STRIDE Runtime

Overview

The STRIDE Runtime routes messages both within and between platform boundaries and manages the conversion of interface data as it crosses from one platform to another. This "transparent messaging" model means that your test cases can be located on one platform (e.g., as a script running off-target) and your code on another (on-target).

The STRIDE Runtime is a combination of processes and libraries that provide services for messaging, remote function calls, and tracing while providing seamless connectivity between the target application and the host operating system. The STRIDE Runtime standardizes how threads and applications communicate with each other, independent of the platform on which they are executing, which eliminates the need to integrate new software on the target hardware. Developers can then incrementally integrate embedded software on a combination of the desktop environment and the target hardware, providing more control over integration and testing. New software functionality under development can be simulated on the desktop environment while the software using this new functionality can run on the target hardware. The tremendous flexibility gained by allowing developers to choose how to integrate different software components and target platforms allows developers to detect integration and testing issues and correct defects much earlier in the development process.

The Runtime components consist of:

• The PAL (Platform Abstraction Layer) - provides a consistent interface for the STRIDE Runtime regardless of the operating system or data transport used. It consists of a small set of functions that provide a virtual link between the target operating system and the STRIDE Runtime. The PAL functionality, defined in the pal.h header file, allows the STRIDE Runtime to transmit and receive packets of data (called I-blocks) using the platform’s transport mechanism.

• The Host Transport Layer and Object Model - a server process and set of APIs that connects the Transport DLL to the STRIDE Runtime, providing indirect access to the target from host-side scripts and STRIDE applications. The Host Transport Services are defined in the transport.h header file. The Transport Server process is is accessed through the set of interfaces defined for the STRIDE.transport COM server.

• The Runtime APIs - a public API set, defined in the sr.h header file, available for programmers to integrate into their target application code. These APIs support messaging, remote function calls, and tracing between the target application and host operating system.

• The Intercept Module - generated code that facilitates remote function calls between the host and target. The IM code links to the target application; it implements stubs to allow remote function calls from the host to target-resident functions, and proxies that intercept target function calls and remotes them to a host implementation of the function. The IM can contain logic to dynamically switch target-based function calls to either host-resident or target-resident implementations, and capture tracing information, through delegates.

Additionally, groups of Runtime APIs provide test unit logging and services, and a software development kit is available for creating windows-based target applications. Each is briefly described here, with links provided for more detail.

Refer to Target Integration on how to integrate the STRIDE Runtime in your environment.

The Platform Abstraction Layer

The Platform Abstraction Layer, or PAL, defines the set of OS functionality required by the platform to support the STRIDE Runtime. The “pal.h” header file provided with the STRIDE installation defines the PAL functionality. The PAL also defines functionality required by the STRIDE Runtime to transmit and receive packets of data (called I-blocks) using the platform’s transport mechanism. These PAL routines enable the STRIDE Runtime to be installed on diverse environments without changing its internal design.

Refer to the Platform Abstraction Layer page and the PAL Specification document for a more detailed description of the PAL and its interfaces.

The Host Transport Services

The Host Transport Services define an interface that enables the STRIDE Runtime on your target to send data to and receive data from the target. The STRIDE Transport Server connects the Transport DLL to the STRIDE Runtime running on the host platform, thus providing indirect access to the target from STRIDE Studio, Autoscript, and other STRIDE applications. Several common transports are already supported within the STRIDE Transport Server, including serial and TCP/IP.

The Host Transport Services are defined in "transport.h" and each Transport DLL must implement the interfaces derived from the IStrideTransport class.

Refer to the STRIDE Host Runtime Transport Specification document for a more detailed description of the Host Transport Services.

The Transport Server Object Model

The Transport Server is an out-of-process COM server that provides connection management, loopback and diagnostic features. It can be accessed by clients through the STRIDE.transport Program ID. The Transport Server API is defined in the Transport Server Object Model page.

The Runtime Developer's Guide

Click here to view the STRIDE Runtime Developer's Guide PDF document.

Runtime Test Services (RTS)

The Runtime Test Services (RTS) are a set of APIs implemented using the STRIDE Runtime that facilitate the writing of target based test code. These APIs are considered an optional extension on top of the STRIDE Runtime and can be used to communicate additional information about tests to the host based reporting mechanism. These APIs also allow target test code to create additional test suites and test cases dynamically at runtime. These APIs are declared in the srtest.h header file. Please refer to the Test Units page for more information on these APIs.

Logging Services

The following are the categories available in the Runtime API for logging, that is, collecting and/or displaying, information at the host runtime environment:

• Setup and Shutdown
  • srCreateSTID(): used to allocate resources required to send and receive trace and print messages that implement the following APIs.
  • srDeleteSTID(): used to free STRIDE Runtime resources previously allocated for an STID.

• Tracing - Tracing routines are used by target applications for information collection and display by the host runtime environment.
  • srTracePoint(): used to output a data structure to the tracing window on the host.
  • srTraceStr(): used to output a string to the tracing window.

• Printing - These routines are used by applications to log or display messages on Trace Views on the host.
  • srPrintInfo(): used to output a formatted string with variable arguments to be displayed at information level filtering.
  • srPrintError(): used to output a formatted string with variable arguments to be displayed at error level filtering.
• Messaging - These routines can be used to send and receive messages for logging or any other debugging purposes.
  • srBroadcast(): used to “broadcast” information to one or more subscribers. Each subscriber receives its own copy of the message or pointer, depending on the attributes of the payload. If there are multiple subscribers on a remote platform only one copy of the response is transmitted across the link. If there are no subscribers then the routine simply returns.
  • srSubscribe(): used to subscribe to a Broadcast message sent using srBroadcast. There has to be at least one subscriber for a broadcast message to be sent.

These services use the sr.h header file. Please refer to Chapter 3 of the STRIDE Runtime Developer's Guide for more information on these APIs.

The Intercept Module

The Intercept Module page provides details of the Intercept Module concept.

The Name Mangling page provides more background on the use of name mangling when implementing delegates within an Intercept Module.

Other Runtime components

• Generic RTOS Services (GRS)
• Simplified Link Application Protocol (SLAP)