main advantage of defining the XCDL objects using the JavaScript syntax (compared, for instance with XML definitions) is an inherent simplicity and uniformity. As a consequence, XCDL objects can be very easily serialised in JSON files, the preferred exchange format.

Hierarchy

Except the root node, all XCDL objects have a single parent; in other words the nodes can be represented as a tree.

Except leaf nodes, all XCDL objects also have an ordered array of children nodes.

Node name

Each node has a property called name. Names are short strings, and must follow the following rules:

• be unique for a given parent
• be accepted as POSIX file/folder name; this means letters, figures, and very few special characters, like [-_.]; for multi-word names, - (dash) is the preferred separator; . is used in version names.

Using the JavaScript syntax, the node names are strings, defined with the name property.

{
  name: 'RCC',
  ...
}

When used to decorate a GUI, the node name is the string permanently displayed to identify the node.

Node type

Each node must have a string property called type.

The node type defines the acceptable properties and children.

Some node types, like file, require a second property subType to fully identify the node.

When used to decorate a GUI, the node type defines the icon associated with the node.

Node description

Each node must have a string property called description. Descriptions are reasonable long strings.

{
  name: 'RCC',
  type: 'component',
  description: 'Real-Time Clock Control',
  ...
}

When used to decorate a GUI, the node description is generally shown as a tooltip, activated when the mouse hovers over the node, or in additional views showing all node details.

Node children

If a node has children, they are grouped as an array of objects.

{
  name: 'HAL',
  type: 'component',
  ...
  nodes: [
    {
      name: 'RCC',
      type: 'component',
      ...
    }
  ]
}

XCDL paths

Similar to files in a filesystem, XCDL nodes can be addressed as a sequence of slash separated node names:

/ilg/STM32/STM32F4/HAL/RCC

Addressing nodes can be done with:

• complete paths, if they start with /; they are similar to absolute file system paths;
• incomplete paths, if they do not start with /

Incomplete paths are searched:

• in the current node children
• in the current node siblings
• in the current node parents
• ? (to be further defined)

Options

The option is the basic unit of configurability.

Single choice

Typically each option corresponds to a single choice that a user can make. For example there may be an option to control whether or not assertions are enabled, and the RTOS may provide an option corresponding to the number of scheduling priority levels in the system. Options can control very small amounts of code such as whether or not a function gets inlined. They can also control quite large amounts of code, for example whether or not the tracing supports is enabled or not.

Many options are straightforward, and the user only gets to choose whether the option is enabled or disabled. Some options are more complicated, and have values, for example the number of scheduling priority levels is a number that should be within a certain range.

Sensible defaults

Options should always start off with a sensible default setting, so that it is not necessary for users to make hundreds of decisions before any work can start on developing the application. Once the application is running the various configuration options can be used to tune the build for the specific needs of the application.

Read-only

The component framework allows for options that are not directly user-modifiable. Consider the case of processor endianness: some processors are always big-endian or always little-endian, while with other processors there is a choice. Depending on the user’s choice of target hardware, endianness may or may not be user-modifiable.

Hierarchy

Options are leafs in the objects hierarchy, with components or packages as parents. Options cannot include other children objects.

Active/inactive

Options can be active/inactive. Inactive options are not shown in the current virtual hierarchy. If the full tree is displayed, inactive options are shown as grey nodes, and the user cannot enable/disable them, or change the value for options with attached data. An option is automatically inactive if its parent object is inactive or disabled.

Enabled/disabled

Active options can be enabled/disabled by users, usually via a graphical tool. Simple options are boolean, and the enable/disable status is also the value associated with them. More complex options can have different types, and values according to these types.

Components

Components are containers of other objects.

A component is a unit of functionality such as a particular RTOS scheduler or a device driver for a specific device. A component is also a configuration option in that users may want to enable or disable all the functionality of a component. For example, if a particular device on the target hardware is not going to be used by the application, directly or indirectly, then there is no point in having a device driver for it. Furthermore disabling the device driver should reduce the memory requirements for both code and data.

Hierarchy

Components may contain further configuration objects. In the case of a device driver, there may be options to control the exact behaviour of that driver. These will of course be irrelevant if the driver as a whole is disabled. More generally, options and components live in a hierarchy, where any component or package can contain options specific to that component and further sub-components.

Active/inactive

Components can be active/inactive. Inactive components are not shown in the current virtual hierarchy. If the full tree is displayed, inactive components are shown as grey in the interface, and the user cannot enable/disable them, or change the value if not boolean. A component is automatically inactive if its parent object is inactive or disabled.

Enabled/disabled

Active components can be enabled/disabled by users, usually via a graphical tool, similar to options. More complex options can have different types, and values according to these types.

Files

Files are a special type of components, that map to physical files.

Node name

The node name of a file is exactly the file name, as represented in the file system.

Hierarchy

Files are generally children of components, but may also have other components as children.

Active/inactive

Files can be active/inactive. Inactive files are not shown in the current virtual hierarchy. If the full tree is displayed, inactive files are shown as grey in the interface, and the user cannot enable/disable them. A file is automatically inactive if its parent object is inactive or disabled.

Enabled/disabled

Active files can be enabled/disabled by users, usually via a graphical tool, similar to options.

Enabled files are generally included in the build (copied or linked to the project). Disabled files behave like non-existing for the project and any reference to disabled files should break the build.

Packages

A package is a special type of component. Specifically, a package is the unit of distribution of components.

If the package is distributed as a binary file, it can be unpacked and installed (added to the components repository) using the appropriate tool. Afterwards it is possible to uninstall that package, or to install a later version.

Loaded/unloaded

Packages can be loaded or not loaded. Generally, for a given configuration, it makes no sense for the tools to load the details of every single package that has been installed. For example, if the target board explicitly requires to use the STM32F407VG processor, then there is no point in loading packages for other processors and displaying choices to the user which are not relevant. Therefore loading a package means loading its configuration data into the appropriate tool, and making it available for user choices (for example showing it in the graphical user interface); a package not loaded by a configuration simply does not exist for that configuration, and none of its resources can be used.

Packages maintain a dependencies list; loading a package also means loading all dependent packages, recursively.

Selecting which packages are loaded is the first step of the configuration wizard, as a mandatory step to select the target processor and possibly the target board.

Versioning

For repeatability reasons it is required for some packages to depend on a specific version of a package. For this to work it must be possible to select the particular version of a package that should be loaded. Since multiple different packages may depend each on a different versions of a package, multiple versions of the same package must be available to the component framework at the same time.

Hierarchy

Packages can also be organised hierarchically, and loading of a package automatically loads all parent packages, up to the repository root.

Core distribution

The core distribution may come with a number of packages such as CMSIS, startup files, the RTOS, debug infrastructure. Other packages such as network stacks can come from various different sources and can be installed alongside the core distribution upon request.

Configurations

A configuration is a persistent collection of user choices, applied on top of a collection of choices made by the component designer. The various tools that make up the component framework deal with configurations. Users can create a new configuration, manage a configuration, and use a configuration to generate a build tree prior to building an artefact (application or library). A configuration includes details such as which packages are loaded, plus finer-grained information such as which options in those packages have been enabled or disabled by the user and what values were assigned to typed versions.

Targets

The target is the specific piece of hardware on which the application is expected to run. This may be an off-the-shelf evaluation board, a piece of custom hardware intended for a specific application, or it could be something like a simulator or a synthetic platform. One of the steps when creating a new configuration is the need to select the target. The component framework will map this on to a set of packages that are used to populate the configuration, typically specific startup files, device driver packages, and in addition it may cause certain options to be changed from their default settings to something more appropriate for the specified target.

Templates

A template is a partial configuration, aimed at providing users with an appropriate starting point. XCDL/xPack repositories should be shipped with a small number of templates, which correspond closely to common ways of using them.

There is a minimal template which provides very little functionality, just enough to bootstrap the hardware and then jump directly to the application code. The default template adds more functionality, for example it causes an RTOS and various library packages to be used as well. Creating a new configuration typically involves specifying a template as well as a target, resulting in a configuration that can be built and linked with the application code and that will run on the actual hardware. It is then possible to fine-tune configuration options to produce something that better matches the specific requirements of the application.

Properties

The component framework needs a certain amount of information about each XCDL object. For example it needs to know what the legal values are, what the default should be, where to find the on-line documentation if the user needs to consult that in order to make a decision, and so on. These are all properties of the object. Every object (including components and packages) consists of a name and a set of properties.

Consequences

As in real life, choices must have consequences. For example, for some configurations the main end product is an executable, for others a library, so the consequences of a user choice must affect the build process. This happens in two main ways. First, options can affect which files get built and end up in the executable or library. Second, details of the current option settings get written into various configuration header files using C preprocessor #define directives, and package source code can #include these configuration headers and adapt accordingly. This allows options to affect a package at a very fine grain, at the level of individual lines in a source file if desired. There may be other consequences as well, for example there are options to control the compiler flags that get used during the build process.

Constraints

Configuration choices are not independent. The C library can provide thread-safe implementations of functions like rand(), but only if the RTOS provides support for per-thread data. This is a constraint: the C library option has a requirement on the RTOS. A typical configuration involves a considerable number of constraints, of varying complexity: many constraints are straightforward, option A requires option B, or option C precludes option D. Other constraints can be more complicated, for example option E may require the presence of an RTOS scheduler but does not care whether it is the bitmap scheduler, the mlqueue scheduler, or something else.

Another type of constraint involves the values that can be used for certain options. For example there is an RTOS option related to the number of scheduling levels, and there is a legal values constraint on this option: specifying zero or a negative number for the number of scheduling levels makes no sense.

Conflicts

As the user manipulates options (enables/disables them) it is possible to end up with an invalid configuration, where one or more constraints are not satisfied. For example if RTOS per-thread data is disabled but the C library’s thread-safety options are left enabled then there are unsatisfied constraints, also known as conflicts. Such conflicts will be reported by the configuration tools. The presence of some conflicts may prevent users from building the project, but some may not, and in these cases the consequences are undefined: there may be compile-time failures, there may be link-time failures, the application may completely fail to run, or the application may run most of the time but once in a while there will be a strange failure… Typically users will want to resolve all conflicts before continuing.

Inference engine

To make things easier for the user, the configuration tools contain an inference engine. This can examine a conflict in a particular configuration and try to figure out some way of resolving the conflict. Depending on the particular tool being used, the inference engine may get invoked automatically at certain times or the user may need to invoke it explicitly. Also depending on the tool, the inference engine may apply any solutions it finds automatically or it may request user confirmation.

Credits

The initial content of this page was based on Chapter 1. Overview of The eCos Component Writer’s Guide, by Bart Veer and John Dallaway, published in 2001.