Sequential composition
Protocols can be combined using sequential composition. In a
resulting protocol, the program of each agent is a concatenation of
their respective programs from two protocols. For example, protocol
Two_CR[I, R](c, r, c0, r0) is obtained by sequentially composing
CR[I, R](c, r) with its reverse copy Reverse_CR[I,R](c0, ro)
(which is in turn obtained by simple instantiation
Reverse_CR[I,R](c0, ro)=CR[R,I](c0, r0)). The result is shown in
the next figure.
Let's step back to see one way to get to this result. Go to CR
Template, open it, select the protocol CR, right-click and pick Copy
Reference. Now go to Two_CR and Paste into the Editing pane. Notice
that the icon is grayed and has a pointer, indicating that it is a
reference instance. Select it, right-click and pick Create New
Instance, creating CR_inst. Do the same to CR_inst, but edit its
signature to Reverse_CR_inst, with the agent names reversed
([R,I]). At this stage you will see the following figure:
Now use the Protocol toolbar to create another protocol (wait to name
it), and the toolbar again to create Instance Edges from the two CR
instances above. Now name the composed protocol
Two_CR[I,R](c,r,c0,r0)=CR_inst[I,R](c,r);Reverse_CR_inst[I,R](c0,r0).
The curly brackets indicate sequential composition of the protocols
separated by a semicolon.
Finally, select the composed protocol, right-click and select Generate
Protocol Contents.
Last updated: July 17, 2006
Send comments and questions to ma@kestrel.edu, dusko@kestrel.edu. For more information, see also Dusko's homepage
