The PLAYOUT Framework Approach

We present a new generator based framework approach. The framework is part of the PLAYOUT design system. After developing this design system in a conventional fashion and performing several large hierarchical designs, we observed that it is necessary to design our own framework. We extended the PLAYOUT system by an adequate environment that covers data management, design flow management, and the user interface. Using a common conceptual design model, the major part of our CAD system components will be generated automatically. This paper gives an overview about our most important framework activities which are the data and design flow management and a generator concept. In the area of data management, we concentrate on extensions to our data model and the use of different workspaces. The design flow management approach is based on an extended Petri net flow model and design planning. All data are provided by the framework via a functional interface. In contrast to most other approaches, this tool interface and the implementation of basic framework components will be generated from a common design model.