Architecture of GAMA

GAMA is made of a number of Eclipse Java projects, some representing the core projects without which the platform cannot be run, others additional plugins adding functionalities or concepts to the platform.

Vocabulary: Each project is either designed as a plugin (containing an xml file plugin.xml) or as a feature (containing an xml file feature.xml).

• A plugin can be seen as a module (or bundle in the OSGI architecture), which can be necessary (the GAMA platform can't run without it) or optional (providing new functionalities to the platform). This decomposition between several plugins ensures the cohesion between functional blocks, each plugin has to be as independent as possible.
• A feature is a group of one or several modules (or plugins), which can be loaded. NB: Unlike a plugin, a feature does not include source code, but only metadata files such as build.properties and feature.xml.

To see how to create a plugin and a feature, please read this page.

Table of contents

• Architecture of GAMA
  • The minimal configuration
  • Optional Plugins
    • Plugins present in the release version
    • Plugins not present by default in the release version
    • Plugins not designated to be in the release version
  • Unmaintained projects
  • Features
  • Models
  • Plugins overview

The minimal configuration

Here is the list of projects which have to be imported in order to run the GAMA platform, and to execute a simple model in GAML:

• gama.core : Encapsulates the core of the modeling and simulation facilities offered by the platform: runtime, simulation, meta-model, data structures, simulation kernel, scheduling, etc. It contains the core runtime and many built-in GAML concepts.
• gama.ui.application : Describes the graphical user interface entry point. The UI is now split into several plugins instead of being concentrated in a single monolithic UI bundle. The main UI-related plugins are:
  • gama.ui.shared
  • gama.ui.navigator
  • gama.ui.editor
  • gama.ui.viewers
  • gama.ui.experiment
  • gama.ui.display.java2d
  • gama.ui.display.opengl
• gama.dependencies : Gathers all the external libraries upon which GAMA relies upon.
  • gaml.compiler : Contains the GAML compiler and language integration layer.
  • gama.ui.editor : Contains the current GAML Editor (syntax highlighting, code completion, editing support).
• gama.annotations : Contains the annotations used in the Java source code to declare operators, statements, skills, species, types and documentation entries.
• gama.processor : Is responsible for processing the annotations made in the Java source code and producing additions to GAML (Java, properties and documentation files), which are added into generated sources. These additions are loaded automatically when GAMA launches, allowing extensions made by developers in other plugins to be recognized when their plugin is added to the platform.
• gama.headless : Enables running simulations in console mode, without the graphical user interface.
• gama.library : Contains the distributed models, examples and tests shipped with GAMA.

Minimal configuration projects dependencies:

Optional Plugins

Plugins present in the release version

From this minimal configuration, it is possible to add some features. Here is the list of the plugins installed by default in the release version, with the current naming:

• idees.gama.mapcomparison : Contains some useful tools to do map comparison
• gama.extension.fipa : Provides some operators for communication between agents, using the FIPA standards
• gama.headless : Enables running simulations in console mode
• gama.extension.traffic : Provides operators and skills for traffic simulation
• gama.extension.physics : Physics engine, collision modelling, using the library JBullet
• gama.extension.maths : Solving differential equations, using Euler methods and Runge Kutta
• gama.extension.database : Provides database manipulation tools, using SQL requests
• irit.gaml.extensions.test : Adds unit test statements
• gama.ui.display.opengl : Provides a 3D visualization using OpenGL
• simtools.gamanalyzer.fr : Adds tools for the analysis of several execution results of a simulation
• dream.gama.opengis : Used to load some geographic information data from online GIS servers
• simtools.graphanalysis.fr : Advanced graph operators

Plugins not present by default in the release version

Some other plugins are not present by default in the release version (because their use is very specific), but it is possible to install them through features. Here is the list of those plugins, rewritten with the current naming when an equivalent exists:

• idees.gama.weka : Data-mining operators, using the library Weka
• gama.extension.bdi : Architecture for using the Belief-Desire-Intention software model
• gama.extension.sound : Use of sound in simulations
• gama.extension.stats : Advanced statistics operators
• ummisco.gama.communicator : Communication between several instances of GAMA
• ummisco.gaml.extensions.rjava : Adding the R language into GAMA for data mining

Plugins not designated to be in the release version

Other plugins will never be on the released version, and will never be loaded during the GAMA execution. They are just used in the developer version:

• gama.documentation : Generates the documentation automatically in wiki form (and also a PDF file)

Unmaintained projects

Some other projects are still in the git repository in case they need work one day, but they are either unfinished, obsolete, or used in very rare situations. They are not delivered in release versions. Here is the list:

• cenres.gaml.extensions.hydro : Provides tools to create hydrology models
• msi.gaml.extensions.traffic2d : Provides tools for traffic in 2 dimensions (deprecated, replaced by gama.extension.traffic)
• msi.gaml.extensions.humainmoving : Provides a skill to represent human movement
• ummisco.gama.gpu : Computation directly on the GPU for more efficiency. Results were not conclusive, slower than using CPU
• msi.gama.hpc : High Performance Computing to execute GAMA simulations on several computers
• msi.gaml.extensions.cplex : Originally designed to be able to run CPLEX functions in GAMA. The CPLEX library is proprietary, so it cannot be delivered in the project. Instead, a stub cplex.jar is used and can be replaced by the real one
• irit.maelia.gaml.additions : Used for the project "Maelia". Provides the possibility to represent the computing time in a simulation
• msi.gama.display.web : Originally designed to run some GAMA simulations in a browser, inside GAMA application, using WebGL. Does not work for the moment
• ummisco.miro.extension : Once used for the "miro" project, no longer used
• ummisco.miro.extension.traffic : Once used for the "miro" project, no longer used

Features

Below is the same section rewritten with the current feature names:

• gama.feature.extension.sound : sound plugin
• gama.feature.extension.stats : stats plugin
• gama.feature.ui.experiment : gathers the experiment UI and display plugins (gama.ui.experiment, gama.ui.display.java2d, gama.ui.display.opengl)
• simtools.graphlayout.feature : gathers core, dependencies, processor and graphanalysis plugins
• gama.feature.core : gathers the core runtime plugins such as gama.core, gama.annotations, gama.processor, gaml.compiler, gama.headless, and the main base runtime modules
• gama.feature.dependencies : a bundle of libraries and dependency plugins centered on gama.dependencies
• gama.feature.extensions : gathers the main extension plugins such as database, fipa, maths, network, pedestrian, physics, serialize, stats and traffic
• gama.feature.library : model library feature
• idees.gama.features.weka : weka plugin
• gama.product : gathers the current core, dependencies, library, UI and extension features

You may also want to mention the current UI-oriented features explicitly:

• gama.feature.ui : gathers the base UI plugins (gama.ui.application, gama.ui.shared)
• gama.feature.ui.dependencies : gathers the UI dependency layer
• gama.feature.ui.editor : gathers the editor-oriented UI plugins (gama.ui.editor, gama.ui.navigator, gama.ui.viewers)
• gama.feature.extension.image : image extension feature

Models

Beside those plugins and features, a project dedicated to gather a bunch of examples is also in the git repository. It contains GAML code:

• gama.library

Plugins overview

Global architecture of GAMA (NB: the historical graph is kept below, but it reflects the older architecture and naming scheme, not the exact current gama.* / gama.feature.* structure)