Integration-Fest 6

Times, Location & Facilities

The meeting will take place in Sheffield Univeristy's Computer Science Department, Regent Court, Portobello Street, Sheffield, Sheffield, S1 4DP, from 1030 12 Jan 2004 to 1600 16 Jan 2004.

We have two meeting rooms, G30 and (until Thursday lunchtime) G22, and the use of a small computer lab.

On arrival, please meet in G30 where we'll learn how to find the computer lab.

Please see the timetable for more details of the week.

On Friday 16 Jan, the fourth Steering Committee meeting will take place. Please add any videos to SteeringMeeeting4 so that we can forward them (by CD-ROM) to the video conference operators.

Scenarios for Demonstrating New Features

• Service Discovery: DemonstratingNewFeatures.doc
• Notification Service: NotificationServiceDemoScenarios.doc

-- SimonMiles - 19 Nov 2003

Outline Plans (draft)

IF6 will pursue three themes:

• Documenting myGrid v1
• Scenario development
• Implementing the information model

Documenting myGrid v1

myGrid v1, and incremental upgrades, will be our main 'product' for the next few months. The initial impressions of the myGrid v1 download are that it is difficult to understand how the pieces fit together, and the purposes they serve individually and in conjunction. We therefore need to put some effort into making the release more accessible to its potential users, and the most effective way is to put more effort into documenting it.

We will follow the model of the OGSA-DAI/myGrid OGSA-DQP service's documentation.

This comprises:

• Readme file: unformatted text file in the outermost directory, referring to the following three files in the 'doc' directory (in priority order):
• Installation Guide: unformatted text file
• Release Note: unformatted text file
• Service User Guide: formatted PDF or HTML document

For the first three of these, the DQP's versions are excellent models.

For the service user guide, each component should follow the DQP's model for the first three chapters (Acknowledgements, Introduction, Overview). The 'context' subsection of Ch. 3 should describe the role of the component within myGrid and (if applicable) as a general middleware element. The remaining chapters will be component-specific, but should cover:

• configuration issues (e.g. property or XML files, or NetBeans wizards)
• interfaces for services (WSDL and document schemas) and APIs (overviews with reference to Javadocs should be OK).
• main facilities and interaction principles for NetBeans modules

In addition, we need similar 'top-level' documentation describing the overall myGrid environment and the principal interactions between components.

We should aim to provide this documentation before IF6, with the aim of reviewing it at IF6 (by using it to install, deploy and invoke the relevant components).

The target for the meeting is a further release (0.4.x) of myGrid with the above documentation in place and the installation procedures tested.

The components in the myGrid 0.4 bundle are:

We also rely on:

For Microsoft Word users, I've created a template (myGridUserGuide.dot) for component user guides, based on the DQP structure. Also an OpenOffice template (myGridUserGuide.stw)

Scenario development

Since IF-4/5, various groups have extended their components with new functionality, and/or have exploited existing functionality to support new bioinformatics scenarios. Some of these developments exploit multiple services.

The second EPSRC Pilot Projects meeting is scheduled for 25-26 Mar 2004 at NeSC, at which we need to give successful demonstrations. These have to build on the AHM 2003 demonstration, using capabilities that are already present in myGrid or within reach over the next few weeks. The version of myGrid supporting these demonstrations should also be a candidate for release as myGrid 0.6.x.

The aim for IF-6 is to develop storyboards for these demonstrations, identifying problem areas and gaps. To do this, we will demonstrate/test these new developments in conjunction with current versions of other services.

In particular as many as possible of the following:

• Wiliams syndrome scenario: demonstrate the services and components used to support the Williams syndrome scenario as a basis for an ISMB 2004 paper (an end in itself).

• Graves disease scenario: demonstrate extensions to the original, IF4, demonstration.

• Service registration: demonstrate that the ViewService^? publishes a notification to the NotificationService when any of the following events occur:
  • user registers a new service description
  • user updates description of a registered service
  • user deletes a a registered service

• Find Service update: demonstrate that the FindService^? receives notifications of ViewService^? updates (above) and modifies its filtered view accordingly; demonstrate that the update view is accessible by both
  • the ServiceBrowser^?
  • Taverna

• Notification Service: demonstrate:
  • dynamic topic hierarchy
  • Quality of Service (durable & non-durable topics)
  • Semantic annotation of topics
• in conjunction with the UserProxy^? service, WorkbenchNotifications^? component and (for the last of these) the ViewService^?. Much of his integration will need significant change to the first two components, and may not be practical in the light of staffing changes at Nottingham.

• Notification Service: demonstrate notification of workflow status change, with updates to Freefluo and the Workbench.

• AMBIT Integration: demonstrate integration of text extraction services via
  • Web Service access embedded in a workflow (essential)
  • Prototype 'ambient text' access through the workbench

• Invoke distributed queries from workflows: demonstrate "simple" integration of DQP into Scufl workflows by developing a DQP processor plugin for Freefluo that provides access to the generic DQP web service in similar fashion to Soaplab queires and nested workflow enactments.

Implementing the information model

We will have a first review draft of the revised InformationModel by 19 Dec 2003. This will be accompanied by an initial deployment document, matching myGrid components to aspects of the model.

• Review the InformationModel definition
• Refine the draft deployment document
• Identify port types and message formats, based on XSD schemas in the info model (taking WS-I into account)
• Identify impacts (including estimated development costs)

Timetable

Our highest priority for the week is ensuring that myGrid v1 can be built, deployed and used, and will attempt to sort this out at the start of the week. The timetable will be altered to reflect progress on this.

• Monday a.m.
  • 1030 Arrival, coffee, orientation, setup
  • 1130 Stock take of v1 documentation; allocate testing & reviewing
• Monday p.m.
  • Review v1 documentation; test installation & deployment
• Tuesday
  • Main activity: support new user's installation of myGrid. Duncan Hull from Manchester will attempt to build & deploy myGrid services using only the documentation. If he finds gotchas we've missed, we need to give immediate support and fix the documents or the build process.
  • Background activity: work on scenarios
• Wednesday a.m.
  • Walk-through and informal review of information model
• Wednesday p.m.
  • Scenario development
• Thursday
  • Scenario development
• Friday
  • Scenario development

-- NickSharman - 9-10 Dec 2003, 5 & 9 Jan 2003