My users know nothing about xml. I am thinking of having an XML config file (very limited schema obviously), and trying to find a good 3rd party tool (java-based or not) to let users edit it without knowing that they are editing an xml. TO a user, it would appear just some tree-like settings dialog, like Eclipse's Preferences. Can be done, right?
I am soooo tired of coding GUI every time I want to ask user's preference! THere has to be a better way.
Jimmy Clark
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Take a look at the Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF). EMF is an advanced Java-based framework and code generation facility for building tools and other applications based on a structured data model, e.g. your configuration specs.
Good luck!
Jane Jukowsky
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Frank Bennett wrote:Take a look at the Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF). EMF is an advanced Java-based framework and code generation facility for building tools and other applications based on a structured data model, e.g. your configuration specs.
Good luck!
Confused. Will it do what I need out of the box, without coding?
Jimmy Clark
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You need to take some time and actually read the EMF documentation. There is however an sub-component that does generate an Eclipse-based editor tool for your specific EMF model. The code generation facility creates the code for the editor tool.
A fully functional Eclipse editor can be generated for any EMF model. An EMF model can be defined via Java classes, XMI syntax, or XML Schema instance.
Jane Jukowsky
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Thanks for the heads up. How do you estimate this emf project for a small app with about a dozen or two properties, in terms of man-hours and considering the learning curve? I am very familiar with eclipse, zero familiarity with emf. Probably more man-hours than I can afford, that's my guess.. :-(
Jimmy Clark
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There are a few different ways to create a model. Since your goal is to generate an editor for your XML-based configuration data, then you most likely would choose to generate the model from an XML Schema. The high-level steps are:
1. Create an XML Schema for your application's configuration language
2. Create an EMF model using the XML schema
3. Create the Eclipse editor plug-in using the EMF model
If you learn how this works, then you can use the EMF framework for future projects as well as your current one.
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