Dynamic Browsing and Instantiation Capabilites in EMF

Introduction

EMF provides a reflective editor, which can view and edit any EMF model file, using only the model meta-data. It provides similar function to the default generated editor, but it can't be easily customized.

In this short write up I have tried to pen down the steps involved for using this reflective editor which is quiet a hidden feature in EMF.

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Using the Reflective Editor – an Example

Step 1. Create an Empty EMF Project.
Step 2. Create an Ecore using the Example EMF Model Creation Wizards > Ecore Model
The Ecore editor would open with the package as null. Double Click on the package:null to update the Name and NsURI Property. NsURI should be assigned the resource path where the ecore is found. For e.g. /resource/<Plugin Name>/<Folder Name>/<Ecore Name>.ecore Step 3. Update the Ecore to represent your model.

For e.g.
My ecore looks like