ECLIPS — A successful experiment combining CCSDS SFDUs, X/Motif, HOOD and Ada

Abstract

The ECLIPS research project conducted by SYSECA for the French space agency, CNES, has yielded some interesting results concerning the use of the HOOD design method and the Ada programming language, particularly in the area of Man-Machine Interfaces (MMIs).

The use of HOOD/Ada as a data modelling technique in the specification phase of the project proved extremely effective and a substantial saving in effort was achieved as the model was recovered directly for the design and coding phases.

A report is given of the advantages offered by the XInAda all-Ada implementation of the X/Motif graphic MMI libraries, compared to the de facto standard implementation in C. A generic model for the design of MMI software in HOOD is presented, together with its translation to Ada. This model was developed with the aid of the DIADEM MMI engineering method.