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Run SARL Agent from a Java or SARL Program

For running an agent, you must launch this agent on the runtime environment. This document explains how to launch an agent on any SARL Run-time Environment (SRE) from a Java program or SARL class.

The default SRE is the Janus platform.

1. Definition of the SRE Bootstrap

In the SARL API, a bootstrap definition is provided. It represents an access point to the SRE from any program. This access point may be used for accessing by code the features of the underlying SRE, independently of the concrete implementation. In other words, the SRE Bootstrap gives access to the standard SRE functions without forcing you to add an explicit dependency to the SRE Library, e.g. Janus, into your application classpath.

The definition of the SARL API for using the bootstrap is detailled in the reference page on SRE.

2. Using the SRE Bootstrap

In order to help you to use the bootstrap functions, the SARL API provides a static utility type, named SRE. In the following Java code, the SRE utility type is used for retrieving the bootstrap.

public class MyProgram {

	public static void main(String[] arguments) {
		SREBootstrap bootstrap = SRE.getBootstrap();
	}

}

Then, it is possible to use the bootstrap for launching an agent. In the following example, a agent of type MyAgent is launched. Please note that you must not create an instance of an agent by yourself. It is the role of the SARL run-time environment to create this instance for you, with the proper initialization.

SREBootstrap bootstrap = SRE.getBootstrap();
bootstrap.startAgent(MyAgent.class)

In the case you want to launch more than one agent programmatically, you could call the startAgent function with the number of agent instances you need.

3.  Direct Access to the API of the Janus SRE

Caution : Using the API of Janus within your program is not recommended by the SARL team, because the API of the Janus framework is considered as private and may evolve quickly. Prefer to use the Bootstrap API that is described into the previous section.

The Janus platform provides a Boot class. For launching the platform, you must use this boot class.

The Boot class provides the startAgent function, which permits to launch Janus programmatically.

Let consider you want to launch your agent, defined in the MyAgent class. The following SARL code gives you an example of how to launch this agent in Janus.

The first parameter of the startAgent function is the Java type of the agent to launch.

The second parameter of the startAgent function is the list of parameters to pass with the Initialize event to the launched agent.

Very Important Note The Janus platform enables to launch a single agent at start-up. If you want to launch more agents, please read the next section.

import io.sarl.sre.boot.Boot;
import myprogram.MyAgent;
public class MyProgram {
 	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Boot.createMainObject.startAgent(MyAgent.class, args);
	}
}

In the case you want to launch more than one agent programmatically, you could use the SreMain instance provided by Janus. This instance is replied by the getKernel function of the Boot class.

4. What’s next?

Now, you are ready for developing agents with the SARL language. Please read the rest of the documentation for obtaining more details.

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