Support for the XML format from Cheddar 3.2 by the cheddar backend

[nvcyc]

OCARINA VERSION:

root@05f8f72842cc:~/opt/ocarina-build# ocarina --version
Ocarina v2017.1-501-g402cf43 (Working Copy from r402cf43f)
Copyright (c) 2003-2009 Telecom ParisTech, 2010-2021 ESA & ISAE
Build date: Feb 05 2021 00:06:31

DESCRIPTION:

The cheddar backend generates a project file in XML that is intended for Cheddar to create a corresponding system environment for conducting further scheduling analysis (e.g., schedulability analysis). However, the latest Cheddar version (Cheddar 3.2) doesn't seem to accept such an XML output from the cheddar backend in Ocarina. This XML output by cheddar backend is also different from the one that can be obtained from the Cheddar plug-in in Osate2. Therefore, it is needed to clarify the following questions:

1. Which Cheddar version accepts the XML output generated by the current cheddar backend?
2. What is the plan for cheddar backend? Is the goal to support the latest Cheddar version (Cheddar 3.2)?

SAMPLE FIX/WORKAROUND:

I think supporting the latest Cheddar will be beneficial, so it is worth revising the existing cheddar backend or creating another backend version to support Cheddar 3.2, depending on your plan and preference. Either way, the first step to supporting the latest Cheddar is to identify the right XML format. Apparently the cheddar.dtd file in Ocarina's source tree is obsolete. Do you know where we can obtain the correct format? I found a cheddar_adl.dtd file in Cheddar's source tree but not sure if this is the correct one we can follow.

[yoogx]

The current Cheddar backend supports Cheddar 2.x, Upgrading to Cheddar 3.2 is not that complicated. However Cheddar's author created a plugin for OSATE that exports to 3.2. I recommend using this one instead.

[nvcyc]

I realized that the output project file generated by cheddar backend is compatible with Cheddar's current cheddarkernel binary that accepts 2.x format, so it would be a good idea to keep this backend and have a separate backend for Cheddar 3.2 if needed in the future.

Apart from that, I think it will be a good idea to add support of specifying custom output file name to the current cheddar backend like what we added for aadl_xml which enables testing and increases usability. I will have a patch for this purpose if you agree.

[yoogx]

I am not sure what will be the future of cheddarkernel, but I am fine not touching the code base

Yes, you can propose a PR to specify a custom output file