Developing transformations, or transformation extensions, for IBM Rational Software Architect (RSA) or IBM Rational Software Modeler (RSM) requires a significant amount of testing and debugging. Since this development is based on the Eclipse plug-in development paradigm, it requires the launch of a separate runtime or debug workbench instance from your workspace, which may require a lot of memory and a long start-up time when you're conducting a test.
Typically, developers simply tend to launch separate workbenches with the Plug-ins option Launch with all workspace and enabled external plug-ins (as shown in Figure 1). Considering the size of the default Eclipse shell, this isn't usually a problem. However, both RSA and RSM provide much more functionality and many more plug-ins than the default. Selecting this option does guarantee that all your required functionality is available in the launched workbench, but the launching of that workbench can take a long time due to the hundreds of plug-ins included.
Figure 1. Default run-time workbench plug-ins settings
You can reduce significantly the wait time involved in developing a transformation by configuring the launched workbench and reducing the number of plug-ins included in the launch instance.
To configure a runtime workbench:
- Click Debug or Run from the Run menu
- Select your Run-time workbench configuration
- Click the Plug-ins tab
- Select the Choose plug-ins and fragments to launch from the list option from the radio button group
- Click Deselect All to clear all the plug-ins
- Select the required plug-ins as illustrated in Figure 2 following
Figure 2. Selecting the required plug-ins
Selecting the correct set of plug-ins is the challenging part:
- Start off by selecting the plug-ins that you are developing from the list of plug-ins in the Workspace Plug-ins tree
- Click the Add Required Plug-ins button
The selected set of plug-ins will allow you to launch a workbench, but likely without all of the functionality you require. For example, a transformation that transforms a UML model to text would require that the Modeling perspective be usable in the run-time workbench. In addition, selecting the correct set of plug-ins is further complicated by the fact that not all plug-ins can be detected by the Add Required Plug-ins functionality.
Therefore, some experimentation is necessary to make sure that a runtime workbench has all of your required functionality. You can do this by:
- Selecting a set (see the following paragraph for examples) of plug-ins that provides some required functionality.
- Clicking the Add Required Plug-ins button.
Some typical plug-ins that you should include in the run-time workbench for transformations transforming UML models are:
- All org.eclipse.* plug-ins (required for the Eclipse base -- this list can be reduced somewhat if you do not require all of the base Eclipse functionality)
- All com.ibm.xtools.emf.* plug-ins (required because UML is based on EMF)
- All com.ibm.xtools.modeler.* plug-ins (required so that you can create models)
- All com.ibm.xtools.uml.* plug-ins (required for UML diagrams and models)
- All com.ibm.xtools.uml2.* plug-ins (required for UML2 meta-model access)
- The com.ibm.xtools.transform.core plug-in (required for your transformations to be recognized, and so they will execute)
- The com.ibm.xtools.transform.ui plug-in (required so your transformation can be seen in the tool)
- The com.ibm.xtools.transform.uml2 plug-in (required if you are creating UML transformations)
- The com.ibm.rational.cdi.itlm plug-in (required for licensing)
- All com.ibm.etools.lum.* plug-ins (required for licensing)
Also, if you are doing all of your development in English, you may not need the national language support plug-ins (that is, the ".nl1" plug-ins). You may also not need all the documentation (.doc) plug-ins.
The time spent setting up a minimal debug environment will save a lot more time when debugging the transformation being developed.
Also, once you've properly configured a runtime workbench, you can share the configuration with other developers. A runtime workbench configuration is stored in a .launch file within the development workspace:
- <workspace folder>\.metadata\.plugins\org.eclipse.debug.core\.launches
You would find a runtime workbench configuration with the name TransformationTest in the TransformationTest.launch file within the above specified folder.
You can send a copy of the .launch file to other developers. Copying the launch file into the previously-mentioned folder and restarting the development workbench results in a new runtime workbench configuration being available for use.
Another way to share your launch file is to use a shared location for the configurations (see Figure 3) when configuring the workbench configuration. The easiest way to define such a location is to create a simple project in your workspace, and then create the launch configuration in that project in the Common tab of the configuration. The project can then be shared with other users through a Team Provider such as IBM® Rational® ClearCase® or CVS. Users can import the project containing the launch configuration, making the launch configuration available for use.
Figure 3. Shared launch configurations
- Open the Plug-in Development perspective
- Create an example Model-to-Text Transformation:
- Open the File menu
- Click New
- Select the Example menu item
- Select Sample Model-to-Text Transformations within the UML Modeler Plug-ins folder
- Enter a project name and click the Finish button
- Configure a runtime workbench:
- Open the Run menu
- Click Run
- Select Run-time Workbench in the Run dialog
- Click the New button
- Select the Plug-ins tab
- Configure the plug-ins:
- Click the Choose plug-ins choice
- Only select the sample Model-To-Text transformation plug-in in the Workspace Plug-ins tree
- Clear the External Plug-ins checkbox
- Click the Add Required Plug-ins button
- Select the following plug-ins:
- antlr
- com.ibm.etools.jsse
- com.ibm.etools.lum.*
- com.ibm.rational.application.developer
- com.ibm.rational.cdi.itlm
- com.ibm.rational.software.architect.*
- com.ibm.wtp.emf*
- com.ibm.xtools.common.*
- com.ibm.xtools.emf.*
- com.ibm.xtools.gef
- com.ibm.xtools.modeler.*
- com.ibm.xtools.msl.*
- com.ibm.xtools.notation.*
- com.ibm.xtools.pde
- com.ibm.xtools.platform.*
- com.ibm.xtools.r2a
- com.ibm.xtools.rjcb.core
- com.ibm.xtools.topic.edi
- com.ibm.xtools.traceability.*
- com.ibm.xtools.transform.core
- com.ibm.xtools.transform.debugging
- com.ibm.xtools.transform.ui
- com.ibm.xtools.transform.uml2
- com.ibm.xtools.uml.*
- com.ibm.xtools.uml2.*
- com.ibm.xtools.umlnotation.*
- com.ibm.xtools.uref
- com.ibm.xtools.validation
- org.eclipse.*
- Click the Add Required Plug-ins button
- Click the Apply button
- Launch the runtime workbench:
- Click the Run button in the Run dialog.
- Test the transformation in the runtime workbench
To verify your configuration, you'll find attached a sample file: SampleRSAConfiguration.launch.
As you can see, a little effort can go a long way toward properly configuring either RSA or RSM for a runtime workbench with all the plug-ins you require to develop and test your transformations and transformation extensions. In addition, you've learned how to minimize the number of plug-ins you load, reducing your startup time.
| Description | Name | Size | Download method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sample RSA Configuration Launch file | sample_rsa_config.zip | 3 KB | HTTP |
Information about download methods
- Get the evaluation version of Rational Software Architect from the Trials and betas page.
- The IBM Software Developer Platform homepage provides detailed information on the overall IBM Software Development platform, of which Rational Software Architect is a part.
- For technical resources about Rational's products, visit the developerWorks Rational content area. You'll find technical documentation, how-to articles, education, downloads, product information, and more. For specific information about Rational Software Architect, visit the RSA technical resources page.
- Find more product related information by visiting the IBM Rational marketing pages.
- Get involved in the developerWorks community by participating in developerWorks
blogs.
- You can read more about UML 2.0 at the UML Resource Center.
- Ask questions about Rational Software Architect in the
Rational Software Architect, Software Modeler, Application Developer and Web Developer forum.
- Browse for books on these and other technical topics.
Eric Funk is a software engineer and works in the Software Group supporting the IBM Rational software brand.
Charles Rivet is currently a product manager in the Rational Software Group at IBM, supporting the Design and Construction product line. He has experience in the areas of product management, technical marketing, and in the architectural design and implementation of complex systems. His areas of expertise are in model-driven architecture (MDA), object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD), object-oriented development process, UML, configuration management, process control, and modeling heuristics.
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