1. Associate Professor Dept. of Computer and Information Sciences NTNU
@ IFIP, Copenhagen
Hallvard Trætteberg
Associate Professor Dept. of Computer and Information Sciences NTNU

2. Installation process
Install the Eclipse installer for your platform from and launch it
Install Eclipse using the Sirius4Ifip setup file
Switch to advanced mode using menu in upper right corner.
Add the Sirius4Ifip setup file by
clicking the green + icon in upper right corner
browse to Sirius4Ifip.setup file and close dialog with OK
Select newly added Sirius4Ifip product setup, press Next until you can finally can press Finish
Launch newly installed Eclipse with pre-configured sirius4ifip workspace
newly installed Eclipse should start automatically
browse to and select sirius4ifip workspace folder
Eclipse eventually opens with 2 x 4 projects (family and ifipui example projects)

3. Sirius – modeling workbench framework
Typical situation
Various models used by various stakeholders
Need for tools for viewing and editing models from different perspectives
Diagrams are generally preferred, but other representations may also be useful
Solution 1 – develop custom editors by hand
difficult and time-consuming
Solution 2 – use Sirius!
declarative description of diagram syntax for your models
supports typical diagram elements like nodes, edges and containers
supports creation and other editing tools

4. Sirius – step by step Create your domain model Create a model instance
create your Ecore model in your favorite tool, e.g. the Ecore diagram editor based on Sirius!
generate code for your model
Create a model instance
EMF lets you quickly create example models for any Ecore model
use relevant scenarios as basis for example models
Install model plugins in Eclipse
export into the same Eclipse installation, or
fire up a second Eclipse instance (easiest)
Create initial artifacts
a so-called Viewpoint Specification, i.e. the diagram syntax description
a so-called Representation for your example model, i.e. a diagram
Refine Viewpoint Specification and iterate
while you add specification elements, the diagram continuously updates

5. Eclipse projects overview
Launch second Eclipse with Run as... > Eclipse app
Develop model
Eclipse with
Ecore
Sirius
Import
...examples
...diagram
Workspace with
...model – Ecore model project ...model.edit – generated
...examples – model instances
...diagram – diagram spec. project
Develop diagram editor
Eclipse with
Ecore
Sirius
...model
...model.edit
Two examples - Family
- UI
Workspace with (imported)
...examples – model instances
...diagram – diagram spec. project

6. Family example Domain Person Family Man and Woman name
parents and children
mother and father
Family
members
Man and Woman
Person subclasses (!)

7. Family example (in second Eclipse)
two editors – same data
Standard tree editor
Diagram editor

8. diagram specification
Family example
diagram specification
rules for generating nodes and edges
Standard tree editor
Diagram editor

9. Structure of a diagram specification
Layers – container for rules and features
rules for mapping domain concepts to diagram elements
diagram – the top-level object corresponding to whole diagram
nodes – nodes in a graph
containers – nodes that can contain other nodes
edges – lines between nodes (or edges!)
tools for creating and editing diagram elements
create nodes, containers or edges (between nodes or edges)
reparent nodes or reconnect edges
edit labels
Common for (most) mappings
Id and Label: for referencing mappings, e.g. reuse/import
Domain class: domain concept that is mapped
Precondition Expression: pre-condition for triggering rule
Semantic candidate expression: which elements should be considered
Style with Label & Icon: the actual visual element

10. Node mapping - WomanNode
Maps Woman (basicfamily.Woman) concept to node
Candidates are the members (feature:members) of the container (here: top-level Family diagram object)

11. Edge mapping - motherEdge
Maps mother reference (basicfamily.Person.mother) to edge (i.e. edge does not correspond to an object)
Source of edge can be either ManNode or WomanNode (node mappings)
Target of edge must be WomanNode
Compute the target from the source using mother reference (feature:mother)

12. Creation tool – createMan
Defines context variables based on tool gesture
containerView – the diagram or container node
container – containerView’s semantic element
Tree-structured script
Change Context: sets context object for contained operations
Create Instance: creates instance of domain concept and sets or adds to reference (of context object)
Set: set (default) feature value

13. Using queries Sirius’ flexibility is due to its use of queries
compute candidates, e.g. based on several features
filter out elements, e.g. based on type or feature values
diagram structure can be very different from underlying structure
Supports several kinds of queries (languages)
feature: get value of feature of current context object, e.g. container
var: get value of context variable, e.g. container, source (node), ...
aql:
OCL-dialect with powerful functions for selection, mapping, filtering, ...
supports features and variables, but is (of course) more verbose and slower
aql example (default name of new Man instance):
'man'+container.members->filter(basicfamily::Man)->size()

14. Try queries in Acceleo > Interpreter view
select context object = self
enter and evaluate query

15. Explore the Family example
Questions about the diagram description
WomanNode node mapping
What happens if the Woman type is replaced by Person? Why?
Could you fix the issue without change the type back? How?
motherEdge edge mapping
What happens if you remove one of the mappings (WomanNode or ManNode) from the Source Mapping? Explain!
How can you reformulate the Target Finder Expression using an aql query?
Change the instance
edit the underlying diagram data in the tree-based editor
save and see what happens
Change the diagram definition
add a label to the mother (or father) edge, to indicate whether the source is ‘daughter of’ or ‘son of’ the target

16. IFIP UI example Hierarchy of views Port Binding
View, ViewParent and Composite View
Port
flow into and out of view
dataContext and userInput
typed
Binding
connects ports
may derive value from feature

17. Initial state Diagram description Model instance
two layers
Default layer
node mapping
creation tool
Domain layer
Model instance
hierarchy of six View instances
four Binding instances
Diagram for model instance
empty, why?

18. Target (or something similar)

19. Supporting hierarchical diagrams
Three kinds of nodes
simple nodes – no contents (besides label)
bordered nodes – simple nodes attached to border of other nodes
container nodes – contains other nodes
free-form layout – children can be moved around
list (horisontal and vertical) – constrained layout and look & feel
Node mappings may have child mappings
(simple) nodes may have bordered nodes
container nodes may contain all kinds of nodes
child nodes are created with container object as context
Reusing mappings
mappings may be reused as child mappings (Import tab in prop. view)
saves time, but most importantly...
supports unlimited hierarchies by recursive reuse

20. Overview of steps – Default layer
Simple View node mapping
find out what is missing
add it, so diagram contains six views
Data Context and User Input (bordered) node mapping
add mappings, so Simple View nodes have node(s) on border
Composite View container mapping
add mapping, so (a single) Composite View node appears
add child mappings, so Composite View node contains other nodes, either Simple View nodes or Composite View nodes
update Simple View node mapping, to avoid nodes for CompositeView instances
Bindings edge mapping
add mapping, so Binding edges appear
Node creation tool for Composite View container nodes
Edge creation tool for Binding edges

21. Overview of steps – Domain layer
EClass node mapping
add it, so domain classes (EClass instances) appear
Feature (border) node mapping
add it, so attributes and references appear on EClass node border
Edge mappings
Port Type edge mapping – edge from Port node to EClass node
Binding Feature edge mapping – edge from Binding edge (!) to feature node
Edge creation tools
Port Type edge creation tool – edge from Port node to EClass node
Binding Feature edge tool – edge from Binding edge (!) to feature node

22. Sirius - Framework and tool set for creating diagram editor
complete modelling workbenches
Check out

23. EMFBlocks
DSL framework for EMF and Eclipse ala Sirius, but for block-based syntax

24. Programming with EMFBlocks and Xtext
Combine EMFBlocks and Xtext, to ease kids’ transition from block-based to textual programming
vs.

25. Combining sketching and programming