AITEC Contract Research Projects in FY1998 : Software
(13)DJ:A Java-based Constraint Language and System
Principal Investigator :
Neng-Fa Zhou
Kyushu Institute of Technology
DJ Version 0.5 beta
[Software Functions]
DJ is a language that amalgamates Java and Constraint Programming.
Developing GUIs including applets in Java is a time-consuming process.
The users have to choose appropriate layout managers and sometimes
have to determine the sizes and positions of graphical components.
There are many visual tools for creating Java programs without the
need to write any code. However, none of these tools supports
constraints. DJ, as an extension of Java, significantly simplifies the
process of constructing GUIs and Java applets. The users only need to
specify the components that compose a GUI and the relationships among
the components by using constraints. The layout for the components is
automatically determined by the system. As a constraint programming
language, DJ improves the current constraint languages in that
problems and solutions can be described in the same language. And most
importantly, because DJ is a compiling language that uses Java as the
object language, results can be distributed on the World Wide Web as
Java applets and/or included in other larger applications.
[Required Environment]
Executable binaries are available for PC (Windows95/NT) and Sparc(SunOS=20
or Solaris) in this package. For other platforms, you need to first=20
install B-Prolog Version 3.1=20
(http://www.cad.mse.kyutech.ac.jp/people/zhou/bprolog.html)
[File Configuration]
sparc/ --- executable binaries for sparc
win32/ --- executable binaries for Windows-95/Windows-NT
copyright --- copy right notice
examples/ --- example programs and the compiled Java and HTML =
files
doc/manual.ps --- the manual in post script format
[Install on Sparcs]
save the file "dj.tgz" in the $HOME directory.
uncompress and extract the files from "dj.tgz".
add "$HOME/dj/sparc" to the "path" environment variable
now "dj" becomes a command for compiling DJ programs into Java. =
Type
"dj -help" to see how to use the command.
[Install on Windows-PC]
save the file "dj.tgz" in the "c:\" directory.
extract the files.
add "C:\dj\win32" to the path environment variable
now "dj" becomes a command for compiling DJ programs into Java.=20
Type "dj -help" to see how to use the command.
[Correspondence]
Send bug reports and/or suggestions to:
Neng-Fa Zhou
Faculty of Computer Science and Systems Engineering
Kyushu Institute of Technology
680-4 Kawazu, Iizuka, Fukuoka, Japan
Tel. 0948-29-7774 Fax. 0948-29-7760 =20
zhou@mse.kyutech.ac.jp
