Visual Paradigm for UML 3

VP-UML Plug-in

Before introducing the steps of executing a plug-in, let's look at what the plug-in can do. The first VP-UML plug-in - GenerateC++Plugin - can generate C++ code according to the class model.

The GenerateC++Plugin jar file and a tutorial of how to create plug-ins can be downloaded at www.visual-paradigm.com.

The output from the GenerateC++ plug-in

1. When the GenerateC++ plug-in is executed, the C++ files are generated to the specified location.

2. Double click one of the files to see the content.

Steps to Import a VP-UML Plug-in

1. Click on Tools -> Plug-in -> Configure from the menu bar.

2. The Plug-in Manage Dialog appears.

3. Click on the Import button. The file selection dialog appears, select the plug-in jar file or class directory. After the file is selected, the information about the plug-in will be display on the right side of the dialog. Click the Open button to import the selected plug-in.

4. The imported plug-in will be listed on the Plug-in Manage Dialog. Select the plug-in from the table. The description of the plug-in will be displayed in the description area. To remove the plug-in, select the plug-in and click the Remove button.

5. To view the details of the plug-in, click the Details button. The Plug-in details dialog will be display.

6. Click the Close button to go back to the Plug-in Manager dialog.

Executing a Plug-in

1. To execute the plug-in, click Tools->Plug-in->Execute… on the menu bar.

A dialog listing all the imported plug-ins will appear. You can select the imported plug-in to execute or specify another external Plug-in to execute.

Execute an imported plug-in

1. To execute the imported plug-in, select the plug-in that you want to execute from the list and click the Execute button. Another dialog appears, input or choose the output path and click OK button.

Execute an external plug-in

1. To execute an external plug-in, click the External Plug-in radio button, input the location and filename of the plug-in and click the Execute button. You will be asked to specify an output directory.

Viewing the details of a plug-in

Viewing in the Plug-in Details Dialog

1. To view the details of the plug-in, select the plug-in from the list. Right-click the plug-in and select Open Details…. The Plug-in Details Dialog appears.

Viewing in the Manage Dialog

To view the details of the plug-in, click the Manage Dialog… button. The Plug-in Manage Dialog appears and all the imported plug-ins are listed. Select the plug-in, the description of the plug-in will be displayed in the Description area. Click the Details button to view the detailed information.

Using the VP-UML Plug-in Packer

To start the VP-UML Plug-in Packer, click the Start Menu button. Select All Programs -> Visual Paradigm -> Tools -> VP-UML Plug-in Packer.

The following table describes the Plug-in Packer fields.

Field	Description
Plug-in ID	The ID of the plug-in. The plug-in ID is unique identity for the plug-in. You can set the plug-in ID by yourself or let the application generate an ID for your plug-in. The application will generate an ID if this field is blank before saving the plug-in.
Name	The name of the plug-in. This value can be duplicated in other plug-ins.
Author	The author of this plug-in.
Version	The version of the current plug-in. This field is stored as a string so that you can. As that it can fulfill any style of version representation.
Included Files	The list of included files of this plug-in. The subclass of VPUMLPlugin must be included in this list. The “Add” button is used to add new files or directories. The “Remove” button is used to remove the selected items.
Plug-in Class	This field stores the subclass of VPUMLPlugin. VP-UML will invoke this class to execute your plug-in. The button that is next the text field is used to search VPUMLPlugin classes from the included files and directories. If there are more than one subclasses of the VPUMLPlugin in the included path, a dialog will be popup to select a VPUMLPlugin class for this plug-in package. If there is only one VPUMLPlugin found, the class name will place to the Plug-in Class field automatically.
Icon	The icon to represent this plug-in. The icon must be in 18x18 pixels The supported image format are .jpg, .png, and *.gif. The selected valid image will be added into the included files automatically. If you have not specifies the icon, the VP-UML will use the default plug-in icon.
Short Description	A short description of the plug-in. This description will be used as tool tip of the plug-in.
Description	You can put a more descriptive explanation of the plug-in in this field.

Table 9‑1 Description of Plug-in Packer

After filling in all the fields, select File from the menu bar and choose Pack. A dialog will be displayed for the output jar file destination and filename.

Select the destination and filename for the jar file and click the Save button.

A dialog showing that the plug-in was packed successfully.

VP-UML Template

Before introducing how to import and execute templates, let's glance at an example template called UseCaseDescriptionTemplate.jar. The aim of this template is to generate a use case Scheduling report. For this example, we are using the ATM.vpp project which is a sample bundled with VP-UML. The ATM.vpp project contains one Use Case diagram and contains five use cases. The UseCaseDescriptionTemplate.jar template obtains the use cases from the VP-UML repository, extracts the information from the use case model, then generates a text file in HTML format. The procedure is as the following diagram.

There are two files inside the UseCaseSchedulingTemplate.jar file - UseCaseScheduling.vm and TemplateProperties.xml whichi is under the meta-inf directory. The file which generates the report is UseCaseScheduling.vm. The following table describes the code syntax of the template and the TemplateProperties.xml which is a property file created by the Template Packer. The Template Packer will be discussed later.

Item number	Description
1	Multi line comment section
2	Static body in HTML format
3	$project a provided variable which represent the VP-UML project getProjectName() one of the method of the $project object which is use to get the project name
4	#foreach #end A for each looping
5	$modelrepository a provided variable which represent the VP-UML model repository modelIterator() one of the method of the $modelrepository object which is use to get the iterator of the model element in the repository. If parameter is given then the specify model element iterator is return.
6	$m a user define variable for temporary store the model element from the for each looping getName() one of the method of model element which will return the name of the model element getPropertyAsString() one of the method of model element which is use to get String property, a parameter must given

Table 9‑1 Description of the UseCaseScheduling.vm template

The output after executing UseCaseScheduling.vm.

The UseCaseSchedulingTemplate.jar template and a tutorial of how to create your own template can be downloaded at www.visual-paradigm.com.

Steps to import a VP-UML Template

1. Click Tools -> Template -> Configure from the menu bar.

The Template Manage Dialog appears.

Click on the Import button. The file selection dialog appears, select the template jar file. Once the file is selected, the information about the template will be displayed on the right-hand side of the dialog. Click the Open button to import the selected template.

The imported template will be listed in the Template Manage Dialog. Select the template from the table. The description of the template will be displayed in the description area and the Output Path text field will be enabled. Input the path and filename for the template. To remove the template, select the template and click the Remove button.

Inputting the output path and filename for the template is optional. If the output path and filename have not been inputted, the default path will be used (the directory where the template was executed from).

To view the details of the template, click the Details button.

Click the Close button to close the dialog and to go back to the Template Manage Dialog. Click OK to close the dialog and the plug-in is ready to be executed.

Execute Template

1. To execute the template, click Tools -> Template -> Execute… on the menu bar.

An Execute Template Dialog will appear and all the imported templates will be listed. Select the template and the Output path and filename will be display. Click Execute button to execute.

Apart from executing the imported template, you can also execute a template directly. To execute an external template, click the radio button of the External Template. Input the path of the template then click the Execute button. A prompt should ask for a destination; input a path and the filename and click Save.

Viewing the details information of the template

Viewing the Plug-in Details

1. To view the details of the template, select the template from the list. Right click the template and select Open Details…. The Template Details Dialog appears.

Viewing the Manage Dialog

1. To view the details of the template in the Manage Dialog, click the Manage Dialog… button. The imported template is listed and the description will be displayed in the Description area. Select the template, the description of the template will be show in the Description area. Click the Details button to view the detailed information.

Using the VP-UML Template Packer

To start the VP-UML Template Packer, click the Start button on the Windows menu bar. Select All Programs -> Visual Paradigm -> Tools -> VP-UML Template Packer.

The following table describes the field of the template packer.

Field	Description
Template ID	The ID of the template. The template ID is unique identity for the template. You can set the template ID by yourself or let the application generate an ID for your template. The application will generate an ID if this field is blank before saving the template.
Name	The name of the template. This value can be duplicated in other templates.
Author	The author of this template.
Version	The version of the current template. This field is stored as a string so that you can. As that it can fulfill any style of version representation.
Included Files	The list of included files of this template. The “Add” button is used to add new template file. The “Remove” button is used to remove the selected items.
Template	This field stores the template which would start execute first when the template is execute. The button that is next to the text field is used to search template from the included files and directories. If there is more than one template in the list, a dialog will be popup to select for you to select the template which template must execute first. If there is only one template is found, the template name will place to the field automatically.
Icon	The icon to represent this template. The icon must be in 18x18 pixels The supported image format are .jpg, .png, and *.gif. The selected valid image will be added into the included files automatically. If you have not specifies the icon, the VP-UML will use the default template icon.
Short Description	A short description of the template. This description will be used as tool tip of the template.
Description	You can put a more descriptive explanation of the template in this field.

Table 9‑2 Description of template Packer

After filling in all the fields, select File from the menu bar and choose Pack. A dialog will be display for the output jar file destination and file name.

Select the destination and filename for the jar file and click the Save button.

A dialog showing that the template was packed successfully.

Chapter 9 VP-UML Plug-in and Template