Acceleo - Eclipse

Since I'm often brought to develop acceleo generators, I often had to design my templates so that they can be easily parameterized by users.This is important since by doing so, acceleo modules are flexible enough to fit my users needs and (hopefully) ... [More] I don't have to update modules too often.Of course, you need to carefully design your templates to achieve this modularity. But for simple needs, simple solutions are the best.Acceleo natively supports the use of properties files which is an efficient and simple way to parameterize generation module: Properties are generally simple to understand and users can use them easily.Well, Acceleo 3 is out, and of course properties are still supported. I just wanted to point out something I stumble upon just recently: Properties files are now accessed via the java ResourceBundle mechanism. And consequently, they need to be in the classpath in order to be accessed at runtime.So, as a module developer, you'll place your default properties files (those you provide with your modules in order to have a sensible default behavior) in a package of your module project.Well, don't forget to check that this package is exported at runtime, otherwise your properties won't be accessible when you run your generations!You probably already know how to do it but just in case: open the META-INF/MANIFEST.MF file, and in the Runtime tab just add the package(s) that contain your properties files.And since you need to do this also for your entry point templates, it may be a good idea to place default properties files in the same package as the entry point template files? [Less]

Since I'm often brought to develop acceleo generators, I often had to design my templates so that they can be easily parameterized by users.This is important since by doing so, acceleo modules are flexible enough to fit my users needs and (hopefully) ... [More] I don't have to update modules too often.Of course, you need to carefully design your templates to achieve this modularity. But for simple needs, simple solutions are the best.Acceleo natively supports the use of properties files which is an efficient and simple way to parameterize generation module: Properties are generally simple to understand and users can use them easily.Well, Acceleo 3 is out, and of course properties are still supported. I just wanted to point out something I stumble upon just recently: Properties files are now accessed via the java ResourceBundle mechanism. And consequently, they need to be in the classpath in order to be accessed at runtime.So, as a module developer, you'll place your default properties files (those you provide with your modules in order to have a sensible default behavior) in a package of your module project.Well, don't forget to check that this package is exported at runtime, otherwise your properties won't be accessible when you run your generations!You probably already know how to do it but just in case: open the META-INF/MANIFEST.MF file, and in the Runtime tab just add the package(s) that contain your properties files.And since you need to do this also for your entry point templates, it may be a good idea to place default properties files in the same package as the entry point template files? [Less]

Those of you that know ClearCase also know that it requires the user to check out the file he wishes to edit before any editing can be done; kind of trying to edit a read-only file : you need to remove the read-only flag before anything else. Of ... [More] course, this doesn't fit well with code generation tools such as Acceleo since the aim of such tools is to edit (or create) a number of files at once.Until now that is :). Acceleo can now be used in conjunction with ClearCase or other pessimist-locking Version Control Systems (VCS). How does it work?You might have noticed the "getGenerationStrategy()" method of the Java class we generate for your main mtl files; this is the method that matters for us. You simply need to change it from its default "return super.getGenerationStrategy()" to "return new WorkspaceAwareStrategy()" and you're done! Acceleo will now prompt the users of your generators to check out the files before attempting to modify them.Two things to note :You must change the javadoc of "getGenerationStrategy()" so that it doesn't contain "@generated" anymore : delete this tag, change it to "@not-generated", change it to "@generated NOT"... just don't leave this tag as-is or the Acceleo builder will override your change.You cannot use this strategy in standalone mode, its goal is to integrate with the Eclipse workspace and its team providers.The use case with ClearCase or pessimist locking VCSs is obvious, but you might realize that there is more to it that just these. You could be trying to regenerate a file that you set as read only, a file under SVN that requires a lock...For example, with SVN you can set the property "svn:needs-lock" on a file to prevent any edition without prior locking. If you attempt to regenerate a file with such a property set with Acceleo, here is what you will get :"java.io.FileNotFoundException: [...]\Library.java (Access denied)"Pretty mean, huh? If you make use of the WorskpaceAwareStrategy though, you will get this instead :All you have to do is to tick off the files for which you wish to take the lock. Files you do not check will not be locked for edition. [Less]

I'm glad to see that a woman is on the top of the Eclipse World Cup forecasts table. Will Fanny win the competition? Who said that women don't know anything about soccer? Nathalie is 10th. Loredana is 21th. Each day, Lynn is better and better. She's ... [More] now 25th in the table... There are 70 players in the game and the identified women are on the top of the results table. Well done!It's not too late to come into the game! For the final phase, the score is multiplied by 2! So you keep a chance.Related Links :The game : An RCP application created with EEF.Acceleo add-in : An Acceleo code generator to export the results in an HTML page.EMF Compare add-in : An action to compare your own forecasts with the best ones.Don't hesitate to make your own add-in! It's so easy when you use Modeling technologies ;-) [Less]

Acceleo 3.0 has just been released and it comes with compatibility with Eclipse 3.4, 3.5 and the latest 3.6 versions. Acceleo 3.0 is a pragmatic implementation of the OMG Model-to-text specification. It supports the developer with most of the ... [More] features that can be expected from a top quality code generator IDE: simple syntax, efficient code generation, advanced tooling, features on par with the JDT... Acceleo also has a unique tooling around example-based design of code generators with all the pragmatism we had with the 2.x stream.Acceleo can be downloaded and installed in a number of ways. If you have an existing Eclipse installation and simply wish to install Acceleo in it, installing through the update site is the easiest way. If you'd rather install a new Eclipse with Acceleo, you may want to take a look at the facilities provided by the amalgamation project. Amalgamation is the project that leads the creation of the modeling bundle, it has an easy one click discover and install wizard. Thanks to it you could also easily install also ATL 3.1 (the model-to-model transformation language in Eclipse), EEF (a way to improve the EMF model creation), EMF Compare 1.1 and many other modeling components.Acceleo 3.1 will be released in June 2011 with the Eclipse Indigo release train. We also planned several corrective versions for the 2.x maintenance stream: a 2.7.1 version will be released this year and a 2.8 version in 2011. Meanwhile, the Acceleo team is investigating towards Eclipse 4 (e4) compatibility. All the links and information to download and install Acceleo are available from here: http://www.eclipse.org/acceleo/download/Note that examples are available from the menu right-click => New => Examples => Acceleo Plug-ins.Do not hesitate to give feedback through the mailing-lists, the bug-tracker or the web forum, a Wiki is available to ease the collaboration and the gathering of tips and tricks.Support information: http://www.eclipse.org/acceleo/support/Developers information: http://www.eclipse.org/acceleo/developers/Thanks to all the developers and contributors involved in this release! [Less]

Acceleo 3.0 has just been released and it comes with compatibility with Eclipse 3.4, 3.5 and the latest 3.6 versions. Acceleo 3.0 is a pragmatic implementation of the OMG Model-to-text specification. It supports the developer with most of the ... [More] features that can be expected from a top quality code generator IDE: simple syntax, efficient code generation, advanced tooling, features on par with the JDT... Acceleo also has a unique tooling around example-based design of code generators with all the pragmatism we had with the 2.x stream.Acceleo can be downloaded and installed in a number of ways. If you have an existing Eclipse installation and simply wish to install Acceleo in it, installing through the update site is the easiest way. If you'd rather install a new Eclipse with Acceleo, you may want to take a look at the facilities provided by the amalgamation project. Amalgamation is the project that leads the creation of the modeling bundle, it has an easy one click discover and install wizard. Thanks to it you could also easily install also ATL 3.1 (the model-to-model transformation language in Eclipse), EEF (a way to improve the EMF model creation), EMF Compare 1.1 and many other modeling components.Acceleo 3.1 will be released in June 2011 with the Eclipse Indigo release train. We also planned several corrective versions for the 2.x maintenance stream: a 2.7.1 version will be released this year and a 2.8 version in 2011. Meanwhile, the Acceleo team is investigating towards Eclipse 4 (e4) compatibility. All the links and information to download and install Acceleo are available from here: http://www.eclipse.org/acceleo/download/Note that examples are available from the menu right-click => New => Examples => Acceleo Plug-ins.Do not hesitate to give feedback through the mailing-lists, the bug-tracker or the web forum, a Wiki is available to ease the collaboration and the gathering of tips and tricks.Support information: http://www.eclipse.org/acceleo/support/Developers information: http://www.eclipse.org/acceleo/developers/Thanks to all the developers and contributors involved in this release! [Less]

Now that the entire world noticed that I don't know even one thing about soccer and I'm even trying to cheat, I should get back in sharing what I understand instead of those silly forecasts.Helios has been out for a little while now, the mediatic ... [More] storm is pretty much gone and it's a good time for me to have a look back. This year one of my goal was : "I want to transform the Modeling Package in a product which I would use myself". I've been using it quite extensively lately and I'm pretty happy with the results, the Galileo package is far from being usable but the Helios version is just great :)Why ? a few reasons...1. because it's including hidden EMF goodness !EMF generates code... which is good as any code you don't need to write means less bugs. But sometimes you don't even want to see that code !If so, you're lucky, there is a specific filter for your workspace !And the integration goes even further, code you manually changed is highlighted with different colors !Oh, and you can compare and merge any kind of emf model, starting from the Ecore ones.2. It provides Class diagram supportAs a developper you always ends up needing some kind of graphical support for your communication, a class like diagram is well known by others, the modeling package includes support for Ecore thanks to the EcoreTools project. And you even have specific views to browse your design hierarchy or usages.While I'm at it, if you're interested in contributing to this project which is highly popular, you should really get in touch with Ed ! We're looking for fresh people to reboot this project, it's not as active as it deserves to be !3. It's an SDKAs the modeling project provides a lot of high quality frameworks, you often need to have access to their source and as such it's one of the few packages providing SDK's.All those reasons are making the modeling package the best one to get started with any modeling task but also any RCP development planning to leverage those great frameworks. Oh yes, that should make this package a nice starter for e4 too :post scriptum : 4. It's easily extensibleOf course the modeling community is way more active than that, I would strongly encourage you to have a small click on this button and have a try on the latest hot contributions which were not part of the Helios release the Agent Modeling Platform :And the Papyrus UML modelerAnd now it's time for you to download this package ! [Less]

Don't forget the Modeling webinar today at 3:30pm UTC!The Eclipse Modeling Project is one of the most active projects within the Eclipse community. Ed Merks will give a quick overview of the Modeling projects in Helios and Sebastian Zarnekow will ... [More] show Xtext. Cedric Brun will mainly talk about Acceleo and he will demo what Obeo has done for this Helios release. [Less]

I have to admit I know nothing about soccer. Yes I'm a french guy, but I know nothing about soccer. That said I'm not against having a few beers in front of this broadcasted green field and I'm always in when its about having fun with a small game ... [More] leveraging Eclipse technologies.Obviously I played with the EEF based rich client for the forecasts, and from the moment the source code has been made available I started hacking the code.The forecasts, matchs and results are all kept in a model accessible through an http uri, and as EMF rule them all, find them, bring them all and in the darkness bind them, you can leverage any Eclipse Modeling component to hack something quite easily.That's what I did with Compare.I extended the EMF editor adding a specific action, "Compare with / Player with Best Rank"This action allows you to compare your own forecasts with the best ones, and then merge your own forcast with the best player one (Noooo, that's not cheating ! )And here is the user interface you get for free*, with a pure semantic comparison :* you have to depend on EMF Compare though...Here is the logic needed to launch the comparison :I had to use a few tricks, I had to provide a specific match engine enforcing the match of two players, otherwise the Compare component stop matching the forecasts from the beginning as the players are differents.That's all for today, If I can free more time for this hack I'll provide a diff extension to change the score delta representation to a more meaningfull one, so far it's left as an exercise for the reader ;) [Less]

Acceleo 3.0 has just been released and we have a lot of questions about how to migrate from Acceleo 2.x to Acceleo 3.x? Acceleo 3 has some differences with Acceleo 2, especially for the new syntax elements based on the Model-to-text OMG standard.The ... [More] question is : How to create the 3.x '.mtl' file from the 2.x '.mt' file?The tooling will initialize the migration process... Just right click on the Acceleo 2.x project.We know that the migration can't be perfect, because the MTL standard is statically typed. Sometimes you need human understanding to provide the right context and get the right equivalence. You will probably have to change the way you organize your code generators. We are confident that Acceleo 2.x users will move easily to Acceleo 3.0.Don't worry, the Acceleo Team will continue to maintain the 2.x syntax of Acceleo. However, the new major versions and the new features will take place on Eclipse.org.There aren't a lot of differences between the old version of acceleo and the new one. It's not so long to migrate from a syntax to another, but you should do that only if you have at least one day free. Note that it can be a little bit more for big code generation modules. Acceleo 3.0 comes with an equivalence documentation.I hope that it will be useful... [Less]