1 CORBA Navigator, A Versatile CORBA Client and its application to Network Management KAWABATA, Taichi YATA, Kouji IWASHITA, Katsushi NTT Network Innovation Laboratories {kawabata.taichi, iwashita.katsushi, APNOMS 2003

2 Introduction 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. CORBA and UML will play more important roles in Network Management, especially for interconnecting NMS (Network Management System) and EMS (Element Management System) CORBA as Network Management Standard 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. Network Management And UML Network Management And UML 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.

3 CORBA Navigator 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 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.

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. Interface Specification (IDL) Operation Procedure (UML) Programming Steps Access to CORBA Agent Implementation of ORB Operations Implementation of User Interface Reading UML Specs. Access to CORBA Agent CORBA Navigator omits these programmer- related steps, so non-programmer can access CORBA agents. CORBA Navigator The Variety of CORBA Types must be properly supported. Dynamically identified objects must be appropriately named for the users. problems Compilation of UML ORB Object Request Broker Traditional Way to access CORBA Agent

5 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 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); }; Customizable User Interface for Operations Type and Tag names are automatically displayed, so the user does not need to refer to the IDL file. struct union choice sequence arrays 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. Data Structures are described in table-form, where data-type choices dynamically reflect the user-input field. any IDL File

6 Naming Rules for each Interface Object Naming System in CORBA Navigator Interface-ANumbering Interface-BName from operation result get_name () Interface-CName from attribute log_date Interface-DName by hand Interface-ENo Name (IOR) Abc/def/XYZ Interface-A~1 Interface-A~2 Interface-A~3 Interface-B~Bob Interface-B~Keith Interface-C~ Interface-C~ …. Object from Naming Service / URL Object Name Directory corbaloc: ….. /abc/def/XYZ 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.

7 Specifying the Order of Operation by UML Diagram Problem: UML requires the objects in the sequence diagram to have their own name, but CORBA objects usually dont 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-TimeExecution-Time 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.

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

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

10 CORBA Navigator and B-PON Management System NMS CORBA Navigator EMS B-PON System Operation Scenario created by UML (based on Q834.3) Q834.4 Interface Q834.4 IDL Files EMS of Various vendors 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. 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 3 rd part is the behavior of management system; the 4 th part is about CORBA protocol.

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.