Structured flowcharts for control logic specification in the Tritium Systems Test Assembly

The Tritium Systems Test Assembly (TSTA) contains several subsystems employing sophisticated chemical and physical processes to purify, transport, and capture the isotopes of hydrogen. The ultimate responsibility for the correct and safe operation of these subsystems lies with their designers. However, the logic is implemented in a computer system with program control. A means to insure unambiguous specification of the control logic in a form understandable to both the non-programming designers and the software staff was required. The computer programs are written in RATFOR, a language providing clear control structures and powerful symbol definition facilities. However, the actual code was considered unsatisfactory as a means of primary specification by the non-programming designers. On the other hand, simple English language descriptions of the desired behavior were not precise enough to insure correctness. Experimentation with traditional flowcharts proved that they were more difficult to follow than the RATFOR code. On the other hand, the use of structured flowcharts derived from those introduced by Nassi and Shneidermanl have proven to be very powerful. Using simple geometric forms for the basic control structures such as loops and conditional tests, and by using expansion rather than connection as the means of reducing any flowchart to a single page, a specification that is both understandable and precise has been obtained. A computer code automates the production and modification of these flowcharts. Combining these flowcharts with primitive subroutines which hide most of the details of control implementation has provided an effective medium for algorithm specification and validation. Examples of the flowcharts and the language used to specify them will be given