Working with Methods and Processes

The basic elements of a functional description in ESDL are methods and processes. A method/process consists of a method/process header, which serves as an identifier, and the method/process body, which describes the operations to be performed.

The method/process header consists of the method name, a list of arguments and a return value. Method/process names are assigned when adding a new item to the methods list (Outline tab) of the ESDL Editor. They can be modified by renaming the list item.

Method/process names must be unique in ESDL. Method overloading is not supported, i.e. it is not possible for two methods to differ from each other only in the number of parameters and/or parameter types.

The arguments and the return value are optional elements of the method interface. The method/process header and interface can be modified using the signature editor on the ESDL Editor window. The signature editor is used to add or modify parameters and the return value as needed, and to mark a side-effect-free method.

The functional description of a model is contained in the method/process body which can be edited in the text pane of the ESDL Editor.