From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.8 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_DATE autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,4be3788aba545d7f X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 1993-03-04 08:06:28 PST Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Path: sparky!uunet!widget!pole From: pole@evb.com (Tom Pole) Subject: Re: First Ada software patent issued to Air Force Message-ID: <1993Mar4.152614.5246@evb.com> Organization: EVB Software Engineering, Inc. References: Date: Thu, 4 Mar 1993 15:26:14 GMT Date: 1993-03-04T15:26:14+00:00 List-Id: In article srctran@world.std.com (Gregory Aharonian) writes: > > As if the DoD doesn't have enough ways to undermine Ada acceptance and >to waste money on promoting Ada software reuse (and coming up with such ways >faster than I can find out about them and critique them), it seems that the >DoD has found a new way to screw things up: patent Ada technology. > > Yes, this month the first software patent specifically dealing with >Ada was issued ... other stuff deleted > >Gregory Aharonian >Source Translation & Optimization > They have got to be kidding. Someone thinks the following is an _original_ and therefore patentable idea. There are numerous similar works, mostly research but some proprietary commercial tools. I've done similar work myself. The following can only be considered patentable by someone with very little to no knowledge of the software reuse, and generative software reuse fields. You use a graphical editor to construct a representation of a program, add textual information that is ambiguous in the representation and then generate source code. The fact that it handles Ada instead of Cobol or C++, and the fact that it deals with Ada tasks is not sufficient to make this a NEW TECHNOLOGY or a NEW APPLICATION of technology !!!! Graphical based code specification is NOT NEW !! And source generation from a graphical spec is NOT NEW !!! Normally, I stay out of flame wars which is why I rarely if ever respond to GA's postings >:-} , but this has got me mad, just plain angry. It's not the developer's name I want to know. I want to know the names of those responsible for granting this patent. I want to know who researched the background of the technology. I want to know the name of the government lackey who stuck his hand in my pocket to pay for this travesty. Do they think that the fact that no other Ada producing tool generates code from pictures (which in itself is not true, it is rare but not unheard of) makes it patentable. I am appalled !!!!! A copyright definitley, but a patent !?!? Protection of the concept and not the execution !?!? Heaven Help Us ALL, Thomas > >============================================================================== > > GRAPHICS SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC COMPUTER CODE GENERATION > > U.S. Patent Number 5,187,788 > Robert Marmelstein > U.S. Air Force > February 16, 1993 > > > A method of code generation for the Ada programming language, which >provides a user with the ability to quickly create a graphical representation >of an initial program design, the graphical representation being in a form >from which the Ada code is generated and then compiled; > > wherein the representation provides a user with a plurality of different >but consistent views of an Ada program, with graphic symbols representing >objects defined as entities including constants and variables having values, >wherein the objects include packages, operations, data types, states, slots, >events and connections as defined for the Ada language, and wherein operations >comprise tasks, procedures and functions; > > wherein said method comprises the steps: > > using a first editor for providing a first view wherein the user defines >an initial Ada package specification, using a combination of graphical means >and text, using a second editor for providing a second view with which the >user creates and manipulates complex data structures and defines local >variables, data structures and local variables used in the Ada program, and >using a third editor for providing a third view with which the User defines >the control flow of a specific subprogram; and using first, second and third >event handlers for the first, second and third editors respectively; > > using the first editor and first event handler to create, select, edit >and delete graphic symbols, including graphic symbols representing packages, >and to create connections between graphic symbols which correspond to Ada >with and use statements, and to create package operations and data structures, >inserting graphic symbols into the data of the common data base, and updating >data in a common data base for objects which have been edited and not >deleted; > > using the third editor and third event handler to create, select, edit >and delete graphic symbols representing states, events, slots and transitions, >wherein states represent actions or sequence of actions including procedure >calls, function calls, code blocks, raise exception statements, and >rendezvous statements, wherein events represent Ada select or accept >statements, wherein slots represent paths of communication between tasks, >and wherein transitions describe conditions whereby control is passed to >another sate, wherein transitions between states include while statements, >for/in statements, loops and unconditional flow of control, and updating data >in the common data base for objects which have been edited and not deleted; > > using the second editor and second event handler to create, select, edit >and delete graphic symbols representing the data structure, and updating data >in the common data base for objects which have been edited and not deleted; > > entering a "generate Ada" command with the first editor to initiate Ada >source code generation for the Ada packages defined for the Ada program, >using templates which are generic structure types having a plurality of data >members, there being a template for each type of object, Ada code being >generated in the system by declaring specific data structures of the template >types with allocation of memory, traversing said common database, extracting >relevant information needed to produce the Ada code from each object in the >common database and inserting the relevant information into members of the >specific data structures, and executing a print function with the data members >of the templates as parameters. >-- >************************************************************************** >Greg Aharonian >Source Translation & Optimiztion >P.O. Box 404, Belmont, MA 02178 -- Thomas Pole