Messages

1

General Board / Java Generation/ how to add support for xdoclet

« on: September 16, 2003, 06:46:30 am »

this is what I am trying to do:

have EA generate xdoclet tags into the JavaDoc Comments

for all classes of stereotype strutsForm I want
1. the class Name to be automatically inserted
as a value for a javadoc custom tag in the class comment block  

2. the list of applicable validators to be inserted as javadoc custom tag value
as part of the comment block of each setXX-Operation for a Property/FormField.
The list of applicable validators shall be extracted from a tagged value of the attribute
(rather than the setXX-Operation), to provide a more fluent modelling experience.


these are the issues :

1. I do not see how to use the JAVA_DOC function Macro while
inserting my own custom tags.  I cannot figure out why the function Macro call
in the default template leads to the insertion of author, version and update tags
in addition to the classNotes field substitution value. I realised that I can easily
achieve what I want by not using the function macro at all ( but it must be there for a reason)

2. I found that getter and setter operations included at modelling time are generated using an overriden stereotyped (property set/get) template for the
the operation body.
- all I would have to do is override the default operation notes template
for a stereotype - feature combination to specify that only setter operations of strutsForm classes
shall use this template. however - the property set/get stereotype does not appear neither in the selection list of the
override template dialogue nor in the uml -> stereotype list, why?
I further more would have to derive my validator list from a tagged value of the attribute which has to be accessible
from the operation Notes template at generation Time.
- I noticed the setter Operations tagged value: "attribute name"
which is used to generate the operation body (btw this does not get updated when attribute name is changed!). If there was
a function Macro to access an element's (other than the one that is in the templates scope ) fields at generation time, it could be used
to get the attributes tagged value for the validators.

If these were resolved - EA-modelling could serve as the first step in a nearly automated development process for struts web applications.

regards,
Olaf

2

General Board / misc: Code Generation, FAQ

« on: September 12, 2003, 09:21:08 am »

Hi,
I am evaluating EA for 24 days but I haven't really dived (is that a correct form) deep into it yet.

1. One thing I noticed is that when genrating Java Code the package Structure is taken from the folder Structure of the diagramm hierarchy and looks like
package Use Case View.Use Case Model.WF_Admin.BeispielApp;
I then tried to create a package structure with proper names and copy the class into a diagram that sits under
de/mycompany/testpackage. when generating, I still get the other package structure.
I assume this is because I created the class the first time under that location - > DO I really have to take care of my package names before creating a  new class  (which may happen at any design stage, e.g. from a sequence diagram)?

2. where do I find the generation Templates?
is it difficult to modify them ?
has anyone ever thought about generating classes with readymade xdoclet javadoc tags?

3. are there FAQs that maybe touch these topics?

regards

Olaf

3

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / XMI export - useless ?

« on: December 01, 2003, 09:48:51 am »

Hi,
I am trying to export xmi for further use in a
j2ee codegen tool called andromda.
- http://andromda.org/
the andromda guys state that xmi comes in a variety of dialects, and they (until now)only support poseidons and magic draws xmi.
I found a bridge to convert between the various dialects
and downloaded an evaluation version
- http://www.metaintegration.net/Products/MIMB/

when I specify "Unisys Rose XMI Interchange" as import format for an EA generated XMI (with option Unisys/Rose checked), the bridge outputs the following:

<STATUS>  (l10:2) Loading the model 'EA Model'
<WARNING> (l29:8) Could not find the object's id
<WARNING> (l49:8) Could not find the object's id
<FATAL>   (l49:8) The object "EJBSessionHomeInterface" is not of the expected type: OBJECT instead of OPERATION  <Monday, December 01, 2003 17:49:49>
<VISUAL MODEL BRIDGE>  An error occured while importing. The model has not been imported.  <Monday, December 01, 2003 17:49:49>

Now I am not sure whether my usage of stereotypes is the problem or the xmi export is simply useless (sorry - I don't mean this as an insult, I just need to let off some frustration).

Needless to say that the stereotypes I use for my classes specify "class" as base class, and the ones for my associations specify "association".
regards,

Olaf

4

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / Re: Working with Jag (J2EE App Gen)

« on: December 01, 2003, 08:20:43 am »

hi andy,
did you succeed with your generation ?
I started looking at andromda today, which seems to
be pretty much the same thing as jag.
Even to the point where it does not like the EA generated xmi although it states to support XMI 1.1.
for xmi transformation I found a bridge Xformer at
http://www.metaintegration.net/Products/MIMB/

I am very ambitious to use EA as a source for advanced generation. I already tried to extend the macros for code generation (by doing this xdoclet tags could be inserted directly into comment blocks) but I find the approach of taking XMI as a source much better, thats what I got a bit excited about andromda.

But like so often, a good idea seems to be rendered useless by the nitty gritty of incompatible "standards".

I will try this XMI bridge today - I f it doesn't lead to success I'll consider something pragmatic that works NOW, as I am on a tight schedule (I pray that it does not mean hand-coding)

regards,

Olaf