Consider you have some (Eclipse) UML2 models and now want to reference e.g. Classes from these model from your dsl. In this blog post i want to show a simple example what to do. We have to do two things: Provide an IResourceServiceProvider for .uml resources and reference the UML class from the grammar. So first we write the grammar. that is quite easy

grammar org.xtext.example.umldsl.UmlDsl with org.eclipse.xtext.common.Terminals
 
import "http://www.eclipse.org/uml2/3.0.0/UML" as uml
import "http://www.eclipse.org/emf/2002/Ecore" as ecore
 
generate umlDsl "http://www.xtext.org/example/umldsl/UmlDsl"
 
Model:
    elements+=Element*
;
 
Element:
    "element" name=ID "mapsTo" ref=[uml::Class|FQN]
;
 
FQN returns ecore::EString:
    ID ("." ID)*
;

Then we have to add some stuff to the Language workflow to get the stuff running

module org.xtext.example.umldsl.GenerateUmlDsl
 
import org.eclipse.emf.mwe.utils.*
import org.eclipse.xtext.generator.*
import org.eclipse.xtext.ui.generator.*
 
var grammarURI = "classpath:/org/xtext/example/umldsl/UmlDsl.xtext"
var file.extensions = "umldsl"
var projectName = "org.xtext.example.umldsl"
var runtimeProject = "../${projectName}"
 
Workflow {
    bean = StandaloneSetup {
        scanClassPath = true
        platformUri = "${runtimeProject}/.."
        uriMap = {
            from = "platform:/plugin/org.eclipse.emf.codegen.ecore/model/GenModel.genmodel"
            to = "platform:/resource/org.eclipse.emf.codegen.ecore/model/GenModel.genmodel"
        }
        uriMap = {
            from = "platform:/plugin/org.eclipse.emf.ecore/model/Ecore.genmodel"
            to = "platform:/resource/org.eclipse.emf.ecore/model/Ecore.genmodel"
        }
        uriMap = {
            from = "platform:/plugin/org.eclipse.uml2.codegen.ecore/model/GenModel.genmodel"
            to = "platform:/resource/org.eclipse.uml2.codegen.ecore/model/GenModel.genmodel"
        }
        uriMap = {
            from = "platform:/plugin/org.eclipse.uml2.uml/model/UML.genmodel"
            to = "platform:/resource/org.eclipse.uml2.uml/model/UML.genmodel"
        }
        uriMap = {
            from = "platform:/plugin/org.eclipse.emf.codegen.ecore/model/GenModel.ecore"
            to = "platform:/resource/org.eclipse.emf.codegen.ecore/model/GenModel.ecore"
        }
        uriMap = {
            from = "platform:/plugin/org.eclipse.emf.ecore/model/Ecore.ecore"
            to = "platform:/resource/org.eclipse.emf.ecore/model/Ecore.ecore"
        }
        uriMap = {
            from = "platform:/plugin/org.eclipse.uml2.codegen.ecore/model/GenModel.ecore"
            to = "platform:/resource/org.eclipse.uml2.codegen.ecore/model/GenModel.ecore"
        }
        uriMap = {
            from = "platform:/plugin/org.eclipse.uml2.uml/model/UML.ecore"
            to = "platform:/resource/org.eclipse.uml2.uml/model/UML.ecore"
        }
        //
        registerGeneratedEPackage = "org.eclipse.emf.ecore.EcorePackage"
        registerGeneratedEPackage = "org.eclipse.uml2.uml.UMLPackage"
        registerGeneratedEPackage = "org.eclipse.emf.codegen.ecore.genmodel.GenModelPackage"
        registerGeneratedEPackage = "org.eclipse.uml2.codegen.ecore.genmodel.GenModelPackage"
        registerGenModelFile = "platform:/resource/org.eclipse.emf.ecore/model/Ecore.genmodel"
        registerGenModelFile = "platform:/resource/org.eclipse.emf.codegen.ecore/model/GenModel.genmodel"
        registerGenModelFile = "platform:/resource/org.eclipse.uml2.uml/model/UML.genmodel"
        registerGenModelFile = "platform:/resource/org.eclipse.uml2.codegen.ecore/model/GenModel.genmodel"
 
    }
 
    ...
}

We add some extra deps to the manifest

Manifest-Version: 1.0
Bundle-ManifestVersion: 2
Bundle-Name: org.xtext.example.umldsl
Bundle-Vendor: My Company
Bundle-Version: 1.0.0
Bundle-SymbolicName: org.xtext.example.umldsl; singleton:=true
Bundle-ActivationPolicy: lazy
Require-Bundle: org.eclipse.xtext;bundle-version="2.0.0";visibility:=reexport,
 org.apache.log4j;bundle-version="1.2.15";visibility:=reexport,
 org.apache.commons.logging;bundle-version="1.0.4";resolution:=optional;visibility:=reexport,
 org.eclipse.xtext.generator;resolution:=optional,
 org.eclipse.emf.codegen.ecore;resolution:=optional,
 org.eclipse.emf.mwe.utils;resolution:=optional,
 org.eclipse.emf.mwe2.launch;resolution:=optional,
 org.eclipse.uml2.uml;bundle-version="3.2.0",
 org.eclipse.xtext.util,
 org.eclipse.emf.ecore,
 org.eclipse.emf.common,
 org.antlr.runtime,
 org.eclipse.xtext.common.types,
 org.eclipse.uml2.codegen.ecore;bundle-version="1.7.0"
Import-Package: org.apache.log4j,
 org.apache.commons.logging,
 org.eclipse.xtext.xbase.lib,
 org.eclipse.xtext.xtend2.lib
Bundle-RequiredExecutionEnvironment: J2SE-1.5
Export-Package: org.xtext.example.umldsl,
 org.xtext.example.umldsl.services,
 org.xtext.example.umldsl.umlDsl,
 org.xtext.example.umldsl.umlDsl.impl,
 org.xtext.example.umldsl.umlDsl.util,
 org.xtext.example.umldsl.serializer,
 org.xtext.example.umldsl.parser.antlr,
 org.xtext.example.umldsl.parser.antlr.internal,
 org.xtext.example.umldsl.validation

and generate the Language. If we now run a runtime application and create a .uml file and a .umlmodel file we see nothing since the uml stuff is not yet referenceable

UML Not Working

So the second with we create is a IResourceServiceProvider . Therefore we take the plugins org.eclipse.xtext.ecore and org.eclipse.xtext.ui.ecore? , that do the same for .ecorefiles, as inspiration. So we create the pluginsorg.eclipse.xtext.umlandorg.eclipse.xtext.ui.uml` with following content:

UML Plugin

TheUmlResourceDescriptionStrategy customizes the creation of IEObjectDescriptions. This is the stuff that Xtext puts into the index and maps a Name to an EObject or Proxy. In our case we simply subclass from the default and do no further customizations.

package org.eclipse.xtext.uml;
 
import org.eclipse.xtext.resource.impl.DefaultResourceDescriptionStrategy;
 
public class UmlResourceDescriptionStrategy extends DefaultResourceDescriptionStrategy {
 
}

The UmlQualifiedNameProvider gives our UML Stuff a fully qualified name โ€“ we take the defaults here too

package org.eclipse.xtext.uml;
 
import org.eclipse.xtext.naming.DefaultDeclarativeQualifiedNameProvider;
 
public class UmlQualifiedNameProvider extends DefaultDeclarativeQualifiedNameProvider {
 
}

Then we have to create a Guice Module to Glue the stuff

package org.eclipse.xtext.uml;
 
import org.eclipse.xtext.naming.IQualifiedNameProvider;
import org.eclipse.xtext.resource.IDefaultResourceDescriptionStrategy;
import org.eclipse.xtext.resource.generic.AbstractGenericResourceRuntimeModule;
 
public class UmlRuntimeModule extends AbstractGenericResourceRuntimeModule {
 
    @Override
    protected String getLanguageName() {
        return "org.eclipse.uml2.uml.editor.presentation.UMLEditorID";
    }
 
    @Override
    protected String getFileExtensions() {
        return "uml";
    }
 
    public Class<? extends IDefaultResourceDescriptionStrategy> bindIDefaultResourceDescriptionStrategy() {
        return UmlResourceDescriptionStrategy.class;
    }
 
    @Override
    public Class<? extends IQualifiedNameProvider> bindIQualifiedNameProvider() {
        return UmlQualifiedNameProvider.class;
    }
 
}

If we want to use this stuff from an mwe(2) workflow we have to create a Support-Class for this too

package org.eclipse.xtext.uml;
 
import org.eclipse.xtext.resource.generic.AbstractGenericResourceSupport;
 
import com.google.inject.Module;
 
public class UmlSupport extends AbstractGenericResourceSupport {
 
    @Override
    protected Module createGuiceModule() {
        return new UmlRuntimeModule();
    }
 
}

Finally we add some stuff to the manifest and weโ€™re done with the runtime stuf

Manifest-Version: 1.0
Bundle-ManifestVersion: 2
Bundle-Name: Uml
Bundle-SymbolicName: org.eclipse.xtext.uml
Bundle-Version: 1.0.0.qualifier
Bundle-RequiredExecutionEnvironment: JavaSE-1.6
Require-Bundle: org.eclipse.xtext;bundle-version="2.0.0",
 org.eclipse.uml2.uml;bundle-version="3.2.0"
Export-Package: org.eclipse.xtext.uml

UML UI Plugin

Then we have to do some stuff at the ui side too. We create some glue code (Activator, ExecutableExtensionFactory (to be able to use guice in the plugin.xml) and an UiModule)

/*******************************************************************************
 * Copyright (c) 2010 itemis AG (http://www.itemis.eu) and others.
 * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
 * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
 * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
 * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
 *******************************************************************************/
package org.eclipse.xtext.ui.uml;
 
import org.apache.log4j.Logger;
import org.eclipse.ui.plugin.AbstractUIPlugin;
import org.eclipse.xtext.ui.shared.SharedStateModule;
import org.eclipse.xtext.uml.UmlRuntimeModule;
import org.osgi.framework.BundleContext;
 
import com.google.inject.Guice;
import com.google.inject.Injector;
import com.google.inject.util.Modules;
 
/**
 * The activator class controls the plug-in life cycle
 */
public class Activator extends AbstractUIPlugin {
 
    private static final Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(Activator.class);
 
    // The plug-in ID
    public static final String PLUGIN_ID = "org.eclipse.xtext.ui.uml"; //$NON-NLS-1$
 
    // The shared instance
    private static Activator plugin;
 
    private Injector injector;
 
    /**
     * The constructor
     */
    public Activator() {
    }
 
    public Injector getInjector() {
        return injector;
    }
 
    private void initializeEcoreInjector() {
        injector = Guice.createInjector(
                Modules.override(Modules.override(new UmlRuntimeModule())
                .with(new UmlUiModule(plugin)))
                .with(new SharedStateModule()));
    }
 
    @Override
    public void start(BundleContext context) throws Exception {
        super.start(context);
        plugin = this;
        try {
            initializeEcoreInjector();
        } catch(Exception e) {
            logger.error(e.getMessage(), e);
            throw e;
        }
    }
 
    @Override
    public void stop(BundleContext context) throws Exception {
        plugin = null;
        injector = null;
        super.stop(context);
    }
 
    /**
     * Returns the shared instance
     *
     * @return the shared instance
     */
    public static Activator getDefault() {
        return plugin;
    }
 
}
/*******************************************************************************
 * Copyright (c) 2010 itemis AG (http://www.itemis.eu) and others.
 * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
 * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
 * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
 * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
 *******************************************************************************/
package org.eclipse.xtext.ui.uml;
 
import org.eclipse.ui.plugin.AbstractUIPlugin;
import org.eclipse.xtext.ui.LanguageSpecific;
import org.eclipse.xtext.ui.editor.IURIEditorOpener;
import org.eclipse.xtext.ui.resource.generic.EmfUiModule;
 
public class UmlUiModule extends EmfUiModule {
 
    public UmlUiModule(AbstractUIPlugin plugin) {
        super(plugin);
    }
 
    @Override
    public void configureLanguageSpecificURIEditorOpener(com.google.inject.Binder binder) {
        binder.bind(IURIEditorOpener.class).annotatedWith(LanguageSpecific.class).to(UmlEditorOpener.class);
    }
 
}
/*******************************************************************************
 * Copyright (c) 2010 itemis AG (http://www.itemis.eu) and others.
 * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
 * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
 * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
 * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
 *******************************************************************************/
package org.eclipse.xtext.ui.uml;
 
import org.eclipse.xtext.ui.guice.AbstractGuiceAwareExecutableExtensionFactory;
import org.osgi.framework.Bundle;
 
import com.google.inject.Injector;
 
public class ExecutableExtensionFactory extends AbstractGuiceAwareExecutableExtensionFactory {
 
    @Override
    protected Bundle getBundle() {
        return Activator.getDefault().getBundle();
    }
 
    @Override
    protected Injector getInjector() {
        return Activator.getDefault().getInjector();
    }
 
}

Of course we want to UML Editor to open smoothly if we click on an element referenced from UML too so we create an LanguageSpecificURIEditorOpener too

/*******************************************************************************
 * Copyright (c) 2010 itemis AG (http://www.itemis.eu) and others.
 * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
 * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
 * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
 * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
 *******************************************************************************/
package org.eclipse.xtext.ui.uml;
 
import java.util.Collections;
 
import org.eclipse.emf.common.util.URI;
import org.eclipse.emf.ecore.EObject;
import org.eclipse.emf.ecore.EReference;
import org.eclipse.ui.IEditorPart;
import org.eclipse.xtext.ui.editor.LanguageSpecificURIEditorOpener;
import org.eclipse.uml2.uml.editor.presentation.UMLEditor;
 
public class UmlEditorOpener extends LanguageSpecificURIEditorOpener {
 
    @Override
    protected void selectAndReveal(IEditorPart openEditor, URI uri,
            EReference crossReference, int indexInList, boolean select) {
        UMLEditor umlEditor = (UMLEditor) openEditor.getAdapter(UMLEditor.class);
        if (umlEditor != null) {
            EObject eObject = umlEditor.getEditingDomain().getResourceSet().getEObject(uri, true);
            umlEditor.setSelectionToViewer(Collections.singletonList(eObject));
        }
    }
 
}

we add some deps to the manifest

Manifest-Version: 1.0
Bundle-ManifestVersion: 2
Bundle-Name: Uml
Bundle-SymbolicName: org.eclipse.xtext.ui.uml;singleton:=true
Bundle-Version: 1.0.0.qualifier
Bundle-RequiredExecutionEnvironment: JavaSE-1.6
Require-Bundle: org.eclipse.uml2.uml.editor;bundle-version="3.1.100",
 org.eclipse.xtext.uml;bundle-version="1.0.0",
 org.eclipse.xtext.ui;bundle-version="2.0.0",
 org.eclipse.xtext.ui.shared;bundle-version="2.0.0"
Import-Package: org.apache.log4j;version="1.2.15"
Bundle-Activator: org.eclipse.xtext.ui.uml.Activator
Bundle-ActivationPolicy: lazy

And finally register our resource service provider to the extension point Xtext offers for that.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<?eclipse version="3.4"?>
<plugin>
     
    <extension
          point="org.eclipse.xtext.extension_resourceServiceProvider">
        <resourceServiceProvider
              class="org.eclipse.xtext.ui.uml.ExecutableExtensionFactory:org.eclipse.xtext.ui.resource.generic.EmfResourceUIServiceProvider"
              uriExtension="uml">
        </resourceServiceProvider>
    </extension>
  
</plugin>

We restart our runtime application, and TATATATA: it works ๐Ÿ˜‰

UML Working

the source code can be found at https://github.com/cdietrich/xtext-uml-example