CORBA Navigator, A Versatile CORBA Client and its application to Network Management

1. APNOMS 2003 CORBA Navigator, A Versatile CORBA Client and its application to Network Management KAWABATA, TaichiYATA, KoujiIWASHITA, Katsushi NTT Network Innovation Laboratories {kawabata.taichi, iwashita.katsushi, yata.kouji}@lab.ntt.co.jp

2. Introduction CORBA as Network Management Standard Network Management And UML • From CMIP to CORBA • CORBA is less expensive. • Various object technologies can be easily adopted. • CORBA is open standard and is non-proprietary • It has a long history and is applied to various fields. • It has been adopted in Q834.4 (B-PON) NMS standards, and some other network management protocols. • UML has been accepted as International Standard （ISO/ITU-T） • It is based on object oriented system. • It has been adopted in Q834.3 (B-PON) standard to describe the process and behavior of Network Management System. CORBA and UML will play more important roles in Network Management, especially for interconnecting NMS (Network Management System) and EMS (Element Management System) • For efficient testing and development of CORBA network management system, CORBA client software that can dynamically access any interface of any CORBA server based on UML scenario is demanded, so that non-programmers can test the CORBA EMS with ease.

3. CORBA Navigator We have developed CORBA Navigator which can instantly access any CORBA server and can use UML diagram to specify scenario-based access. It allows non-programmer to test any CORBA server. • Versatile User Interface which can handle any IDL type, including `struct’, `sequence’, `any’, `array’ and `union’. It also properly handles all exception types. • It reads local IDL files, so no Interface Repository is needed to access CORBA Object. • The user can choose the data type, and can input any value, for the argument of operation in user-friendly way. • Multiple Operations can be executed in sequence. The order of operations can be specified by the UML diagram. Sample Screenshot of CORBA Navigator

4. The Purpose of CORBA Navigator • CORBA Navigator can free the developer and tester of network management system from the burden of programming CORBA client. ・　Traditional Way to access CORBA Agent Programming Steps Compilation of UML Reading UML Specs. Implementation of ORB Operations Implementation of User Interface Access to CORBA Agent Interface Specification (IDL) Operation Procedure (UML) CORBA Navigator omits these programmer-related steps, so non-programmer can access CORBA agents. ・CORBA Navigator Access to CORBA Agent problems • The Variety of CORBA Types must be properly supported. • Dynamically identified objects must be appropriately named for the users. ※ ORB ・・・ Object Request Broker

5. Customizable User Interface for Operations module Sample19 { interface Calc; struct BBB { unsigned long age; string name; }; union DDuni switch(short) { case 1: string value1; case 2: BBB value2; case 3: Eseq value3; }; typedef sequence<long> Eseq; typedef DDuni Type1[2][5]; typedef DDuni MyDDuni; typedef any MyAny; interface Calc { DDuni method1(in DDuni a, out DDuni b, inout DDuni c); Type1 method2(in Type1 a, out Type1 b, inout Type1 c); }; }; Problem：　CORBA Data type may contain complex data types which make setting operation arguments difficult. Providing ALL possible arguments on screen may actually make the operation impossible. IDL File struct Data Structures are described in table-form, where data-type choices dynamically reflect the user-input field. union（choice） sequence Type and Tag names are automatically displayed, so the user does not need to refer to the IDL file. arrays any

6. Naming Rules for each Interface Object Naming System in CORBA Navigator For CORBA Objects which are not registered in Naming Service, CORBA Navigator provides a simple Object Naming system. It uses attributes and interfaces of the object to name the object. Object Name Directory Object from Naming Service / URL corbaloc: ….. /abc/def/XYZ

7. Specifying the Order of Operation by UML Diagram CORBA Navigator provides the plug-in software for UML tool. It enables the user to design the operation scenario with UML tools and can export the scenario file to CORBA Navigator. Problem: UML requires the objects in the sequence diagram to have their own name, but CORBA objects usually don’t have names unless they are explicitly registered in the Naming Service. When the name of the newly recognized object matches the name specified in the UML diagram, they are `enabled’ for operation. As described before, CORBA Navigator can name the objects. UML software can assume these names when drawing the sequence diagram. Assumed object name is put in UML. Design-Time Execution-Time

8. Structure of CORBA Navigator Interface Definition File CORBA Navigator IDL Information Object Retrieval Naming Service / IOR File Preparing Scenario UML Object Name File GUI Factory Object Name Management GUI Parameters File Compilation of IDL File Reflection Stub Interface Classes External Flow This part depends upon the CORBA Implementation Internal Flow Client-side ORB ※ IOR ･･･　Interoperable Object Reference Server Side

9. Implementation of CORBA Navigator IDL File • Implementation by Java • Uses Java Mapping Specification for CORBA • No Interface Repository needed. Combined Control Center CORBA Navigator ORB VisiBroker, OpenORB, Java ORB, etc Apache Log4J OpenORB JDK 1.4.1 CORBA server Java-Capable Platforms Including Windows 2000 or XP, Linux OS

10. CORBA Navigator and B-PON Management System What is Q834? Q834 is a telecommunication management standard that adopts UML and CORBA as its underlying network management protocol. Q834 consists of 4 parts, whose 3rd part is the behavior of management system; the 4th part is about CORBA protocol. Operation Scenario created by UML (based on Q834.3) Q834.4 IDL Files • CORBA Navigator has been applied for conformance tests of B-PON NMS. • How CORBA Navigator helps the development of B-PON NMS. • ・ CORBA Navigator enables the sequence of multiple CORBA operations specified by the UML, enabling complex server tests without programming experience. • By using CORBA Navigator with prepared client, we get double assurance of EMS conformance. Also, it is useful to spot the cause of problem when NMS behaves in an unusual manner. • ・　CORBA Navigator is particularly useful when IDL is frequently changed, as it can immediately access the CORBA server even if IDL is changed. NMS CORBA Navigator Q834.4 Interface EMS B-PON System EMS of Various vendors

11. Conclusion • We have proposed, and developed, the versatile CORBA client called CORBA Navigator, which can instantly access any CORBA server. • CORBA is, and will be, widely used for network management. • Existing CORBA server requires CORBA client user to have programming experience, which hinders the spread of CORBA standard. • CORBA Navigator provides a versatile, programming-less environment to CORBA IDL developers and testers. • To enable ideal CORBA usability, several problems must be solved. • We applied CORBA Navigator to B-PON Network Management System and verified its effectiveness.