[SciPy-Dev] Python Scipy Block Diagram Editor with ACG

[Charles R Harris]

On Wed, Nov 21, 2012 at 8:01 AM, Neal Becker <ndbecker2 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Charles R Harris wrote:
>
> > On Tue, Nov 20, 2012 at 11:41 AM, Cera, Tim <tim at cerazone.net> wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> As is, the block diagram editing is done in libre office draw and you
> have
> >>> to manually type in the functions and commands, I have
> >>> attached an example exported to pdf.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Would anyone be willing to help with this, I have no experience
> developing
> >>> with the open source community.
> >>>
> >>
> >> I won't be able to help, except to give some information.  Found this
> >> http://wiki.python.org/moin/FlowBasedProgramming a long time ago which
> >> might be useful.  Some of the links are broken now, and some of the
> others
> >> are really old, but something there might be helpful.
> >>
> >> In general, flow based programming hasn't caught on.   I think partially
> >> because of reasons described in the old saying, "To hell with
> tradition, we
> >> are going to do it like we always did!"
> >>
> >>
> > Simulink is pretty widely used, especially for modelling and rapid
> > development of control software.  Equipment vendors provide blocks for
> > their devices, gyroscopes and such, that can be used for the models and
> > then Matlab will generate control code to run on the targeted system.
> > Simulink itself is basically a way of setting up a big system of DEs, but
> > what really makes it go are the vendor blocks and code generation.
> >
> > Chuck
>
> So why would vlsi guys use text (e.g., verilog) to design a cpu, instead of
> schematics?
>
> 1. IMO, graphical representations work nicely for low-complexity, but not
> productive for highly complex systems
>
> 2. It is less productive to manipulate a graphical  representation
>
> 3. text can be manipulated by all your favorite tools, more open
> ecosystem, no
> lockin, proprietary formats
>
>
I'm not saying it's the best way, just that Simulink is widely used and is
part of a mature ecosystem. FPGA design software, say Xilinx ISE, does have
a visual front end, generally in tabular form. In that regard it is rather
like gui design tools where objects can be opened and their attributes set.
I think the thing that makes all of those tools go is code generation, the
ability run simulations, and to insert probes that display values in
graphical form as the simulation progresses. IIRC, Simulink can also be
used to drive hardware for breadboarding designs.

Chuck
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