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Root based Object oriented Midas Extension
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ROME is a framework generator for event based data analysis. It has been developed for the
MEG Experiment at PSI Switzerland.
In the ROME environment, the experimenter defines the analysis framework for his experiment in a very clear and compact way in a XML file.
Out of this framework definition file, ROME generates all experiment specific classes of the framework.
The experimenter only needs to add the calculation code to pre-generated event methods.
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ROME was designed to be a general purpose framework for event based data analysis. This kind of analysis is typical for physics experiment, especially in particle physics. The requirements on the framework have been :
Universality
The framework should be usable by as many experiments as possible. Therefore, the framework must be experiment independent. There are some features like processing an event loop, which are the same for all kinds of these experiments. The implementation of these features can be completely experiment independent. But, a framework containing only this functionality, could only cover a small percentage of the requirements on a usual framework. However, the structure of a data analysis framework can be easily summarized. Out of such a summarization the code of a hole framework can be generated. The generated framework contains now all experiment specific features, like reading or storing data, accessing a data base, connecting to an online experiment and so on. The only part, that is still missing is the physics, thus, the calculations, which shall be performed on the data. This part can of course not be summarized.
Implementation in ROME
For the summarization of the structure of the data analysis framework, ROME uses an ASCII format called XML.
XML is a markup language much like HTML. It was designed to structure and store data.
XML is a world wide, standard ASCII format and is supported by more and more standard applications (like excel or the mysql database).
There are numerous XML editors available on the web.
For more information about XML please visit the W3 Schools home page.
The XML file containing the summarization is called the framework definition file.
It describes all the objects inside the desired framework.
The structure of such a framework definition file is described in detail in the 'XML Definition File' section of the users guide.
A translation program called the ROMEBuilder translates this information into c++ classes.
It also compiles and links this classes together, generates an executable and a documentation of the generated framework.
Of course the generated program is a plain framework not doing any calculations.
Therefore, the experimenter has to add then code to the pre-defined event functions.
Only after this step and rerunning the ROMEBuilder a useful program will be generated.
Please visit the 'Download' page for a step by step instruction of building a framework with ROME.
Modularity
The framework should consist of exchangeable modules containing one step of the analysis. A module should be independent of all other modules and have a well defined interface. The interface should be the only connection to other modules. This way modules with the same interface can always be exchanged. It should also be possible to structer the modules.
Implementation in ROME
The modules inside ROME are ROOT tasks.
ROOT tasks fulfil all requests mentioned above.
The interface of the tasks are ROME folders.
ROME folders are ROOT storage objects placed in ROOT folders.
These are the object where memory data is stored in, and they are the only ones.
Therefore, the interface of the tasks are the data storage objects of ROME. This allows a maximum of flexibility.
Object oriented
The framework should deal only with objects, not with single or array of values. Furthermore, the objects should, whenever possible, match real objects (like sub detector components). An object naturally connects values, which belong together.
Implementation in ROME
ROME knows the following objects : tasks, folders, histograms, trees, steering parameters and midas banks.
For a description of these objects, please visit the 'Objects in ROME' section of the users guide.
The usage of these objects is, inside certain guidelines, up to the user.
However, using this objects ensures a minimum of object orientation.
User friendliness
The experimenter should write as less code as possible. Moreover, user code should also be as simple as possible. As discussed above, the experimenter should only need to write the physical calculation code. This is simple code which only needs basic syntax of a programming language. Writing c++ classes is not a simple job, this should be handled by the framework.
Implementation in ROME
Everything mentioned under 'Universality' contributes to a user friendly environment, since a lot of code is generated by the ROMEBuilder.
The fact that the experimenter only has to add code to pre-defined event methods, ensures that the user code is as simple as possible, concerning the programming language syntax.
ROOT based
The framework should be based on the ROOT libraries for two reasons. First, the ROOT package is, in my opinion, the most powerful software package for data analysis, which is currently available. Second, it is the standard package for data analysis in physics (or at least in high energy physics) at the moment, and it seams to be so in the near future.ROME is written in c++ and it is completely object oriented. It runs under linux and windows. It uses the ROOT libraries to perform the data analysis, the MIDAS library to collect data online and the MySQL 4.0 library for sql database access.
