[news.eclipse.modeling.gmt.amw] Re: Bridge between Domain Specific Langu

[SKuhn <kuhn@xxxxxx>]

dear marcos,

thanks for your interesting reply ... I -suprisingly- still have a bunch 
of questions.

re 1. great ;)

re 2.
So with the auxiliary model in the back transformation this means I 
would have the problem of weaving 2 models together or refering Objects 
from my help-model in my dsl-model? Another option would be using IDs in 
both, right?

Is it possible and wouldn't it be easier to update the uml model?


re 3.
> If I understood well, the event-based approach means that when you
> modify one element in the UML model, the equivalent element is
> automatically updated in the DSL, right?
right.

All EMF Elements are notifiers, so I could imagine starting a 
mini-transformation for the modified element from the source to the 
target model.

This would also make 2. obsolete, since I would always be working on a 
main(UML) model.


> An alternative would be to create a weaving model with the mapping
> links and to create a component that interprets these links (and that 
> does the event-based modifications).

Q1: What do you mean by creating a component that interprets these links 
... this sounds like a bunch of work.
Q2: Can I call transformations individual? e.g. Like in the "UML profile 
use case" of AMW just call the transformation of "profile element" or 
just "name" of it?
Q2.1: Again, is there a model update which I can use to update just the 
differences?
Q2.2: If they are callable individal transformations (maybe to create 
more weaving models can help), what kind of information to they need to 
fullfil the transformation for an event?


I looked at a setName method of an ecore class named UI_Control to 
observe the standard notification mechanism of every ecore class.
I saw it provides the notification with a bunch of information:

public void setName(String newName) {
		String oldName = name;
		name = newName;
		if (eNotificationRequired())
// the information >>			
eNotify(new ENotificationImpl(this, Notification.SET, 
GUIModelPackage.UI_CONTROL__NAME, oldName, name));
//<<
	}

I guess I have to provide the matcher with more model information like 
the container classes of the class fired the notification.  e.g. the 
packackage in which a new element is added.

Maybe EObject eContainer(); can deliver this for me (recusive).

What do you guys think? I could spend max. one week (over 2 month) 
working on that.

cheers
	stefan



Marcos Didonet Del Fabro schrieb:
> Hello,
>
>
> Some comments about your issues:
>
> 1.
>
> AMW is a workbench that supports generic mapping management. The 
> workbench is stable. It can be extended to be used for different mapping 
> tasks, for instance to map between DSLs and UML profiles.
>
> In the DSL2Profile use case, we develop a weaving model which is a 
> mapping between a UML profile and a DSL for MOF.
>
> This mapping table is equivalent to the situation illustrated in your 
> figure in the "Connecting DSL-eCore w/ UML2" post. This means AMW could 
> be used to develop such mappings.
>
> 2.
>
> In this use case we do not handle possible data loss issues. One 
> possibility would be to create an auxiliary model that is generated in 
> the same time you transform a Profile into a DSL. The transformation 
> that translates the model back should handle this auxiliary model as well.
>
> 3.
>
> If I understood well, the event-based approach means that when you 
> modify one element in the UML model, the equivalent element is 
> automatically updated in the DSL, right?
> The transformations are typically developed to translate a whole input 
> model into a whole output model. So, even if you have an event that 
> triggers one transformation, it would regenerate the output model entirely.
> An alternative would be to create a weaving model with the mapping links 
> and to create a component that interprets these links (and that does the 
> event-based modifications).
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Marcos.
>
>
> SKuhn wrote:
> > hi folks,
> >
> > I have a similar use case as described in 
> > http://www.eclipse.org/gmt/amw/usecases/umlprofiles/.
> >
> > In short terms I want to work on an UML Model, translating every 
> > DSL-Class to an UML Class with a stereotype of a self-defined 
> > UML-profile (lightweight) and back. It should look for my GMF-DSL 
> > Editor that he's working on his DSL-Metamodel (described in ecore).
> >
> > Now I have some concerns using AMW:
> >
> > 1. Is AMW ready for productive use?
> > 2. How can I handle possible data loss for UML Elements that are not 
> > representable in MyDSL-MM? I still want to read/write UML Models  (or 
> > UML conform XMI files) leaving unrecongnized uml-elements unchanged.
> > 3. Is it possible to run the corresponding transformations (EMF) event 
> > based? Thereby I could have both models in sync resulting in the 
> > option to open Eclipse UML2 editor and my own GMF-DSL-Editor at the 
> > same time and work on the same model without versioning conflicts. 
> > (optional)
> >
> > Right now I'm not sure if AMW is the right way. If you want to take a 
> > closer look on my set-up / point-of-view, I already described my 
> > problem in detail in "Connecting DSL-eCore w/ UML2"  at
> > eclipse.tools.emf    as well as
> > eclipse.modeling.gmt    as well as
> > eclipse.modeling.mdt.uml2tools    as well as
> > eclipse.modeling.mdt.uml2.
> >
> >
> > Yours sincerly
> >     stefan