The Update Site can be found at https://altran-mde.github.io/xtext-sirius-integration.io/p2/.
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Use Xtext as direct editor for Sirius diagram figures and connections
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Use Xtext in Sirius property editors
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Edit parts of the Sirius editor’s model with Xtext
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Edit text stored in the model with Xtext
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Single-line or multi-line Xtext editor
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Limit the editable features
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Configure pre-selected features
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Prepend or append text to model contents in order to provide a valid Xtext document
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Ignore selected nested features
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Use a different Xtext grammar for persisting and editing a model
The source code of all examples can be found at demo/.
Assume a model and diagram akin to UML class diagrams. Each class is represented by a rectangle with several compartments. The first compartment shows the class name, the second compartment list the class attributes.
Each attribute has
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a visibility, denoted by a symbol (
public/+,protected/#,private/-), -
a name,
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a type, that needs to be declared somewhere else in the model,
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a multiplicity with lower and upper bounds, that may use constants declared elsewhere in the model,
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a (possibly long) description text.
Xtext / Sirius Integration allows to edit all the visible features of the attribute just as we see them, without fiddling around in property editors.
It automatically checks for valid input (i.e. does not accept ~ as visibility) and provides auto-completion for references to declared types or constants.
We hide the description feature from the Xtext editor, as it makes no sense to edit it in-line. Also, we pre-select only the attribute’s name. This way, we changed only the name without touching the other features, if the user pressed F2, typed something, and pressed enter.
We can still edit all of the features separately in the properties view.
Assume a model where every element can have a description. Formally, the description is just a string feature of the element. However, the user may use HTML-like tags in the description.
Assume a build server task that collects the descriptions of all elements of one model and combines them into one HTML page.
Lastly, assume we have an Xtext grammar for HTML.
As HTML goes, we need to start with a <html> tag, followed by a <head> section, and only in the <body> the user may add their description text.
Also, we need to finish the text by closing both <body> and <html>.
We don’t want the user to add this boilerplate to every description, as it’s cumbersome, error-prone, and we’d need to remove it in the build step. Still, we’d like to use our Xtext grammar.
With Xtext / Sirius Integration, we define a prefix (<html><head><title>dummy</title></head><body>) and suffix (</body></html>).
This way, the model contains only the actual description, and the user still benefits from all the goodies of our Xtext HTML language, like using only valid tags, or closing them in the correct order.
We can provide such an editor to the user within the diagram and/or in the properties view.
Assume a model and diagram akin to UML class diagrams. Each class is represented by a rectangle, associations between classes are shown as connections.
Assume the model is persisted with Xtext. Example:
constant MAX_ROOMS = 23
class House {
public name: String
}
class Room {
public size: Integer[2..2]
}
association rooms House --> Room[1..MAX_ROOMS]
The Xtext grammar might be:
grammar com.example.classes with org.eclipse.xtext.common.Terminals
generate classes "http://example.com/Classes"
ClassModel:
content+=Content*
;
Content:
Constant
| Class
| Association
;
Constant:
'constant'
name=ID
'=' initial=Value
// omitting Class, Value, ...
Association:
'association'
name=ID
source=[Class] '-->' target=[Class]
'[' lowerBound=Value '..' upperBound=Value ']'We want to display and edit the name and cardinality of the association as connection label. We want to get full Xtext support (e.g. auto-completion for referenced constants in cardinality).
However, for technical reasons, we can only hide features at the beginning and/or end of the element’s text. To solve this issue, we create another Xtext language and use this one in our diagrams:
grammar com.example.classes.edit with com.example.classes (1)
import "http://example.com/Classes"
EditClassModel returns ClassModel:
ClassModel
;
@Override (2)
Association:
'association'
name=ID
'[' lowerBound=Value '..' upperBound=Value ']'
source=[Class] '-->' target=[Class] (3)-
Extends the original grammar.
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Overrides the original Association grammar rule. All other grammar rules remain untouched.
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We moved the
sourceandtargetfeatures to the end of the element’s text. This way, we can hide them from the user.
Please refer to the user guide for more details.
To start developing for MDE Assets - Xtext / Sirius Integration, please perform the following steps:
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Start with downloading the
Eclipse Installerfrom:
https://www.eclipse.org/downloads/packages/installer -
Start the
Eclipse Installer -
Select the
advanced mode -
On the Product Page
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Select
Eclipse Platform -
Product Version:
2020-06 -
Click Next >
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On the Projects Page
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(One time only) Click the
icon to add the MDE Assets - Xtext / Sirius Integration project.
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Catalog:
Eclipse Projects -
Click OK
NoteThough using the Resource URI above is preferred, it is known that for some users the URI didn’t work and they got an error: The URI … does not contain a valid product. In this case the setup file can also be downloaded and added by clicking Browse File System…. -
Enter your GitLab credentials when asked for
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Select
MDE Assets - Xtext / Sirius Integrationin the tree -
Select stream
developin the table -
Click Next >
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On the Variables Page
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Review all variables values, especially the
Installation folder nameandRoot install folder -
Click Next >
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On the Confirmation Page
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Click Finish
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Your development environment will now be prepared. Please accept all licenses and certificates and provide your GitLab credentials when asked for.