Glossary
- API
- Application Programming Interface. A set of functions that can be called from
an application program to access features of another program.
- Assembly
- The Assembly class is the primary building block of the “system of systems”
aspect of OpenMDAO. Each assembly has a Driver called driver that controls
execution of the workflow of Components within the Assembly.
An assembly is also a Component, so hierarchical structures of
assemblies can be created.
- AXOD
- Axial-Flow Turbine Off-Design. A a computer code used for
preliminary studies of the gas turbine system.
- branch
- Bazaar term for an ordered series of revisions (see revision
below) that describes the history of a set of files.
- CAD
- Computer-Aided Design. An automated system for the design, drafting, and
display of graphically oriented information.
- CAE
- Computer-Aided Engineering. Using computers to design, analyze, and
manufacture products and processes.
- CAPRI
- Computational Analysis Programming Interface. CAPRI is a CAD vendor-neutral
programming interface that aids in acquiring geometry data directly from CAD
files.
- Case
- An object containing a collection of input names and values, and names of outputs
to be stored along with the inputs after the process model runs.
- CaseIterator
- An object that iteratively supplies Case objects. This iterator could be tied
to a simple file, a database, or some object that generates Case objects
dynamically.
- CFD
- Computational Fluid Dynamics. A branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical
methods and algorithms to solve and analyze problems that involve fluid flows.
- CommandLineWrapper
- A component that runs a separate executable program via a system call.
- commit
- Bazaar command that records a change. A change is committed to a developer’s local
repository.
- Component
- Container that is runnable; it also supports several other framework
functions, such as checkpoint/restart, stop, and invoke. A component has
input and output attributes and can perform some sort of calculation when
it is executed.
- components
- See Component above.
- CONMIN
- Stands for “CONstraint MINimization.” CONMIN is a gradient descent optimization
algorithm developed by NASA. The simple tutorial in the User Guide contains information on
using CONMIN for an both an unconstrained optimization and a
constrained optimization. The Standard Library also
contains information about The CONMIN Driver.
- Container
- A container of Variables and other Containers. The base class of all objects
within the framework that support user access to input and output Variables.
- Coverage
- A Python module that measures code coverage during test execution.
- decorator
- A Python module that aims to simplify the usage of decorators for the average
programmer and to popularize decorators by showing various non-trivial examples. A
Python decorator is a specific change to the Python syntax that allows users to
more conveniently alter functions and methods.
- DLL
- Dynamically Loadable Library
- docutils
- Docutils is a modular system for processing documentation into useful
formats, such as HTML, XML, and LaTeX. For input Docutils supports
reStructuredText, an easy-to-read, what-you-see-is-what-you-get plain text
markup syntax.
- Driver
- A Driver’s function is to iterate over a Workflow until some
condition is met. The simplest Driver executes a Workflow only once.
Other Drivers, such as Optimizers or Parameter Studies, would execute
the Workflow a variable number of times based on their inputs.
- egg
- A zip file with a specified internal directory structure that
contains a Python package or module. It is similar to a jar file in java. For
more information on eggs, see PythonEggs.
- eggs
- See egg above.
- Enum
- A public variable type, found in openmdao.lib.api, which supports a
list of discrete allowed values. The list of allowed values can be of arbitrary
length, and elements can be of any type.
- Expression
- A special kind of trait that contains a string expression that
references public variables in the framework.
- F2PY
- Fortran to Python interface generator.
- Factory
- An object that knows how to create objects of specific types.
- FactoryManager
- Multiple Factory derived objects can be registered with
the FactoryManager to allow creation of objects in various ways, e.g., locally
via import and remotely via an ObjServer.
- FEM
- Finite Element Method. A numerical technique for finding approximate
solutions of partial differential equations (PDE) as well as of integral
equations. A structural analysis method which discretizes a continuum model of a
complex structure to a discrete model of a finite number of degrees of freedom.
- GA
- Genetic algorithm
- Float
- A public variable type, found in openmdao.lib.api, which represents a
floating point number. It also also allows for the specification of units.
- Genetic
- OpenMDAO genetic algorithm optimizer based on the Pyevolve genetic
algorithm. For more information, see the section on Genetic in the
Standard Library section of the User Guide.
- GUI
- Graphical User Interface. A computer operating system that is based upon icons
and visual relationships rather than text.
- IGeomQueryObject
- An interface to an object having physical dimensions and shape, with
properties that can be queried.
- Int
- A public variable type, found in openmdao.lib.api, which represents
numbers with integer values.
- IPC
- Interprocess communication
- Jinja
- A small but fast and easy-to-use stand-alone template engine written in pure
Python.
- Jinja2
- Jinja2 is the new and improved version of Jinja with new features and a simpler and
faster runtime.
- JSON
- JSON, short for JavaScript Object Notation, is a lightweight computer data
interchange format. It is a text-based, human-readable format for representing
simple data structures and associative arrays (called objects).
- LAN
- Local Area Network. An interconnection of computers that are in relatively
close proximity to each other, such as within a building.
- Launchpad
- Free open-source project hosting. The repository is based on the Bazaar version control
system.
- MDAO
- Multi-disciplinary Analysis & Optimization
- metadata
- Metadata is information about an informational resource, such as a document (e.g,, a webpage), image,
dataset or other resource. It describes context, content, and structure of the resource and its
management through time.
- Method of Feasible Directions
- A gradient descent optimization algorithm used in CONMIN.
- model
- A hierarchical structure with an Assembly at its root.
- networkx
- A Python package for creating and manipulating graphs and networks.
- NOSA
- NASA Open Source Agreement. A software license approved by the Open
Source Initiative (OSI). The National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) releases some software under this license.
- nose
- A unittest extension offering automatic test suite discovery and easy test
authoring.
- nosecoverage2
- A nose plugin that exposes some features of version 3.2 of the coverage
package, including html output and cobertura output.
- NumPy
- NumPy is the fundamental package needed for scientific computing with Python. See
http://numpy.scipy.org/
- ObjServer
- A process that allows remote connections to a Component or Container
object. An ObjServer can represent an entire model if its top-level object
is an Assembly, or it can represent a single object if its top-level object
is some other type of Component.
- ObjServerFactory
- A process that spawns a child process (ObjServer) encapsulating an
instance of a particular Component or Container type.
- OML
- Outer Mold Line
- OS
- Open Source
- OSI
- The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is a non-profit corporation formed to educate
the community about open source (OS), to advocate for the benefits of OS, and to build
bridges among different constituencies in the open-source community. For more
information, see Open Source Initiative.
- PBS
- Portable Batch System (PBS) is a queueing system. Jobs are submitted to the
queue that reflects the resources needed, and a scheduler decides which ones
to run when nodes become available. These decisions are made on the basis of
length of run, how long a job has been waiting, and fair sharing of resources
among different users.
- Paste
- Tools for using a Web Server Gateway Interface stack.
- PasteDeploy
- A tool to load, configure, and compose WSGI applications and servers.
- PasteScript
- A pluggable command-line frontend, including commands to setup package file layouts
- PID
- Process id
- PIL
- Python Imaging Library
- pip
- Installs Python packages. It is a replacement for easy_install and uses mostly
the same techniques for finding packages, so packages that were made easy_installable
should be pip-installable as well.
- plugin
- A computer program that interacts with a host aplication to
provide specific functionality without changing the host application.
- plugins
- See plugin
- Public Variables
- A component’s inputs and outputs. They are called public variables because
they are exposed to the framework; inputs can be set and outputs can be read
by other framework components. In general, a public variable is a wrapper for
data passed between framework components. It has a value, a default value, and
may contain additional attributes like min/max values and units. Public
variables can also perform their own validation when being assigned to another
public variable. OpenMDAO’s public variables are implemented using Traits, an
open source extension to Python authored by Enthought, Inc.
- PuTTY
- A free terminal emulator application that can act as a client for SSH, Telnet,
rlogin, and raw TCP computing protocols.
- PuTTYgen
- A key generator. It generates pairs of public and private
keys to be used with PuTTY, PSCP, Plink, and the PuTTy
authentication agent, Pageant.
- Pyevolve
- A complete Python genetic algorithm framework
- Pygments
- Pygments is a syntax highlighting package written in Python.
- Pylons
- A Web framework
- pyparsing
- A Python parsing module
- PyYAML
- A YAML parser and emitter for Python.
- repository
- Bazaar term for a store of revisions. See revision.
- ResourceAllocator
- An object responsible for allocating CPU/disk resources for a particular
host, cluster, load balancer, etc.
- ResourceAllocatorManager
- An object that manages a number of child objects that are responsible for
allocating CPU and disk resources, either locally or for a particular
cluster or a particular load balancer. The RAM can be queried to determine
the current allocation of resources for the given system. This includes
host and PID information for all Components.
- ResourceDescription
- An object containing information defining system attributes required to
select a viable place to run a code.
- reStructuredText
- A plain-text markup syntax and parser system used for in-line
program documentation (such as Python docstrings), for quickly
creating simple Web pages, and for standalone documents. The
reStructuredText parser is a component of Docutils.
- revision
- Bazaar term for a snapshot of the state of files and directories, including their
content. A revision also has some metadata associated with it, including
who committed it, when it was committed, a commit message, and the
parent revisions from which it was derived.
- roman
- A Python module for roman numerals.
- Routes
- A Routing package for Python that matches URLs to dicts (dictionary network
protocols) and vice versa.
- SciPy
- SciPy (pronounced “Sigh Pie”) is open-source software for mathematics, science, and
engineering.
- ScientificPython
- A collection of Python modules that are useful for scientific computing.
- setuptools
- Tools for downloading, building, installing, upgrading, and uninstalling
Python packages.
- simplejson
- Simple, fast, extensible JSON encoder/decoder for Python.
- Sphinx
- A Python documentation generator. It translates reStructuredText markup
language into HTML. (See the Sphinx home page
for more information.)
- SQLAlchemy
- Database Abstraction Library
- Socket
- A placeholder for a plugin within a Component.
- SocketList
- A list that holds only objects that provide a particular interface.
- Sockets
- See Socket.
- SWIG
- Simplified Wrapper and Interface Generator. A software development tool that connects
programs written in C and C++ with a variety of high-level programming languages. Go to
http://www.swig.org/index.php for more information.
- Tag
- A Bazaar nickname for a particular revision. A tag is typically used to mark
a release of the software so you can easily refer to it later. Tags are stored in the
branch and are propagated when the branch is pushed, pulled or merged. If your branch is
associated with a Trac ticket, you should apply a tag (corresponding to your ticket
number) to your branch after committing final changes and before you push it to Launchpad
and propose a merge.
- Tempita
- Tempita is a small templating language for text substitution.
- ticket
- A ticket is a file contained within an issue (or bug) tracking system
that contains information about a request, often by an end user, to
fix a bug or make some other change to a computer software package. A
ticket has a unique reference number (ticket number) that allows the
submitter, software developer, or other technical staff to quickly
locate, add to, or communicate the status of the submitter’s issue or
request. Once OpenMDAO’s bug-tracking tool is in place, all changes to
the software will require a ticket, and the ticket number will identify
the software branch where the change is being made.
- Trac
- An open source, web-based project management and bug-tracking tool. OpenMDAO uses Trac
to track bugs, enhancements, and requirements and to host openmdao.org.
- Traits
- A software package from Enthought, Inc. that aids in developing Python code. A trait is
a type definition that can be used for normal Python object attributes, giving the
attributes some additional characteristics. See http://code.enthought.com/projects/traits/.
The Traits package works with version 2.4 and later of Python and is similar in some ways
to the Python property language feature.
- TraitType
- The base class used to validate and possibly convert data objects that are
passed between linked Components.
- trunk
- A Bazaar term that refers to the main development branch (in this case,
the openmdao trunk) from which working branches are pulled.
- units
- A package used by OpenMDAO that provides unit conversion capability for variables.
- Variable
- see Public Variables
- VSP
- Vehicle Sketch Pad. VSP is a rapid geometry creation tool used to create a
wide range of aerospace vehicles from a combination of predefined components.
It provides highly interactive sketching of concepts with immediate visual
feedback.
- WebError
- A Python package for Web error handling and exception catching.
- WebHelpers
- A library of helper functions intended to make writing templates in Web applications
easier. It’s the standard function library for Pylons and TurboGears 2. It also
contains a large number of functions not specific to the Web, including text
processing, number formatting, date calculations, container objects, etc.
- WebOb
- WSGI request and response object
- WebTest
- Helper to test WSGI applications. This wraps any WSGI application and makes it
easy to send test requests to that application without starting up an HTTP
server.
- Workflow
- A Workflow controls the execution order of a group of Components. The default
workflow class is Dataflow, which orders Components based on their input and
output connections. Other classes inheriting from
Workflow will support different execution schemes, e.g., concurrent and
conditional execution.
- WSGI
- Web Server Gateway Interface. WSGI is a standard interface for Python Web
applications to communicate with Web servers.
- YAML
- YAML is a data serialization format designed for human readability and interaction
with scripting languages.
- Zope
- Zope is an open source application server for building content management
systems, intranets, portals, and custom applications. Zope is written in
Python, an object-oriented scripting language.
- zope.component
- Zope Component Architecture
- zope.interface
- A package that provides an implementation of object interfaces for Python.
- ZopeSkel
- ZopeSkel provides a collection of skeletons for quickstarting Zope and Plone
projects.
