examples/bank/index.html

<h1>Getting Started with Henshin</h1>

<em>Example: Bank Accounts</em>

<p>
<small><i>contributed by Christian Krause</i></small>
</p>

<p>
This tutorial shows some of the basic concepts of the Henshin transformation
language and tool environment. The example transformation is <i>endogenous</i>,
meaning that it operates on a single metamodel. We explain how to define
transformation rules using Henshin's integrated graphical editor, and
how to use the interpreter (wizard and programmatically) to execute rules 
on an example model.
</p>

<p>
The transformation model, example input models and source code can be found
<a href="examples/bank/bank-example.zip">here</a> (minimal Eclipse project, download and import into your workspace via <i>File &rarr;  Import.. &rarr;  General &rarr;  Existing Projects into Workspace</i>).
</p>


<h2>Metamodel and Instance Model</h2>

<p>
<a href="examples/bank/bank.png"><image src="examples/bank/bank.png" align="right" width="300" /></a>
The metamodel is defined in the file <i>bank.ecore</i>. We used 
the Ecore Tools to draw a diagram (depicted on the right). 
The diagram is stored in the file <i>bank.aird</i>.
</p>

<p>
The class <i>Bank</i> serves as a root container for
all other classes. Every bank owns a number of accounts,
each with a unique ID and the current credit.
Two types of persons are distinguished: managers and clients.
Every client is associated with at most one manager and can
own a number of accounts in the bank. Note that the references
between <i>Account</i> and <i>Client</i>, and <i>Manager</i>
and <i>Client</i> are bidirectional. Therefore, it is for example
not only possible to obtain all accounts of a given client,
but also to find out to which client a given account belongs to.
</p>

<p>
<a href="examples/bank/example-bank.png"><image src="examples/bank/example-bank.png" align="right" width="300" /></a>
An example instance model is depicted on the right using
the Sample Reflective Ecore Model editor. It contains one
manager, three clients and four accounts. Note that
we did not generate code from the metamodel. Thus, we
use dynamic EMF here, i.e. the instance model is typed
over a dynamic metamodel loaded from <i>bank.ecore</i>.
This is also the reason why we used the generic file
extension <i>*.xmi</i> here and not, say, <i>*.bank</i>.
</p>

<h2>Transformation Rules</h2>

<p>
We define a couple of transformation rules for the above
metamodel. We use the integrated graphical editor of Henshin.
To set-up the transformation, go to 
<i>File &rarr; New &rarr; Other &rarr; Henshin &rarr; Henshin transformation Diagram</i>.
This wizard will create two files, one for storing the transformation
model and one for the diagram information 
(e.g. <i>bank.henshin</i> and <i>bank.henshin_diagram</i>).
When the wizard is finished, an empty diagram file is 
created and opened in the graphical editor.
Now you need to import the metamodel for which you want to define
a transformation. This can be done by right-clicking in the empty
editor and selecting <i>Import Package... &rarr; From Workspace</i>.
Then select the file <i>bank.ecore</i> and within this file the
package <i>bank</i>. If the import was successfull you will see all
classes of the metamodel appearing in the palette of the editor.
</p>

<p>
To create a new transformation rule, use the <i>Rule</i> tool
in the palette. In the top of every rule, its name and parameters
are specified (and some optional information which we do not consider 
here). In the below example, we write <i>createAccount(client, accountId)</i>,
where the <i>client</i> parameter is the name of the client for whom
an account should be created, and <i>accountId</i> is the ID to be used
for the new account.
</p>

<p>
<b>Nodes:</b> Inside of the rule, we now create a number of nodes now,
as shown in the screenshot below. For example, to
create the bank node in the top, you can use the <i>Bank</i> tool 
in the palette. After you have created the node, you can change its 
name and also its type. For changing the name of this object to <i>bank</i>
click on the name label of the node and enter <i>bank:Bank</i>.
Note that these names can be important when you want to pass an object
as a parameter of the rule. In this case you would add <i>bank</i> to the
list of the rule.
</p>

<p>
<b>Edges:</b> To specify a link between two nodes use the tool <i>Edge</i>
in the palette and draw a line between two lines. This is possible only if
the metamodel contains a reference between the two corresponding classes.
If multiple references are possible, you can choose from a pop-up menu.
</p>

<p>
<b>Attributes</b>: Attributes can be created within nodes and are specified
by the name of the attribute and an '=' followed by an expression which is 
evaluated during the rule application.
</p>

<p>
<b>Actions:</b> Nodes and edges are annotated with stereotypes which we refer
to as actions. A number of actions are supported: 
<span style="color:gray">&laquo;preserve&raquo;</span> matches an object and preserves it during the rule application,
<span style="color:green">&laquo;create&raquo;</span> creates a new object or link between objects,
<span style="color:red">&laquo;delete&raquo;</span> deletes an existing object or link,
<span style="color:blue">&laquo;forbid&raquo;</span> forbid the existience of an object or link.
Note that these are the basic actions, which can be further parameterized (see below).
</p>

<p align="center">
<image src="examples/bank/rule-create-account.png"/>
</p>

<p>
The rule <i>createAccount(client,accountId)</i>
matches a bank, a client with the name given in the rule parameter <i>client</i>
and the client's manager. The rule creates a new account for the client and sets
its ID to the value given in <i>accountId</i>. The rule is applicable only if now
other account exists already with the same ID.
</p>

<br>
<br>

<p align="center">
<image src="examples/bank/rule-transfer-money.png"/>
</p>

<p>
The rule <i>transferMoney(client,fromId,toId,amount,x,y)</i>
matches a client with the name <i>client</i> and his
account with the ID given in <i>fromId</i> and another account
with the ID <i>toId</i>. The <i>credit</i> attribute of both
account is changed, which is denoted using an arrow notation:
<i>old value -&gt; new value</i>. In the source account,
the old credit is matched using a parameter <i>x</i> and set
to <i>x-amount</i>, analogously for the destination account.
Note that the conditions check whether the credit balance on
the source account is high enough and that transfers are always
positive. If the conditions don not hold, the rule can not be applied.
The conditions are evaluated by the Oracle Nashorn JavaScript Engine.
Note also that <i>x</i> and <i>y</i> have to be specified as 
parameters. When executing this rule, these parameters will
be automatically initialized by the found match.
</p>

<br>

<p>
<image src="examples/bank/rule-delete-all-accounts.png"\>
</p>

<p align="center">
The rule <i>deleteAllAccounts(client)</i>
deletes all accounts of a given client. This is
done using a star-operator, i.e. using the action
<span style="color:red">&laquo;delete*&raquo;</span>.
On the model level, this is mapped to a nested rule.
which has a for-all semantics.
Note that, when deleting bidirectional edges,
both directions have to be specified(!). If the 
checkDangling-attribute in the rule is set to true,
a node can only be deleted if all its links are deleted, too. 
As an exercise, you may define a rule which moves all accounts 
from one client to another client.
</p>

<h2>Execution using the Interpreter Wizard</h2>

<p>
We now show how to execute single transformation rules
using the Henshin interpreter, invoked through a dialog.
To run this dialog, open the <i>*.henshin</i> file, right-click
on a rule or a transformation and select <i>Apply Transformation</i> 
in the context menu. Then choose an instance model that should be transformed.
Finally, set the parameters of the rule (not all have to
be specified) and click on <i>Preview</i> to see the changes.
</p>

<p>
<a href="examples/bank/apply-create-account.png"><image src="examples/bank/apply-create-account.png" align="right" width="200" /></a>
<br>
<br>
An application of the rule <i>createAccount(client)</i>
is shown on the right. As parameters we specified <i>client=Alice</i>
with type <i>String</i>, and <i>accountId=5</i> with type <i>Int</i>. 
The preview window on the right shows the
result of applying the rule with these parameters.
<br>
<br>
<br>
</p>

<p>
<a href="examples/bank/apply-transfer-money.png"><image src="examples/bank/apply-transfer-money.png" align="right" width="200" /></a>
<br>
<br>
An application of the rule <i>transferMoney</i>
is shown on the right. We have specified the parameters <i>client</i>,
<i>fromId</i>, <i>toid</i> and <i>amount</i>. The other parameters
are automatically matched by the transformation engine. Note also
that is important to specify the correct parameter types, because
otherwise the rule cannot be matched.
The preview window on the right shows the
result of applying the rule with these parameters.
<br>
<br>
<br>
</p>

<p>
<a href="examples/bank/apply-delete-all-accounts.png"><image src="examples/bank/apply-delete-all-accounts.png" align="right" width="200" /></a>
<br>
<br>
An application of the ruleThe rule <i>deleteAllAccounts(client)</i>
is shown on the right. As parameter we specified <i>client=Charles</i> 
with type <i>String</i>.
The preview window on the right shows the
result of applying the rule with these parameters.
<br>
<br>
</p>

<h2>Performance Optimization using EMaps</h2>

<p>
The rule <i>transferMoney</i> can also be realized using EMF EMaps. This significantly improves the performance for 
large models because Account objects can be looked up efficiently based on their ID.
</p>
<p>
<a href="examples/bank/bankmap.png"><image src="examples/bank/bankmap.png" width="300" /></a>
</p>

<h2>Execution using the Interpreter API</h2>

<p>
Of course, you can also invoke the interpreter programmatically. You can find an implementation of 
the example transformations above using the interpreter in the 
<a href="http://git.eclipse.org/c/henshin/org.eclipse.emft.henshin.git/tree/plugins/org.eclipse.emf.henshin.examples/src/org/eclipse/emf/henshin/examples/bank">bank</a> example package.
</p>