uci.argo.kernel
Class Critic

java.lang.Object
  |
  +--uci.argo.kernel.Critic

Direct Known Subclasses:

CompoundCritic, CrUML

public class Critic

extends Object

implements Poster, Serializable

"Abstract" base class for design critics. Each subclass should define its own predicate method and define its own relevance tags.

Steps to follow when adding a critic are listed in the Argo cookbook under define_critic.

See Also:

Serialized Form

Field Summary

protected Icon	_clarifier
protected VectorSet	_knowledgeTypes
static int	_numCriticsFired
protected Vector	_supportedDecisions
protected Vector	_supportedGoals
protected long	_triggerMask
static Icon	DEFAULT_CLARIFIER
static String	ENABLED The keys of some predefined control records.
static String	KT_COMPLETENESS
static String	KT_CONSISTENCY
static String	KT_CORRECTNESS
static String	KT_DESIGNERS Types of knowledge that critics can deliver
static String	KT_EXPERIENCIAL
static String	KT_OPTIMIZATION
static String	KT_ORGANIZATIONAL
static String	KT_PRESENTATION
static String	KT_SEMANTICS
static String	KT_SYNTAX
static String	KT_TOOL
static boolean	NO_PROBLEM
static boolean	PROBLEM_FOUND
static String	SNOOZE_ORDER

Constructor Summary

Critic()
Construct a new critic instance.

Method Summary

Object	addControlRec(String name, Object controlData) Add some attribute used by ControlMech to determine if this Critic should be active.
void	addKnowledgeType(String type)
void	addSupportedDecision(Decision d)
void	addSupportedGoal(Goal g)
void	addTrigger(String s)
void	beActive() Make this critic active.
void	beInactive() Make this critic inactive.
boolean	canFixIt(ToDoItem item) Needs-More-Work: Not implemented yet.
boolean	containsKnowledgeType(String type)
void	critique(Object dm, Designer dsgr) Examine the given Object and Designer and, if appropriate, produce one or more ToDoItem's and add them to the offending design material's and the Designer's ToDoList.
String	expand(String desc, VectorSet offs)
void	fixIt(ToDoItem item, Object arg) Needs-More-Work: Not implemented yet.
protected Object	getArg(String name)
Hashtable	getArgs()
Icon	getClarifier()
Object	getControlRec(String name) Reply the named control record, or null if not defined.
String	getCriticType() Reply a string used to contol critics according to type.
String	getDecisionCategory() Reply a string used to determine if this critic would be relevant to current design decisions.
String	getDescription(VectorSet offenders, Designer dsgr) Reply the description used in feedback produced by this Critic.
String	getDescriptionTemplate()
String	getExpertEmail() Reply the email address of the person who is the author or maintainer of this critic.
String	getHeadline()
String	getHeadline(Object dm, Designer dsgr) Reply the headline used in feedback produced by this Critic.
String	getHeadline(VectorSet offenders, Designer dsgr)
VectorSet	getKnowledgeTypes()
String	getMoreInfoURL()
String	getMoreInfoURL(VectorSet offenders, Designer dsgr) Reply the moreInfoURL used in feedback produced by this Critic.
int	getPriority()
int	getPriority(VectorSet offenders, Designer dsgr) Reply the priority used in feedback produced by this Critic.
Vector	getSupportedDecisions()
Vector	getSupportedGoals()
long	getTriggerMask()
Class	getWizardClass(ToDoItem item) Return the Class of wizard that can fix the problem identifed by this critic.
void	initWizard(Wizard w) Initialize a newly created wizard with information found by the critic.
boolean	isActive() Reply true iff this Critic can execute.
boolean	isEnabled() This is a convient method for accessing one well-known control record.
boolean	isRelevantToDecisions(Designer dsgr) Reply true iff this Critic is relevant to the decisions that the Designer is considering.
boolean	isRelevantToGoals(Designer dsgr) Reply true iff this Critic is relevant to the goals that the Designer is trying to achieve.
Wizard	makeWizard(ToDoItem item) Create a new Wizard to help the user fix the identified problem.
boolean	matchReason(long patternCode)
void	postItem(ToDoItem item, Object dm, Designer dsgr)
boolean	predicate(Object dm, Designer dsgr) Perform the Critic's analysis of the design.
static int	reasonCodeFor(String s)
protected void	setArg(String name, Object value)
void	setArgs(Hashtable h)
protected void	setDecisionCategory(String c) Set the decisionCategory, usually done in the constructor.
void	setDescription(String d)
void	setEnabled(boolean e)
void	setExpertEmail(String addr)
void	setHeadline(String h)
void	setKnowledgeTypes(String t1)
void	setKnowledgeTypes(String t1, String t2)
void	setKnowledgeTypes(String t1, String t2, String t3)
void	setKnowledgeTypes(VectorSet kt)
void	setMoreInfoURL(String m)
void	setPriority(int p)
void	snooze() Disable this Critic for the next few minutes.
SnoozeOrder	snoozeOrder() Reply the SnoozeOrder that is defined for this critic.
boolean	stillValid(ToDoItem i, Designer dsgr) Return true iff the given ToDoItem is still valid and should be kept in the given designers ToDoList.
boolean	supports(Decision d)
boolean	supports(Goal g)
ToDoItem	toDoItem(Object dm, Designer dsgr) Reply the ToDoItem that the designer should see iff predicate() returns true.
String	toString() Reply a string that describes this Critic.
void	unsnooze() Lift any previous SnoozeOrder.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

Field Detail

PROBLEM_FOUND

public static final boolean PROBLEM_FOUND

NO_PROBLEM

public static final boolean NO_PROBLEM

ENABLED

public static final String ENABLED

The keys of some predefined control records.

SNOOZE_ORDER

public static final String SNOOZE_ORDER

KT_DESIGNERS

public static String KT_DESIGNERS

Types of knowledge that critics can deliver

KT_CORRECTNESS

public static String KT_CORRECTNESS

KT_COMPLETENESS

public static String KT_COMPLETENESS

KT_CONSISTENCY

public static String KT_CONSISTENCY

KT_SYNTAX

public static String KT_SYNTAX

KT_SEMANTICS

public static String KT_SEMANTICS

KT_OPTIMIZATION

public static String KT_OPTIMIZATION

KT_PRESENTATION

public static String KT_PRESENTATION

KT_ORGANIZATIONAL

public static String KT_ORGANIZATIONAL

KT_EXPERIENCIAL

public static String KT_EXPERIENCIAL

KT_TOOL

public static String KT_TOOL

DEFAULT_CLARIFIER

public static Icon DEFAULT_CLARIFIER

_clarifier

protected Icon _clarifier

_supportedDecisions

protected Vector _supportedDecisions

_supportedGoals

protected Vector _supportedGoals

_knowledgeTypes

protected VectorSet _knowledgeTypes

_triggerMask

protected long _triggerMask

_numCriticsFired

public static int _numCriticsFired

Constructor Detail

Critic

public Critic()

Construct a new critic instance. Typically only one instance of each critic class is created and stored in a static variable, as per the Singleton pattern. Each domain extension should define a static initlizer block to make one instance of each critic and call Agency.register() with that instance.

Method Detail

critique

public void critique(Object dm,
                     Designer dsgr)

Examine the given Object and Designer and, if appropriate, produce one or more ToDoItem's and add them to the offending design material's and the Designer's ToDoList. By default this is basically a simple if-statement that relies on predicate() to determine if there is some appropriate feedback, and toDoItem() to produce the ToDoItem. The predicate() and toDoItem() pair of methods is simple and convient for many critics. More sophisticated critics that produce more than one ToDoItem per critiquing, or that produce ToDoItem's that contain information that was already computed in the predicate, should override critique. If you override this method, you should call super.critique().

See Also:

# @see Critic#toDoItem

postItem

public void postItem(ToDoItem item,
                     Object dm,
                     Designer dsgr)

predicate

public boolean predicate(Object dm,
                         Designer dsgr)

Perform the Critic's analysis of the design. Subclasses should test the given Object to make sure that it is the type of object that is expected. Each object in the design registers its own critics with the run-time system. The dm parameter is bound to each design object that registered this critic, one per call. Returning true means that feedback should be delivered to the Designer. By convention, subclasses should return their superclass predicate method if their own predicate would return false.

stillValid

public boolean stillValid(ToDoItem i,
                          Designer dsgr)

Return true iff the given ToDoItem is still valid and should be kept in the given designers ToDoList. Critics that are not enabled should always return false so that their ToDoItems will be removed. Subclasses of Critic that supply multiple offenders should always override this method.

By default this method basically asks the critic to again critique the offending Object and then it checks if the resulting ToDoItem is the same as the one already posted. This is simple and it works fine for light-weight critics. Critics that expend a lot of computational effort in making feedback that can be easily check to see if it still holds, should override this method.

Needs-More-Work: Maybe ToDoItem should carry some data to make this method more efficient.

Specified by:

stillValid in interface Poster

supports

public boolean supports(Decision d)

Specified by:

supports in interface Poster

getSupportedDecisions

public Vector getSupportedDecisions()

Specified by:

getSupportedDecisions in interface Poster

addSupportedDecision

public void addSupportedDecision(Decision d)

supports

public boolean supports(Goal g)

Specified by:

supports in interface Poster

getSupportedGoals

public Vector getSupportedGoals()

Specified by:

getSupportedGoals in interface Poster

addSupportedGoal

public void addSupportedGoal(Goal g)

containsKnowledgeType

public boolean containsKnowledgeType(String type)

Specified by:

containsKnowledgeType in interface Poster

addKnowledgeType

public void addKnowledgeType(String type)

getKnowledgeTypes

public VectorSet getKnowledgeTypes()

Specified by:

getKnowledgeTypes in interface Poster

setKnowledgeTypes

public void setKnowledgeTypes(VectorSet kt)

setKnowledgeTypes

public void setKnowledgeTypes(String t1)

setKnowledgeTypes

public void setKnowledgeTypes(String t1,
                              String t2)

setKnowledgeTypes

public void setKnowledgeTypes(String t1,
                              String t2,
                              String t3)

reasonCodeFor

public static int reasonCodeFor(String s)

getTriggerMask

public long getTriggerMask()

addTrigger

public void addTrigger(String s)

matchReason

public boolean matchReason(long patternCode)

expand

public String expand(String desc,
                     VectorSet offs)

Specified by:

expand in interface Poster

getClarifier

public Icon getClarifier()

Specified by:

getClarifier in interface Poster

isActive

public boolean isActive()

Reply true iff this Critic can execute. This fact is normally determined by a ControlMech.

beActive

public void beActive()

Make this critic active. From now on it can be applied to a design material in critiquing.

beInactive

public void beInactive()

Make this critic inactive. From now on it will be idle and will not be applied to a design material in critiquing.

addControlRec

public Object addControlRec(String name,
                            Object controlData)

Add some attribute used by ControlMech to determine if this Critic should be active. Critics store control record so that stateful ControlMech's do not need to store a parallel data structure. But Critic's do not directy use or modify this data.

getControlRec

public Object getControlRec(String name)

Reply the named control record, or null if not defined.

isEnabled

public boolean isEnabled()

This is a convient method for accessing one well-known control record. The enabled control record is a boolean that the user can turn on or off to manually enable or disable this Critic. It is normally combined with other ControlMech determinations with a logic-and.

setEnabled

public void setEnabled(boolean e)

snoozeOrder

public SnoozeOrder snoozeOrder()

Reply the SnoozeOrder that is defined for this critic.

snooze

public void snooze()

Disable this Critic for the next few minutes.

Specified by:

snooze in interface Poster

unsnooze

public void unsnooze()

Lift any previous SnoozeOrder.

Specified by:

unsnooze in interface Poster

isRelevantToDecisions

public boolean isRelevantToDecisions(Designer dsgr)

Reply true iff this Critic is relevant to the decisions that the Designer is considering. By default just asks the Designer if he/she is considering my decisionCategory. Really this is something for a ControlMech to compute, but if a subclass of Critic encapsulates some information you may need to override this method.

isRelevantToGoals

public boolean isRelevantToGoals(Designer dsgr)

Reply true iff this Critic is relevant to the goals that the Designer is trying to achieve. By default, all Critic's are relevant regardless of the GoalModel. Really this is something for a ControlMech to compute, but if a subclass of Critic encapsulates some information you may need to override this method.

Needs-More-Work: I would like a better default action, but goals are typed and their values must be interperted by critics. They are not as generic as the DecisionModel.

makeWizard

public Wizard makeWizard(ToDoItem item)

Create a new Wizard to help the user fix the identified problem. This version assumes subclasses override getWizClass to return the appropriate Class of wizard. Critic subclasses that need to initialize their wizard might override this to call super.makeWizard() and then work with the result.

getWizardClass

public Class getWizardClass(ToDoItem item)

Return the Class of wizard that can fix the problem identifed by this critic. Return null if no wizard is defined. This method returns null, subclasses with wizards should override it.

initWizard

public void initWizard(Wizard w)

Initialize a newly created wizard with information found by the critic. This is called right after the wizard is made in makeWizard() and after the wizard's ToDoItem is set. Any critic that supports wizards should probably override this method, and call super initWizard() first.

getDecisionCategory

public String getDecisionCategory()

Reply a string used to determine if this critic would be relevant to current design decisions. Strings returned from here are compared to strings in the DecisionModel.

setDecisionCategory

protected void setDecisionCategory(String c)

Set the decisionCategory, usually done in the constructor. I have not yet thought of a case where dynamically changing the Critic's decisionCategory is useful.

getCriticType

public String getCriticType()

Reply a string used to contol critics according to type. Examples include: correctness, completeness, consistency, optimization, presentation, and alternative.

getExpertEmail

public String getExpertEmail()

Reply the email address of the person who is the author or maintainer of this critic.

Specified by:

getExpertEmail in interface Poster

setExpertEmail

public void setExpertEmail(String addr)

Specified by:

setExpertEmail in interface Poster

getHeadline

public String getHeadline(Object dm,
                          Designer dsgr)

Reply the headline used in feedback produced by this Critic.

getHeadline

public String getHeadline(VectorSet offenders,
                          Designer dsgr)

getHeadline

public String getHeadline()

setHeadline

public void setHeadline(String h)

getPriority

public int getPriority(VectorSet offenders,
                       Designer dsgr)

Reply the priority used in feedback produced by this Critic.

setPriority

public void setPriority(int p)

getPriority

public int getPriority()

getDescription

public String getDescription(VectorSet offenders,
                             Designer dsgr)

Reply the description used in feedback produced by this Critic.

setDescription

public void setDescription(String d)

getDescriptionTemplate

public String getDescriptionTemplate()

getMoreInfoURL

public String getMoreInfoURL(VectorSet offenders,
                             Designer dsgr)

Reply the moreInfoURL used in feedback produced by this Critic.

setMoreInfoURL

public void setMoreInfoURL(String m)

getMoreInfoURL

public String getMoreInfoURL()

setArg

protected void setArg(String name,
                      Object value)

getArg

protected Object getArg(String name)

getArgs

public Hashtable getArgs()

setArgs

public void setArgs(Hashtable h)

toDoItem

public ToDoItem toDoItem(Object dm,
                         Designer dsgr)

Reply the ToDoItem that the designer should see iff predicate() returns true. By default it just fills in the fields of the ToDoItem from accessor methods of this Critic. Critic Subclasses may override this method or the accessor methods to add computed fields to the ToDoItem. Needs-More-Work: Critic's may want to add new fields to a ToDoItem to make stillValid more efficent.

See Also:

critique(java.lang.Object, uci.argo.kernel.Designer)

canFixIt

public boolean canFixIt(ToDoItem item)

Needs-More-Work: Not implemented yet. The idea is that some problems identified by Critic's can be fixed with certain design manipulations (or transforms) that can be applied automatically to resolve the problem. This method replies true iff the given problem can be fixed. The fixIt() method actually does the fix.

Specified by:

canFixIt in interface Poster

See Also:

fixIt

public void fixIt(ToDoItem item,
                  Object arg)

Needs-More-Work: Not implemented yet. If the given ToDoItem can be fixed automaically, and the user wants that to happen, then do it. Obviously, this depends on the specific Critic and problem. By default this method does nothing.

Specified by:

fixIt in interface Poster

See Also:

canFixIt(uci.argo.kernel.ToDoItem)

toString

public String toString()

Reply a string that describes this Critic. Mainly useful for debugging.

Overrides:

toString in class Object