.. _`Introduction`:


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Introduction
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*The* Vortex OpenSplice Modeler *is an integrated Eclipse-based 
tool chain based on Data Distribution Service (DDS) 
domain-specific model driven techniques. It provides the 
essential productivity tools of PrismTech’s third generation 
OMG-DDS suite.*

Vortex OpenSplice is a suite of software products comprised of a 
high-performance, low-overhead run-time environment, development 
tools for modeling information and applications, and run-time 
tools for monitoring system performance.

The *Vortex OpenSplice Modeler* conforms to the Object Management 
Group’s (OMG’s) Data Distribution Service for Real-Time Systems 
Specification for the high-performance, high-integrity systems 
required in defence, air-traffic control, SCADA, and other 
applications, where RT distributed data is a requirement for 
acceptable systems performance.

The Vortex OpenSplice Modeler is designed to provide developers 
of these RT systems with an easy-to-use, graphical modeling 
environment that dramatically increases their productivity, and 
2nd generation DDS middleware offering superior performance, 
scalability, robustness, fault-tolerance, flexibility, and 
ease-of-use.

The objective of the Vortex OpenSplice Modeler is to reduce 
complexity, shorten time-to-market, raise quality, and ensure 
Standards compliance and code correctness; all in a single 
integrated suite of tools from a proven and trusted vendor.

The Vortex OpenSplice Modeler facilitate DDS-based system 
development by clearly distinguishing between the various scopes 
and lifecycle stages of the system supported by visual 
composition, configuration and round-trip engineering. This 
purpose is realized by the following means:

+ *Guidance* - the tools provide context-aware guidance regarding 
  the overall DDS concept, patterns and best-practices.

+ *Well-defined hierarchical steps* - includes information 
  modeling (topic definitions in IDL, code-generation for topic 
  QoS), application design (code-generation for application 
  frameworks and DDS entities such as publishers/writers, 
  subscribers/readers) and system deployment (information 
  partitioning, network-configuration and durability configuration 
  resulting in XML-based Vortex OpenSplice configuration data).

The Vortex OpenSplice Modeler includes these tools:

+ *Vortex OpenSplice Information Modeler* - graphical 
  information-modeling tool for system-wide Types and Topics.

+ *Vortex OpenSplice Application Modeler* - graphical 
  application-modeling tool for application code-generation based 
  on a DDS meta-model and related palette of DDS-entities and 
  application frameworks, including of DomainParticipants, 
  Publishers, Subscribers, DataWriters, DataReaders and Listeners.

A future release will also include:

+ *Vortex OpenSplice Deployment Modeler* - graphical deployment-control 
  environment supporting real-time connectivity with the deployed 
  target system both for configuration-purposes as well as 
  run-time control and monitoring (by integrating the OpenSplice 
  Tuner features in the Eclipse-based framework).

+ Round-trip engineering between the modeling environment and 
  the actual deployed target system.

|linux| |windows|

The Vortex OpenSplice Modeler is currently available for Windows 
and Linux running Sun’s *Java SE JDK 6* and *Eclipse 3.6*. 


The Vortex OpenSplice Modeler product is supplied as profiles: 
individual, tailored packages specific to each modeling area, 
including:

+ information modeling

+ application modeling

+ deployment modeling (to be supported in a future release)






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