Release Notes COUGAAR 12.4

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• Introduction
• License
• Contents
• What's New in this Release?
• Requirements
• Installation
• Documentation
• Support

Introduction

Cougaar is an open-source, Java-based architecture that supports distributed, agent-based applications.

Please visit the Cougaar Website for overview slides, documentation, news, and releases.

License

Contents

What's New in this Release?

Changes:

• Added Eclipse project files for most CVS modules. To use, create an empty Workspace, select "Import", "General - Existing Project", "Next", browse for a module checkout (e.g. "ping"), then "Finish". The "ping" example includes Run configurations for a single-node benchmark and two-node ping test.
• Repackaged the ping demo source code from "core" to the "ping" module:
     org.cougaar.demo.ping.*
  For example configurations see the "demo-ping.zip"
• Refactored the Message Transport "mtsstd" module to move all protocol-specific LinkProtocols (RMI, JMS, etc) into a new "mtslinks" module. The standard system now requires the "lib/mtslinks.jar".
• Added servlet tunneling support via the new "webmicro" module. If enabled, this transparently replaces servlet HTTP redirects with Message Transport -based "tunnel" messaging (e.g. to get through firewalls). For details, see OnlineManual/ServletTunnel.html
• Modified the XML parser to support "vm_parameter" and component "argument" attributes. For example, instead of the old format:
     <vm_parameter> -Dx=y </vm_parameter>
     <argument> foo=bar </argument>
  you can now use:
     <vm_parameter name="-Dx" value="y"/>
     <argument name="foo" value="bar"/>
  Both the old and new formats are supported.
• Added support to track blackboard add/change/remove stacks and display them in the "/tasks" servlet. This can be used to debug both which plugin published an object (e.g. "publishAdded by com.FooPlugin[x=y,foo=bar] at stacktrace) and all plugins and unique stacks that have changed that object. To enable, set:
     -Dorg.cougaar.core.blackboard.trackPublishers=true
  run, then select an object in the "/tasks" servlet and click on the lower-left "Publisher" link. In one real-world application that has many blackboard operations, this option adds about a 30% runtime performance overhead.
• Open-sourced the QuO "resource-status-service" third-party jar into a new "qrs" module.
• Removed the "quo" module and its related "sys/quoSumo" third-party library from the standard Cougaar release. These modules are still available in CVS.
• Fixed several ThreadService bugs that were found in long-running benchmark tests.
• Enhanced the util "Arguments" parameter parser to support complex name=value entries and -D defaults. The plugin loader now supports a "setArguments(Arguments)" method, such as:

          public class MyPlugin ... {
            // optional, called via reflection
            public void setArguments(Arguments args) { ... }
          }
        

• Added generics support to ServiceBroker. For example, instead of:
     log = (LoggingService) sb.getService(this, LoggingService.class, null);
  a plugin can now dow:
     log = sb.getService(this, LoggingService.class, null);
  
• Added a "/favicon.ico" servlet to display the Cougaar logo in the browser URL line. To delete or replace this image, change the new "configs/common/favicon.ico" file.
• Added an optional "/file" servlet to provide full browser access to the $COUGAAR_INSTALL_PATH file system. To enable, add the following component to your configuration:

        <component class="org.cougaar.lib.web.service.FileServlet">
          <argument name=path value="/file">
        </component>
        

• Enhanced metrics code-generators and base classes to support generics and new operators, such as:

            Volume v1 = Volume.newGallons(12);
            Volume v2 = Volume.newGallons(34);
            Volume v = (Volume) v1.add(v2);  // new "add" method
        

• Added initial support for Cougaar annotations, such as:

          public class MyPlugin ... {
             @Cougaar.Arg(name="delayMillis", defaultValue="5000")
             public long delayMillis;
             ...
          }
        

  See the HEAD "ping" module for a complete example.
• Removed some third-party dependencies in the core modules. For example, the "util" module no longer depends upon "xml-apis" or "xercesImpl".

Requirements

Installation

Documentation

• The Cougaar FAQ (online version)
• The Cougaar Tutorials Page contains:
  • The Overview Slides of the Cougaar architecture, programming model, and installation. We recommend that new users and developers read these slides first.
  • The Tutorial Slides on how to implement planning applications using Task/Allocation agent interactions.
  • The "Pizza Party" planning application and related Getting Started Guide.
• The Documentation Page contains:
  • The Cougaar "Hague" Conference Paper
  • The Cougaar Developers' Guide v11.4
  • The Cougaar Architecture Document v11.4
  • Many additional Conference Papers.
• The included Manual provides detailed documentation on several core services, such as the ThreadPool and Metrics services.
• Javadoc is available:
  • In the "cougaar-api.zip" as "javadoc/module/doc/api" files, such as the Core Javadoc.
  • Online in the 12.4 Javadoc Directory.
• The Cougaar Wiki.
• Old ReleaseNotes and ChangeLog files (e.g., core/src/ChangeLog).
• Parameters.html, which is a catalog of System Properties (-D flags) as specified by "@property" javadoc tags in the source code. Note that often this is split in per-module Parameters files, such as the Core Parameters File.

Support

For questions or issues, please subscribe to the cougaar-developers mailing list and browse the mailing list archives. Subscribers can post emails to the mailing list at cougaar-developers@cougaar.org

If the above sources do not address your question or problem, please submit a bug report or enhancement request to the Cougaar Bugzilla Website.