EMF Tutorial

This tutorial covers the basics of the Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF). It was given to students of a class at McGill University. The tutorial provided a brief overview of EMF and showed how to

• create an Ecore model (using the tree editor and graphically using Sirius)
• create a dynamic instance of the model,
• create the generator model and use/tweak it,
• generate model, edit and editor code,
• create models (instances of the model) using the generated editor,
• create a model programmatically,
• serialize and deserialize a model,
• observe the model for modifications and
• adjust the generated code

based on a small tournament example.

The presentation provides a very brief overview of EMF, plus some additional resources, including the EMF book and more detailed tutorials.

The projects provide the final result, which includes the tournament model, its genmodel and class diagram and the generated model, edit and editor code. Custom code (see TournamentExample, ResourceHelper and MatchItemProvider classes) is provided that contains examples of how to achieve the following:

• Create a model using the generated model code,
• Serialize and deserialize a model,
• Get notified when the model changes,
• Use a customized resource factory,
• Access properties of the model in a reflective way,
• Change the textual representation of a model element in the editor,
• Change the choice of values provided for a property in the editor, and
• Add an OCL constraint to the metamodel

To see the evolution of the model and custom modifications, check the commit history.

Requirements

Use the latest Eclipse Modeling Tools package.

Get the example model

Simply run com.mattsch.emf.examples.test.TournamentExample and the example model will be saved to examples/FIFAWorldCup2014.tournament in the same project.

Tasks a participant can do

Besides creating the model from scratch, creating the genmodel, then generating code and creating models, the projects in this repository allow the following small tasks to practice:

• When creating a non-group match and performing validation a problem becomes evident. Address it such that it is possible to create valid models for all kinds of matches.
• With the above problem being addressed, the existing constraint (groupMatchRequiresGroupKind) is not sufficient. It is still possible to have no group set, but the match kind is Group. Modify the existing one or add an additional constraint to address this.

How to use the generated editor

• Right-Click on the .editor project
• Select Run As > Eclipse Application
• In the second Eclipse instance, either
  1. Drag the example model into the editor area or
  2. Create a new model in a project by going to and selecting `.
  • Go to File > New > Other...
  • Select Tournament Model from the Example EMF Model Creation Wizards category
  • Choose Tournament as the model object

How to add and modify constraints

• Right-Click on Tournament.ecore in the model project
• Select Open With > OCLinEcore Editor
• Find the existing invariant (constraint) for an example
• Important: After modifying or adding constraints, the model code needs to be re-generated