> Demonstrations

 : Tuesday

Green: A customizable UML class diagram plug-in for Eclipse

Demonstration number: 4

We demonstrate a simple UML class diagram plug-in for Eclipse called Green. While this tool was developed primarily with students and instructors in mind, its extensible architecture makes it potentially useful to others as well. Green works by directly modifying the Java Development Tool's (JDT) Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) for a type, making class relationships (which are implicit in the AST) explicit in a separate model layer. Changes to the class diagram are reflected in the code directly, since the underlying AST is modified by Green (i.e. Green supports code generation). Changes to Java code files result in changes to the class diagram, since Green is a listener for changes to the underlying AST (i.e. Green supports reverse engineering of diagrams). Green is also a flexible tool: each binary class relationship is implemented as a separate plug-in to the basic Green tool framework. The set of relationships supported by Green is therefore easily tailored to meet the needs of the user. More importantly, the semantics of the relationships can be defined to suit the user as well. The tool can therefore grow with a student/developer as their needs change. The demonstration will show Green's code generation, reverse engineering and diagram drawing capabilities. If time permits, its customizability will also be demonstrated.