| RE: [ve-dev] Make an VE based tool |
I would like to make a tool for building GUI with VE. The tool will generate C++ code for QNX that will be embedded on a specific hardware. I want to developp this tool for Eclipse and I thought I can use VE as a framework. But I can't find any documentation for the API and the source I found in org.eclipse.ve.source_0.5.0 is the "internal".
Excellent! Dan Dodge (president of QNX) and I have been talking about supporting QNX off and on for months now...
Where can I find documentation for the API of VE? What parts of the VE feature should I use for developp a non-Java code generator?
Unfortunately, there isn't much yet. I've been working (slowly) on understanding VE myself and have been documenting things as I go on my blog. That is at http://www.coconut-palm-software.com/the_visual_editor. I'm currently working on putting together a simple example showing the gist of how you approach VEP programming that I'm hoping to publish next week sometime. In the meantime, you've come to the right place! Ask questions and we'll help you get started.
To get you started (others, please feel free to jump in here and add, correct, etc):
VEP is based pretty strictly on the MVC pattern. The model is defined using EMF because it provides a pretty nice language-neutral way to specify metadata. It's easiest to think of the EMF metadata methods as being analogous to the stuff in java.lang.reflect, but generic.
Everything in VEP therefore pretty much boils down to one of two things:
1) Manipulating the model
2) Visualizing all or part of the model in some way.
I'll let Joe or Rich or Gili or... jump in here and add to this. I'll try to get my next blog entry up ASAP, as that will take this idea and expand on it some.
Regards,
Dave Orme
VEP Project
Leader