output from CASSM stylesheet v1.1 created Dec 2003

CASSM model of: Tallis Composer and Enactor (v 1.3)

Notes

Relationships
Name Actor Type Acted_on Notes
rel0 Guideline consists_of Plan A guideline must be at least a Plan
rel1 Plan consists_of Plan Plans can subsume other Plans
rel2 Guideline maps_onto ProForma code Code may also be inspected at enactment
rel3 Composer Task consists_of Composer Task.Task type Plan, Action, Enquiry, Decision, Keystone
rel4 Keystone maps_onto Composer Task.Task type Keystones can be changed into one of the other tasks
rel5 Composer Task affects Focus Task Only one task can be edited at a time (in this version)
rel6 Composer Task device_constraint ProForma code ProForma code attaches to each task
rel7 Composer Task.Task type device_constraint Composer Task.Specific Task Attributes Tasks have type-specific attributes
rel8 Common Attrib[utes].Name affects Common Attrib[utes].Name Changes to copied components may affect originals
rel9 Enacted guideline goal_constraint Runtime outcome The goal of running the guideline is to produce the runtime outcom
Entities and Attributes
Relns: actor in upright, acted-on in italics.
Name Create/set Delete/change Relns.
User Interface System
Notes
Action
HTML easy easy
difficult present present
For formatting of Action runtime output
Plain text easy easy
present present present
Common Attrib[utes]
Common attributes are those which every task type have
Automatic easy easy
difficult difficult present
(But don't know what they do)
Caption easy easy
present present present
As appears in the task window
Cycle interval hard indirect
difficult difficult present
Ditto
Cycle number easy easy
difficult difficult present
Don't know why it would be other than 1
Cycle until hard indirect
difficult difficult present
As for other components
Goal easy easy
present present present
What was Description (which is now Caption) ? (New in build 66)
Name easy easy rel8 rel8
present present present
Naming is a major issue in Tallis: have to be different, but usefully meaningful, versions of ones already used.
Optional easy easy
difficult difficult present
These last two components probably replace Boolean in build 66
Parameters indirect indirect
difficult difficult present
Equally indirect (though have not used them)
Postcondition hard indirect
difficult difficult present
which is therefore both indirect and hard to maintain
Precondition hard indirect
difficult difficult present
expressions and code syntax
Triggers hard indirect
difficult difficult present
All these involve use of Proforma
Composer Task easy easy rel3 rel5 rel6
present present present
The first four task types (Actions, Plans, Enquiries, Decisions) are the building blocks of ProForma guidelines. Instances of each type are created and manipulated using the Composer.
Selected task type easy easy
present present present
The currently selected task type determines which specific task attributes are available for setting and changing.
Specific Task Attributes hard cant rel7
difficult difficult present
Setting and changing task attributes is what Tallis Composer is for. These are not simple processes either to accomplish or predict outcomes for.
Task type easy cant rel7 rel3 rel4
present present present
Setting task type is a one-shot action (but can be initially deferred by using Keystones to stand for to-be-filled components)
Context View mode
Context is additional web page content (such as illustrations or supporting text) which amplifies the task material
HTML indirect indirect
difficult present present
Allows insertion and formatting of supporting material
Plain Text easy easy
difficult present present
Code fragment relating to the task, created automatically
Decision Candidates
Description easy easy
present present present
Name indirect easy
present present present
Changes involve re-edit step
Priority notSure notSure
difficult difficult present
Don't know what these are
Decision Sources
Caption easy easy
present present present
Data type easy easy
difficult difficult present
Name indirect easy
present present present
Changes involve re-edit step
Selection mode easy easy
difficult difficult present
Enacted guideline fixed fixed rel9
present present present
The enacted guideline is the result when run (remotely) in a browser.
Enacted plans fixed fixed
present present present
These guideline components are interrogable via the Enactor interface,
Enacted ProForma fixed fixed
difficult present present
... Composer (and then Tester) in order to debug the guideline.
Enactment summary easy easy
present present present
The data entered so far in a run
Enacted tasks fixed fixed
present present present
... as debugging toolsfor the guideline designer. They are not changeable at
Enacted triggers fixed fixed
difficult present present
... the time of enactment, but the designer can switch between Enactor and
Enquiry Source
Caption easy easy
present present present
Data type easy easy
difficult difficult present
Default value easy easy
difficult difficult present
Name hard easy
present present present
Names have to be kept compatible with later changes
Range indirect indirect
difficult difficult present
Ranges values are less easily set and changed than other attributes
Selection mode easy easy
difficult difficult present
Status easy easy
difficult difficult present
Focus Task easy easy rel5
present present present
The focus task is the one currently selected. It's MUCH too easy to inadvertently delete the current task, by clicking the adjacent icons (Copy and Save to repository, in Build 66): needs a 'Delete: are you sure? error trap
Guideline easy easy rel0 rel2
present present present
Guidelines map onto ProForma code, created automatically by the Composer
Guideline interface hard easy
present present present
... while the Composer is used to build guideline interfaces
Interface file name easy easy
present present present
... which are held in named .ui files.
Keystone easy easy rel4
present present present
Kyestones are placeholders for the other four tasks; they have no task-specific attributes
Plan easy easy rel1 rel0 rel1
present present present
But even whole Plans (and their contents) can be deleted without a warning !
Abort condition hard indirect
difficult difficult present
Parameter values indirect indirect
difficult difficult present
Haven't used parameters
Termination condition hard indirect
difficult difficult present
ProForma code indirect indirect rel2 rel6
difficult difficult present
ProForma code is created and deleted (and set or changed) as an indirect result of creating a guideline using the Composer.
ProForma code file name easy easy
present present present
... and is held in named .pf files
Runtime outcome indirect hard rel9
difficult difficult absent
But Tallis cannot predict outcomes (for guideline users), which are hard for even experienced designers
Tallis Composer fixed fixed
present present present
Tallis Composer is the GUI environment in which guidelines are constructed.
Tallis Enactor fixed fixed
present present present
The Enactor is the environment via which guidelines are run in a browser. Enactment takes place on a remote server.
Tallis Tester fixed fixed
present present present
The Tester is the environment in which guidelines can be run on the local (host) machine prior to enactment. In v 1.3 it is run from Composer.
Tested guideline easy easy
present present present
It is easy to create, delete, set and change the output from a guideline in the Tester.