doc/org.eclipse.emf.parsley.doc/xdoc/documentation/AdvancedFeatures.xdoc

chapter:AdvancedFeatures[Advanced Features]

In this chapter we describe some advanced features.

section:BuildingWithMaven[Building with Maven]

We provide Maven artifacts in Maven Central that allows you to compile the Parsley DSL sources
with Maven/Tycho, using the e[xtext-maven-plugin].

This is a typical configuration (a complete example can be found here:
link[http://git.eclipse.org/c/emf-parsley/org.eclipse.emf-parsley.git/tree/examples/org.eclipse.emf.parsley.examples.maven][http://git.eclipse.org/c/emf-parsley/org.eclipse.emf-parsley.git/tree/examples/org.eclipse.emf.parsley.examples.maven]):

code[
<plugin>
	<groupId>org.eclipse.xtext</groupId>
	<artifactId>xtext-maven-plugin</artifactId>
	<version>${xtext-version}</version>
	<executions>
		<execution>
			<goals>
				<goal>generate</goal>
			</goals>
		</execution>
	</executions>
	<configuration>
		<languages>
			<language>
				<setup>org.eclipse.emf.parsley.dsl.EmfParsleyDslStandaloneSetup</setup>
				<outputConfigurations>
					<outputConfiguration>
						<outputDirectory>${basedir}/emfparsley-gen</outputDirectory>
					</outputConfiguration>
				</outputConfigurations>
			</language>
		</languages>
	</configuration>
	<dependencies>
		<dependency>
			<groupId>org.eclipse.emf.parsley</groupId>
			<artifactId>org.eclipse.emf.parsley.dsl.standalone</artifactId>
			<version>${parsley-version}</version>
		</dependency>
	</dependencies>
</plugin>
]

section:Testing[Testing Framework]

We provide some utility classes for testing e[EMF Parsley] components in the feature
"EMF Parsley Junit4 Support".  By deriving from one of the abstract classes in our
testing bundle, you will be able to write tests that are meant to be run as Junit test,
that is to say, NOT as Plug-in Junit tests.  Thus, you will not need a running Eclipse product
to execute such tests: they will be much faster.  Indeed, many parts of Parsley can
be tested even without a running Eclipse.

ul[
	item[codeRef[org.eclipse.emf.parsley.junit4.AbstractEmfParsleyTest]: this provides
	a few utility methods, e.g., for creating an codeRef[com.google.inject.Injector].]
	item[codeRef[org.eclipse.emf.parsley.junit4.AbstractEmfParsleyShellBasedTest]: this allows
	to run Junit tests that require a codeRef[org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display] and a
	codeRef[org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Shell].]
	item[codeRef[org.eclipse.emf.parsley.junit4.AbstractEmfParsleyControlBasedTest]: an extension
	of the previous class for tests that also require databinding capabilities, e.g.,
	tests for codeRef[org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Control] elements; this provides many assert
	methods for several kinds of controls, such as e[assertCheckbox], e[assertCombo], etc.]
]

We use these classes for testing most of our classes; you might want to have a look
at the project e[org.eclipse.emf.parsley.tests] for some usage examples.

section:Eclipse4[Eclipse 4.x]

Instead of using the Extension Point mechanism, EMF Parsley leverages from DSL and Google Guice Injection.

Because of this, it is very easy to use it with Eclipse 4.x (e4).

ol[]

e[First Example Setup]

If you followed the steps described in section ref:FirstExample[First Example] you will have already
what we need to begin. Otherwise the following wizard will bring you to that point.

ol[
	item[File -> New... -> Example...]
	item[from Category "EMF Parsley Examples", select "EMF Parsley First Example"]
	item[press Next and Finish]
]

You will end up with three plug-ins:

ul[
item[org.eclipse.emf.parsley.examples.firstexample (the EMF Parsley example plug-in)]
item[org.eclipse.emf.examples.library (the model plug-in)]
item[org.eclipse.emf.examples.library.edit (the model.edit plug-in)]
]

As a reminder, in section ref:FirstExample[First Example] we reached the point where we launched a second Eclipse
instance (but, of course, just defining a product you could have a standalone 3.x application) with a
view (called "My Library Tree Form") that allowed to manage the model.

ol[]

e[Preparing for a pure e4 Application]

What we will do now is starting from the previous step and create an e4 Application (on top of
the previous plug-ins) that gets to the same result, but now with a pure e4 Part.

In order to do this we need to export the e["org.eclipse.emf.parsley.examples.firstexample"] package from the first plug-in.

ol[]

e[Create an e4 Application]

Now let's create a new, empty, e4 application, e.g. e["org.eclipse.emf.parsley.examples.firstexample.application"]
(you can find details on how to create e4 applications in link[http://www.rcp-vision.com/?p=4694&lang=en][our
tutorials]).

Create a Part and ensure that the application starts.

ol[]

e[Using a TreeComposite into an e4 Part]

In the just created plug-in we need dependencies from the previous plug-ins: so open the e[org.eclipse.emf.parsley.examples.firstexample.application/MANIFEST.MF] file, go to e[Dependencies]
tab and add the three previous plug-ins. Add also e["org.eclipse.emf.parsley"] plug-in.
Don't forget to add the previous, and the required plug-ins, also to the Product.

Open the Part java class and make the following changes:

code[Java][
// Use these imports during Organizing Imports operation
import org.eclipse.emf.common.util.URI;
import org.eclipse.emf.ecore.resource.Resource;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Composite;

// The part implements IMenuListener for context menu handling
public class MyEclipse4Part {

	//the EMF Parley composite for showing a tree and a detail form
	private TreeFormComposite treeFormComposite;
	//the EMF Resource
	private Resource resource;
	//URI for EMF Resource
	private URI uri = URI.createFileURI(System.getProperty("user.home")
		+ "/MyLibrary.library");

]


Modify the e[@PostConstruct] method with this code:

code[Java][
@PostConstruct
public void postConstruct(Composite parent) {
	// Guice injector
	private Injector injector = FirstexampleInjectorProvider.getInjector();

	// The EditingDomain is needed for context menu and drag and drop
	EditingDomain editingDomain = injector.getInstance(EditingDomain.class);

	ResourceLoader resourceLoader = injector.getInstance(ResourceLoader.class);
	//load the resource
	resource = resourceLoader.getResource(editingDomain, uri).getResource();

	TreeFormFactory treeFormFactory = injector.getInstance(TreeFormFactory.class);
	//create the tree-form composite
	treeFormComposite = treeFormFactory.createTreeFormComposite(parent, SWT.BORDER);

	// Guice injected viewer context menu helper
	ViewerContextMenuHelper contextMenuHelper = injector.getInstance(ViewerContextMenuHelper.class);
	// Guice injected viewer drag and drop helper
	ViewerDragAndDropHelper dragAndDropHelper = injector.getInstance(ViewerDragAndDropHelper.class);

	// set context menu and drag and drop
	contextMenuHelper.addViewerContextMenu(treeFormComposite.getViewer(), editingDomain);
	dragAndDropHelper.addDragAndDrop(treeFormComposite.getViewer(), editingDomain);

	//update the composite
	treeFormComposite.update(resource);
}
]

The Google Guice Injector (not to be confused with the Eclipse e4 Injector) is retrieved
using the injector provider class generated by the DSL compiler
(see also ref:InjectorProvider[Obtaining the Injector]).

If you now run the application you will be able to manage the model:

img[images/07-eclipse4-part.png][][ ][]

but you will notice that it is not possible to persist the changes to the model.

ol[]

e[Adding the dirty state and Save command]

In order to allow persisting the model changes we have to add the dirty state handling to the part and
the Save command to the application.
Let's start with adding the following attribute to the part

code[Java][
@Inject
MDirtyable dirty;
]

add to e[@PostConstruct] method the following code in order to update the dirty state

code[Java][
editingDomain.getCommandStack().addCommandStackListener(
			new CommandStackListener() {
				public void commandStackChanged(EventObject event) {
					if (dirty != null)
						dirty.setDirty(true);
				}
			});
]

and add the e[@Persist] method, which will be called when the part is saved

code[Java][
@Persist
public void save(MDirtyable dirty) throws IOException {
	resource.save(null);
	if (dirty != null) {
		dirty.setDirty(false);
	}
}
]

and, in the end, add the e[Save] handler along with the correspondent e[Command] and e[Menu]
(you can find how to create handlers, commands and menus in an e4 applications in link[http://www.rcp-vision.com/?p=4972&lang=en][our
tutorials])

code[Java][
import javax.inject.Named;

public class SaveHandler {

	@Execute
	void execute(EPartService partService, @Named(IServiceConstants.ACTIVE_PART) MPart part) {
		partService.savePart(part, false);
	}
}
]

section:RAP[RAP]

As you may know link[http://eclipse.org/rap/][RAP (Remote Application Platform)] is a technology that allows you to run an Eclipse RCP application over the web.

In order to obtain this goal you have to setup a specific RAP Target Platform, for instance the one that RAP itself provides once you install it.

However when you want to use an Eclipse RCP framework over the RAP Platform, you generally have to deal with
dependencies, since not all Eclipse frameworks are ready-to-use with RAP, especially those related with the SWT layer.

EMF Parsley provides a proper RAP Target Platform that allows you to start leveraging Parsley potentials to the web the same way you have 
learned to do with desktop (RCP) development.

ol[]

e[Installing the RAP Tools]

To begin with, you need to install the RAP Tools into the IDE.
This can be accomplished with the following steps:
ol[
	item[Help -> Install New Software ...]
	item[select the main Eclipse Update site]
	item[expand category "Web, XML, Java EE and OSGi Enterprise Development"]
	item[select "RAP Tools" and complete the installation, restarting the IDE at the end]
	item[after IDE restarts just close the Welcome page]
]


ol[]

e[Setup the EMF Parsley RAP Target Platform]

After having installed EMF Parsley as described link[https://www.eclipse.org/emf-parsley/download.html][here] and
created a new workspace, you can setup the EMF Parsley RAP Target Platform in the following way: 
ol[
	item[File -> New... -> Example...]
	item[from Category "EMF Parsley Examples", select "EMF Parsley RAP Target Platform Example"]
	item[press Next and Finish]
	item[open the Target Definition file e[emf-parsely-rap.target]]
	item[wait until the "Resolving Target Definition" job is done (check the status bar)]
	item[when finished, click on hyperlink "Set as Target Platform"]
]

You will end up with a RAP-enabled workspace, enhanced by EMF and Parsley! 


ol[]

e[Running the Parsley RAP UI Example]

Here is the fastest way to get a working web application with all the stuff put togheter:
ol[
	item[File -> New... -> Example...]
	item[from Category "EMF Parsley Examples", select "EMF Parsley RAP Example"]
	item[press Next and Finish]
	item[expand plug-in e["org.eclipse.emf.parsley.examples.rap.ui"]]
	item[right-click "Emf_Parsley_RAP_UI_Example.launch" and click "Run as" "Emf_Parsley_RAP_UI_Example"]
]

What you will get is a web application that allows you to interact with the model instance as you would
do in a desktop (RCP) environment.

img[images/08-rap-ui-example-running.png][][ ][]

In this web application you can see two views: 
ul[
	item[the one on the left is a read-only view; it just reflects the model content, but it does not react to changes (the classic Eclipse dirty indicator is not triggered
by changes) and you are not able to save. Its model is created in class e[org.eclipse.emf.parsley.examples.rap.ui.GuiceModule.CustomResourceManager]
and is not persisted]
	item[the view on the right is instead a Saveable view and therefore it not only triggers the dirty state after
a change, but also allows you to save the modifications with the automatic dirty state reset. Its model
is persisted in file e[System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir")+"/My.model")] ]
]

Of course, since this is a web application, you can also open a browser on another pc or device on the same network and type the address,
replacing 127.0.0.1 with the IP of the machine where the application was launched.

ol[]

e[Running the Parsley RAP CDO Example]

The EMF default XMI persistence is certainly very handy to start with, but as soon as you want a more
production-ready EMF persistence architecture, well, link[http://wiki.eclipse.org/CDO][CDO] is for sure the way to go.
In fact with CDO you basically have an EMF model instance shared between clients, that also allows the
clients to be synchronized with the model changes.


In this example, in order to keep things simple, we will use CDO with an in-memory store (MEMStore) whose contents will be lost once the server is stopped.
However CDO can be configured for usage with RDBMS, Object-oriented or NO-SQL databases (see link[http://eclipse.org/cdo/documentation/][here] for details)


To start with we need a CDO Server running and we can obtain it with an example plugin that can be used
both in an RCP and in a RAP workspace.

ol[
	item[File -> New... -> Example...]
	item[from Category "EMF Parsley Examples", select "EMF Parsley CDO Server Example"]
	item[press Next and Finish]
	item[expand plug-in e["org.eclipse.emf.parsley.examples.cdo.server"]]
	item[right-click "CDOServerExample.launch" and click "Run as" "CDOServerExample"]
	item[a message on the Console e["Repository\[demo\] started!"] informs that the CDO Server instance
	is started!]
]

Now we can create the web application that will use the CDO server just started.

ol[
	item[File -> New... -> Example...]
	item[from Category "EMF Parsley Examples", select "EMF Parsley RAP CDO Example"]
	item[press Next and Finish]
]

The plug-in projects created are:

ul[
	item[the Model (org.eclipse.emf.parsley.examples.cdo.model)]
	item[a Parsley plug-in with a TreeForm (org.eclipse.emf.parsley.examples.cdo.treeform)]
	item[the webapp (org.eclipse.emf.parsley.examples.cdo.rap)]
]

Then let's start the application

ol[
	item[expand plug-in e["org.eclipse.emf.parsley.examples.cdo.rap"]]
	item[right-click "EMF-Parsley_Library_RAP.launch" and click "Run as" "EMF-Parsley_Library_RAP"]
]

If you happen to see this

img[images/08-rap-refresh.png][][ ][]

just press the refresh button and should see the following

img[images/08-rap-cdo-1.png][][ ][]

Now feel free to open the same address from more browsers window (yes, on different machines or devices, possibly)
and see the power of this technology stack at work!

img[images/08-rap-cdo-2.png][][ ][]