Actor-Oriented Design in LabVIEW Course

Actor Framework Fundamentals

Explore a model of computation that promotes concurrency and learn how the Actor Framework evolved from systems of queued message handlers.

• Challenge of Concurrency
• Introduction to Actor Design
• Exploring Actor Framework

Creating Actors

Explore the features of the Actor Framework and learn to build an actor.

• Creating an Actor
• Creating UIs: Using Control References
• Using the Time Delay Message
• Using Static Nested Actors
• Adding Helper Loops
• Overview of Error Handling
• Using Dynamic Nested Actors
• Creating UIs: User Events
• Using Last Ack to Manage Nested Actors

Designing Systems in Actor Framework

Develop an application architecture in the Actor Model that meets a given set of requirements.

• Overview of Evaporative Cooler
• Designing an Actor System
• Improving Your Design

Building Actors through Inheritance

Use inheritance to implement complex behavior in a single actor. Learn how a good inheritance hierarchy simplifies development and promotes reuse.

• Exploring Inheritance
• Using Desktop Execution Trace Toolkit with Actor Framework

Exploring Hardware Abstraction Layers

Implement a hardware abstraction layer using actors.

• Exploring Water Level Controller
• Overview of Hardware Abstraction Layers

Building Actors through Composition

Build an actor that implements complex behavior by managing a set of nested actors.

• Building Actors through Composition

Decoupling Actors

Make nested actors reusable by decoupling them from their callers.

• Overview of the Problem
• Creating Interfaces
• Using Abstract Messages

Designing User Interfaces

Explore options for adding user interfaces to Actor Framework systems.  

• Creating a UI through Inheritance
• Creating a Separate UI Actor
• Building Interchangeable UIs

Exploring Distributed Systems

Explore the communication infrastructure needed to build Actor Framework systems distributed across several computing targets.

• Managing the FPGA Interface
• Host-Target Communication
• Managing UIs for Multiple Subsystems
• Other Considerations for Actor Systems

State Pattern Actors

Build an actor that can alter how it responds to messages.

• Exploring State Pattern
• Managing State in LabVIEW
• Managing State in Actor Framework

Advanced Message Handlers

Change how the actor implements message handling.

• Using Adapter Actors
• Overriding Receive Message

Integrating Actors in Synchronous Systems

Incorporate actors into procedural applications

• Calling Actors Synchronously
• Working in Command/Response Environments

Unit Testing in Actor Framework

Develop a suite of automated tests that prove your actors behave as intended.

• The Testing Challenge
• Isolating Actors
• Creating Unit Tests
• Analyzing Costs