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Migrating a large modeling environment from XML/UML to Xtext/GMF

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OOPSLA '10: Proceedings of the ACM international conference companion on Object oriented programming systems languages and applications companion

Pages 97 - 104

https://doi.org/10.1145/1869542.1869559

Published: 17 October 2010 Publication History

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Abstract

If you use UML to drive code generation, what do you do when a UML model grows so large that the tool needs 60 minutes to open it? What if it turns out that UML doesn't provide the expressiveness you need? What if your UML editor barely provides feedback about the validity of your models and the turnaround time from modeling to codegeneration and compilation is somewhere between setting up a new can of coffee and reading a day's amount of slashdot.org news? Time to look for a different modeling solution...

This paper reports how VSA (Verrechnungsstelle der Süddeutschen Apotheken GmbH, one of the most well-known billing centers for pharmacies in Germany) migrated their inhouse modeling environment and their existing models from UML to an Eclipse Modeling based solution: Models of all five pre-existing modeling languages are now persisted textually and can be edited using Xtext. Models of two chosen modeling languages can additionally be edited graphically using GMF-based editors which store their models textually using Xtext. The modeling environment provides tight integration with the JDT for referencing and navigating to Java elements. Custom validation rules provide the earliest feedback possible for the modeler. An Eclipse Builder triggers incremental code generation, which keeps the turnaround time to a minimum. This paper describes the old modeling environment, addresses the challenges of the migration and outlines the new modeling environment. Furthermore, it documents how to integrate GMF with Xtext.

The project has been realized in cooperation between VSA and itemis AG. VSA had the knowledge about the existing modeling environment, itemis AG, a consulting company with several full-time Eclipse Modeling Committers, brought in their knowledge about EMF, Xtext, GMF, etc.

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References

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}}S. Efftinge, S. Zarnekow, J. Köhnlein, and M. Eysholdt. Xtext - Language Development Framework, 2010. URL http://www.xtext.org/.

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}}D. Steinberg, F. Budinsky, M. Paternostro, and E. Merks. EMF: Eclipse Modeling Framework 2.0. Addison-Wesley Professional, 2009.

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Cited By

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Barash MPech V(2021)Teaching MPS: Experiences from Industry and AcademiaDomain-Specific Languages in Practice10.1007/978-3-030-73758-0_10(293-313)Online publication date: 15-Apr-2021
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73758-0_10
Stokke KBarash MJärvi JErwig MGray J(2020)Manipulating GUI structures declarativelyProceedings of the 19th ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Generative Programming: Concepts and Experiences10.1145/3425898.3426956(63-69)Online publication date: 16-Nov-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3425898.3426956
Barash MGuerra EIovino L(2020)Enabling language engineering for the massesProceedings of the 23rd ACM/IEEE International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems: Companion Proceedings10.1145/3417990.3420051(1-2)Online publication date: 16-Oct-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3417990.3420051
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Index Terms

Migrating a large modeling environment from XML/UML to Xtext/GMF
1. Software and its engineering
  1. Software notations and tools
    1. Development frameworks and environments

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OOPSLA '10: Proceedings of the ACM international conference companion on Object oriented programming systems languages and applications companion

October 2010

352 pages

ISBN:9781450302401

DOI:10.1145/1869542

General Chairs:
William R. Cook
University of Texas at Austin
,
Siobhán Clarke
Trinity College Dublin
,
Program Chair:
Martin Rinard
MIT

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Published: 17 October 2010

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SPLASH '10: Systems Programming Languages and Applications: Software for Humanity

October 17 - 21, 2010

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Barash MPech V(2021)Teaching MPS: Experiences from Industry and AcademiaDomain-Specific Languages in Practice10.1007/978-3-030-73758-0_10(293-313)Online publication date: 15-Apr-2021
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73758-0_10
Stokke KBarash MJärvi JErwig MGray J(2020)Manipulating GUI structures declarativelyProceedings of the 19th ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Generative Programming: Concepts and Experiences10.1145/3425898.3426956(63-69)Online publication date: 16-Nov-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3425898.3426956
Barash MGuerra EIovino L(2020)Enabling language engineering for the massesProceedings of the 23rd ACM/IEEE International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems: Companion Proceedings10.1145/3417990.3420051(1-2)Online publication date: 16-Oct-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3417990.3420051
Neubauer PBill RWimmer M(2017)Modernizing domain-specific languages with XMLText and IntellEdit2017 IEEE 24th International Conference on Software Analysis, Evolution and Reengineering (SANER)10.1109/SANER.2017.7884679(565-566)Online publication date: Feb-2017
https://doi.org/10.1109/SANER.2017.7884679
Neubauer PBergmayr AMayerhofer TTroya JWimmer MPaige RDi Ruscio DVölter M(2015)XMLText: from XML schema to xtextProceedings of the 2015 ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Software Language Engineering10.1145/2814251.2814267(71-76)Online publication date: 26-Oct-2015
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2814251.2814267
Efftinge SEysholdt MKöhnlein JZarnekow Svon Massow RHasselbring WHanus M(2012)XbaseACM SIGPLAN Notices10.1145/2480361.237141948:3(112-121)Online publication date: 26-Sep-2012
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2480361.2371419
Efftinge SEysholdt MKöhnlein JZarnekow Svon Massow RHasselbring WHanus MOstermann KBinder W(2012)XbaseProceedings of the 11th International Conference on Generative Programming and Component Engineering10.1145/2371401.2371419(112-121)Online publication date: 26-Sep-2012
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2371401.2371419
Eysholdt MBehrens HCook WClarke SRinard M(2010)XtextProceedings of the ACM international conference companion on Object oriented programming systems languages and applications companion10.1145/1869542.1869625(307-309)Online publication date: 17-Oct-2010
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1869542.1869625

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