BLU AGE 2009 Edition - 'Build' Module
The Build module is an integrated modeling environment built-on Eclipse for UML models elaboration. It offers business application's source code transformation and generation features. This module is designed for consultants and developers who use it on their workstations, set around a UML source repository, if any.
The generation on this environment is made through the configuration treatment workflow configured with the environment's variables and the used libraries.
The source code is automatically generated in an Eclipse project form, allowing the applications' execution in the same environment in order to validate their compliance to modelled functional specifications described by UML diagrams.
Optional 'SOA for BLU AGE® Build' plug-in allows to design, deploy and manage business processes (expressed using BPEL) within a SOA architecture.
Built-On Eclipse and Ready For IBM Rational software!
From a technical point of view, the Build module is based on standard Eclipse Plug-ins such as Java Development Tools (JDT), Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) or more the Model To Text (M2T) with Java Emitter Template (JET) code generation templates, to which the BLU AGE® plug-ins are added to run the model to model transformation using the ATL language (Atlas Transformation Language) and the JET templates for the model to code transformations.
Generation' Steps and Inputs
In this module, the generation process begins with project creation using available wizards, and then the UML modeling integration exported from the modeling tool under EMF format. The BLU AGE® UML models editor allows viewing the various used packages with a tree-view structure .
In order to generate web applications, the static user interface mock-ups are integrated in the generation process. A graphic editor - G-Marker™ - is available in the Build module allowing the automation of the static screens parameters with BLU AGE tags in order to identify dynamic components, such as links, data tables, forms, as well as graphic components integration for AJAX or FLEX frameworks for instance.
With this graphic editor plug-in, you can view the parameterized interfaces and validate the compliance with the XHTML W3C norms. This static mock-up will be transformed first into UML diagrams then into JSP, JSF or ASPX... dynamic web pages according to the same code generation process.
The generation workflow execution allows generating the applications' source code from UML models and HTML screen mock-ups for J2EE technical environment; according to JSF presentation framework and Hibernate for persistence (other Frameworks and target architectures are available when using 'Deliver' Module), as well as the automatic deployment and execution on the application server of the generated application.
Debug your models, not generated application's source code !
The Build module thus offers an environment of business specifications test and functional validation with an integrated UML models debugger.
This debug function allows for instance, automatically positioning, with the BLU AGE® graphic editor, break-points on the UML model used to generate the application. These break-points can be positioned on services, operations or actions... and their function is to suspend the application execution in specific model parts.
This will allow you viewing the application's entities and business objects values during the model's execution or validate, for instance, the execution of business rules.
The local variables value viewing is made through an introspection view.
Moreover, the UML models graphic editor allows viewing the execution, step by step, of the various UML diagrams components such as activity diagrams or class diagrams.
Other useful features for the UML models debugging are also implemented such as step into, step over, step return running, the immediate change of local variables value, or more conditional break-points.
This plug-in reuses thus all the classic debugging functionalities of an Integrated Development Environment and illustrate very concretely the UML models executability notion.
So, the Build module allows you creating and adjusting a UML model that is compliant to functional needs and target environment independent, also called annotated PIM according to MDA standard.
