Composable Coloured Petri nets

On this page you can find a preliminary implementation of a filter tool named ccpn2hcpn written in Ruby that is able to translate CPNTools models with synchrony groups to "pure" CPNTools models.

The ccpn2hcpn tool was tested in the following CPNTools files, which can also serve as examples for the specification of synchrony goups:

• classAclassB_3.cpn
• mutualrecursive1.cpn
• mutualrecursive2.cpn
• self.cpn
• test1.cpn
• writerProducer.cpn
• writerProducerDB2.cpn
• writerProducerDB.cpn
• writerProducerDBReader.cpn
• writerProducerDBReaderConsumers.cpn

(SEND, targetClass, request, qualifier1 parameter1,  ..., qualifierN parameter_N)
(RECV, senderClass, request, qualifier1 parameter1, ..., qualifierN parameterN)

• The SEND and RECV elements specify the request direction.
• The targetClass element can have one of two distinct meanings: (1) the class to which a receive transition with the same request belongs; (2) a variable which can take as values, names of classes containing one receive transition for the specified request. The latter allows dynamic binding instantiation.
• The request element identifies the request. Formally, each synchrony group is a triple with a send transition, a recv transition, and a request.
• The parameters are transition variables, and the qualifiers can take one the following values "IN", "OUT", or "INOUT". These names are given from the send transition point of view.
• The senderClass is the name of the send transition's page. This allows its use as a transition variable allowing the specification of a "return" to the sender class. In fact, it can be seen as a permanent IN parameter. This allows the modelling of typical method call through the use of two synchrony groups: one to invoke the method; another to return to the caller.

An "OUT" parameter must occur in the receive transition input arcs so that it can be bound when "sending it" back to the send transition. Typically, it will also occur in one or more of the send transition output arcs: the send transition "does something" with the received output parameter.

Parameter passing is made "by name": the receive transition parameters are textually replaced by the respective send transition parameters.

[1] Barros, J., Gomes, L.: "On the Use of Coloured Petri Nets for Object-Oriented Design". In Cortadella, J., Reisig, W., eds.: Applications and Theory of Petri Nets 2004 25th International Conference, ICATPN 2004, Bologna, Italy, June 21-25, 2004. Volume 3099 of Proceedings Series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer (2004) 117{136 ISBN: 3-540-22236-7.