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Difference between revisions of "GEF/GEF4"

< GEF
(Motivation)
(Developer Documentation)
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== Motivation ==
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[[GEF/GEF4 | GEF4]] is the unified effort of the [http://www.eclipse.org/gef Graphical Editing Framework (GEF)] project team to develop a new code base as a replacement for the [https://www.eclipse.org/gef/draw2d/ Draw2d 3.x], [https://www.eclipse.org/gef/gef_mvc/index.php GEF (MVC) 3.x], and [https://www.eclipse.org/gef/zest/index.php Zest 1.x] components, which are only maintained, but not actively developed further. Being developed in parallel, [[GEF/GEF4 | GEF4]] is set up in terms of smaller, more lightweight [[#Developer Documentation| components]], uses JavaFX instead of SWT as rendering technology, and allows to build up graphical applications for Eclipse (using a JavaFX-SWT-integration) as well as standalone.
As agreed on in Bugzilla [https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=347636 347636], GEF 4.0 API will be started in parallel to the current GEF 3.x development branch under the following terms:
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# After the Indigo release has been completed, a GEF experimental branch is
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== Current Status ==
created by forking the GEF 3.7 code-base into a Git repository (possibly
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We are currently working on the [https://projects.eclipse.org/projects/tools.gef/releases/4.0.0-neon 4.0.0 (Neon)] release, which will contain a 1.0.0 release of the [[GEF/GEF4|GEF4]] [[#Developer Documentation|components]]. Please note that the delivered 1.0.0 revisions will not be compatible to the 0.1.0 and 0.2.0 versions provided as part of the preceding [http://projects.eclipse.org/projects/tools.gef/releases/3.10.0-mars GEF 3.10.0 (Mars)] and [https://projects.eclipse.org/projects/tools.gef/releases/3.10.1-mars.1 GEF 3.10.1 (Mars.1)] releases. Please refer to [[GEF/New_and_Noteworthy/4.0| New and Noteworthy in 4.0]] to keep updated about the most important changes.  
located next to Zest 2.0, so that all experimental GEF components can be found
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in one place)
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# The experimental branch created thereby will live parallel to the GEF HEAD
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branch, considering all its API as provisional unless explicitly graduated. It
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will not interfere with GEF HEAD, i.e. it will have its own build process and
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separate wiki pages for documentation of the ongoing work (similar to Zest
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2.0).  
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# Committers working on the experimental branch will be responsible for
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ensuring fixes made to GEF HEAD also get applied to the experimental branch.  
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# Graduation of the experimental branch back into GEF HEAD will have to imply
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that a proper compatibility layer is in place so all GEF 3.x clients run in a
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100% binary compatible method. It will furthermore have to be acknowledged by
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all GEF committers.  
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# Work will start without an incubator project at first, granting commit
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rights on the Git repository to all current GEF committers. The question of
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introducing an incubator project (located under GEF) will be deferred until a)
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community wants to actively get involved or b) Juno has been released (whatever
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comes first).
+
  
As migration of GEF to git has not been completed yet (see Bugzilla [https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=351232 351232] for details), development has been started by creating a new Geometry API, based on the current Draw2d geometry classes (see Bugzilla [https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=355997 355997] for details). Due to the lessons learned in developing an initial GEF 4 Geometry API, and due to the compatibility requirements imposed on a gradation of the new GEF4 API, it was concluded that migrating the existing code base on a module-per-module basis is more appropriate than branching the whole code base. The completion of the GEF4 Geometry API will be the first package that is to be completed with respect to this. Based on the Geometry API, other packages may then be investigated, as outlined in the Roadmap below.
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If you are still interested in information about changes from 0.1.0 to 0.2.0, these can be found in [[GEF/New_and_Noteworthy/3.10.1 | New and Noteworthy in 3.10.1]]. An overview of all significant features added earlier during the Mars release train can in addition be found in [[GEF/New_and_Noteworthy/3.10| New and Noteworthy in 3.10]]. Information on earlier achievements and plans can be inferred from the talks listed under [[#Further Reading|Further Reading]].
  
== Components / Roadmap ==
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== Developer Resources ==
* [[GEF/GEF4/Geometry | GEF4 Geometry]] - Q4 2011
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* Draw2d Core (Graphics, Canvas, Figure, Bounds, etc.)
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As an [https://www.eclipse.org/projects/dev_process/#2_3_Three_Communities adopter], please consult the [[GEF/Adopter Guide |GEF Adopter Guide]] that describes in a step-by-step manner how to setup your environment in order to develop your client code against GEF4. As a [https://www.eclipse.org/projects/dev_process/#2_3_Three_Communities contributor/committer], please consult the [[GEF/Contributor Guide |GEF Contributor Guide]] that describes how to checkout and compile the sources, execute a headless Tycho-build, provide a patch, and more.
 +
 
 +
In either case, all relevant information about where to obtain our source code, where to find our Hudson build jobs, update sites (CI, milestones, releases), mailing lists, or our forum, etc. can all be found in the respective sections of the [https://projects.eclipse.org/projects/tools.gef GEF project dashboard].
 +
 
 +
The developer documentation for each GEF4 component is referenced from within the [[#Developer Documentation | developer documentation]] section on this page. Each component documentation includes references to examples, where applicable.
 +
 
 +
== Developer Documentation ==
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[[GEF/GEF4|GEF4]] is internally constituted of the following nine components (with their respective sub-modules). The reference documentation for each component may be accessed via the component links. You may also consult the [[GEF/GEF4#Further Reading |Further Reading]]-section for additional information.
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[[Image:GEF4-Components.png|800px]]
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''The naming of the components' sub-modules indicate their UI-toolkit and Eclipse UI dependencies. That is, module names containing '.SWT', '.JFace', or '.FX' indicate a respective dependency to SWT, JFace, or JavaFX. Module names containing '.UI' indicate a dependency to the Eclipse UI. Please not that '.FX' is only used to indicate dependencies on the JavaFX UI toolkit and that JavaFX [http://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/javafx/collections-tutorial/collections.htm#JFXCL107 collections] and [http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=javase80&id=JFXBD107 properties] are used throughout (except by [[GEF/GEF4/Geometry | GEF4 Geometry]] and [[GEF/GEF4/Cloudio|GEF4 Cloudio]]).''
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* [[GEF/GEF4/Common | <span style="color:#5B8E92">GEF4 Common (Common)</span>]] - Provides basic abstractions and infrastructure used by (potentially) all other [[GEF/GEF4|GEF4]] components, including an enhanced [http://nyssen.blogspot.de/2014/11/iadaptable-gef4s-interpretation-of.html adaptable pattern] and notification support.
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* [[GEF/GEF4/Geometry | <span style="color:#268558">GEF4 Geometry (Geometry / Geometry.Convert.SWT / Geometry.Convert.FX)</span>]] - Provides different abstractions (Euclidean, Projective, Planar) for 2D geometric calculations, and conversions of planar geometries (curves, shapes, poly shapes) to/from respective SWT, AWT, and JavaFX equivalents (as well as conversions between SWT and AWT geometries).
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: [[File:Idea.png|12px]] Usage of API is demonstrated by undeployed [[GEF/GEF4/Geometry/Examples#Examples (undeployed)|<span style="color:#268558">Geometry Examples</span>]].
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* [[GEF/GEF4/FX | <span style="color:#4C6084">GEF4 FX (FX / FX.SWT / FX.JFace)</span>]] - Provides support for rendering [[GEF/GEF4/Geometry | GEF4 Geometry]]-based shapes, as well as abstractions that are needed in the context of graphical editors and views, i.e. visual anchor implementations and a connection abstraction. Also enhances the JavaFX-SWT-Integration with forwarding of touch gestures and provides proper support for embedding SWT Controls via a generic adapter into a JavaFX scene graph (within the context of the JavaFX SWT integration).
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: [[File:Idea.png|12px]] Usage of API is demonstrated by undeployed [[GEF/GEF4/FX/Examples#Examples (undeployed)|<span style="color:#4C6084">FX Examples</span>]] and [[GEF/GEF4/FX/Examples#Examples.SWT (undeployed)|<span style="color:#4C6084">FX SWT Examples</span>]].
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* [[GEF/GEF4/Graph | <span style="color:#960607">GEF4 Graph (Graph)</span>]] - Provides a simply, UI-independent data-model (Graph, Node, Edge) for representing directed graphs. Is used as data model by [[GEF/GEF4/DOT | GEF4 DOT]] and underlying visualization-model for [[GEF/GEF4/Zest | GEF4 Zest]].
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* [[GEF/GEF4/Layout | <span style="color:#7C866A">GEF4 Layout (Layout)</span>]] - Provides layout algorithm implementations as well as a model facade to adapt layout model data for these algorithms.
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: [[File:Idea.png|12px]] Usage of API is demonstrated by undeployed [[GEF/GEF4/Layout/Examples|<span style="color:#7C866A">Layout Examples</span>]].
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* [[GEF/GEF4/MVC | <span style="color:#05124E">GEF4 MVC (MVC / MVC.UI / MVC.FX / MVC.FX.UI)</span>]] - Provides the core model-view-controller framework to build up graphical editors and views. Provides an UI toolkit independent and a JavaFX specific layer, as well as Eclipse-UI integration for both. Can be used to build standalone and Eclipse-integrated editors and views.
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: [[File:Idea.png|12px]] Usage of API is demonstrated by a bundled [[GEF/GEF4/MVC/Examples#Logo Example (Standalone, Eclipse UI, Web)|<span style="color:#05124E">MVC Logo Example</span>]], which is available as a standalone application, an Eclipse Workbench UI integrated view, as well as a JNLP-based web application.
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* [[GEF/GEF4/Zest | <span style="color:#206FAD">GEF4 Zest (Zest.FX / Zest.FX.JFace / Zest.FX.UI)</span>]] - Provides support for visualization of [[GEF/GEF4/Graph | GEF4 Graph]]-based models, integrating automated layout based on [[GEF/GEF4/Layout | GEF4 Layout]]. Internally built on [[GEF/GEF4/FX|GEF4 FX]] and [[GEF/GEF4/MVC|GEF4 MVC]].
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: [[File:Idea.png|12px]] Usage of API is demonstrated by a bundled [[GEF/GEF4/Zest/Examples#Graph Example (Standalone, Eclipse UI)|<span style="color:#206FAD">Zest Graph Example</span>]], which is available as a standalone application and an Eclipse Workbench UI integrated view, as well as undeployed [[GEF/GEF4/Zest/Examples#Examples (undeployed)|<span style="color:#206FAD">Zest Examples</span>]] and [[GEF/GEF4/Zest/Examples#Examples.JFace (undeployed)|<span style="color:#206FAD">Zest JFace Examples</span>]].
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* [[GEF/GEF4/DOT | <span style="color:#561D8E">GEF4 DOT (DOT / DOT.UI)</span>]] - Provides a basic [http://www.graphviz.org GraphViz] [http://www.graphviz.org/content/dot-language DOT]-Editor (Xtext) as well as a [[GEF/GEF4/Zest | GEF4 Zest]]-based [http://www.graphviz.org/content/dot-language DOT]-visualization.
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: [[File:Idea.png|12px]] Usage of (still internal) API is demonstrated by undeployed [[GEF/GEF4/DOT/Examples#Examples (undeployed)|<span style="color:#561D8E">DOT Examples</span>]].
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* [[GEF/GEF4/Cloudio | <span style="color:#8A3572">GEF4 Cloudio (Coudio.UI)</span>]] - Provides support for visualizing tag clouds. Is based on SWT/JFace, integrated in the Eclipse UI, and will (at least for now) not be ported to JavaFX.
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: [[File:Idea.png|12px]] Usage of (still internal) API is demonstrated by undeployed [[GEF/GEF4/Cloudio/Examples#Examples.UI (undeployed)|<span style="color:#8A3572">Cloudio UI Examples</span>]].
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== User Documentation ==
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The user documentation for the [[GEF/GEF4/DOT| GEF4 DOT]] and [[GEF/GEF4/Cloudio|GEF4 Cloudio]] end-user tools is provided in terms of a [[GEF/GEF4/DOT/User Guide|GEF4 DOT User Guide]] and [[GEF/GEF4/Cloudio/User Guide|GEF4 Cloudio User Guide]].
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== Further Reading ==
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Further information about the history and current plans, as well as on technical details can be inferred from the following presentations/articles/posts:
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* [http://nyssen.blogspot.de/2016/04/gef4-common-collections-and-properties.html Alexander Nyßen (2016): GEF4 Common Collections and Properties - Guava goes FX, ANy's Argument (Blog)]
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* [http://de.slideshare.net/AlexanderNyssen/gef4-sightseeing-mars Alexander Nyßen (2015): GEF4 - Sightseeing Mars, EclipseCon Europe, Ludwigsburg, 2015]
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*[http://nyssen.blogspot.de/2015/06/gef4-mission-to-mars-accomplished.html Alexander Nyßen (2015): GEF4 - Mission to Mars Accomplished!, ANy's Argument (Blog)] 
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*[http://nyssen.blogspot.de/2014/11/iadaptable-gef4s-interpretation-of.html Alexander Nyßen (2014): IAdaptable - GEF4's Interpretation of a Classic, ANy's Argument (Blog)]
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* [http://de.slideshare.net/AlexanderNyssen/gef4-our-mission-to-mars Alexander Nyßen (2014): GEF4 - Our mission to Mars, EclipseCon Europe, Ludwigsburg, 2014]
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* [http://www.slideshare.net/AlexanderNyssen/gef4-there-there-sreallysomethinggoingon Alexander Nyßen (2014): GEF4 - There's really something going on!, EclipseCon NA, San Francisco (CA), 2014]
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* [[media:GEF4.pdf | Alexander Nyßen (2013): GEF4, RheinJug, Düsseldorf, 2013 ]], [https://lecture2go.uni-hamburg.de/veranstaltungen/-/v/15671 Video (German)]
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* [[media:GEF4_SwtFX.pdf | Alexander Nyßen (2013): GEF4 SwtFX (Lightning Talk), EclipseCon Europe, Ludwigsburg, 2013 ]]
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* [http://www.slideshare.net/AlexanderNyssen/gef4-continue-to-share-and-enjoy Alexander Nyßen (2013): GEF4 - (Continue to) Share and Enjoy..., EclipseCon NA, Boston (MA), 2013]
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* [http://www.slideshare.net/AlexanderNyssen/gef4-share-enjoy Alexander Nyßen (2012): GEF4 - Share And Enjoy..., EclipseCon Europe, Ludwigsburg, 2012]
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* [http://www.slideshare.net/AlexanderNyssen/gef-past-present-and-future Alexander Nyßen (2012): GEF - Past, Present, and Future, EclipseCon NA, Reston (VA), 2012]
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[[Category:GEF]]

Revision as of 12:25, 27 May 2016

GEF4 is the unified effort of the Graphical Editing Framework (GEF) project team to develop a new code base as a replacement for the Draw2d 3.x, GEF (MVC) 3.x, and Zest 1.x components, which are only maintained, but not actively developed further. Being developed in parallel, GEF4 is set up in terms of smaller, more lightweight components, uses JavaFX instead of SWT as rendering technology, and allows to build up graphical applications for Eclipse (using a JavaFX-SWT-integration) as well as standalone.

Current Status

We are currently working on the 4.0.0 (Neon) release, which will contain a 1.0.0 release of the GEF4 components. Please note that the delivered 1.0.0 revisions will not be compatible to the 0.1.0 and 0.2.0 versions provided as part of the preceding GEF 3.10.0 (Mars) and GEF 3.10.1 (Mars.1) releases. Please refer to New and Noteworthy in 4.0 to keep updated about the most important changes.

If you are still interested in information about changes from 0.1.0 to 0.2.0, these can be found in New and Noteworthy in 3.10.1. An overview of all significant features added earlier during the Mars release train can in addition be found in New and Noteworthy in 3.10. Information on earlier achievements and plans can be inferred from the talks listed under Further Reading.

Developer Resources

As an adopter, please consult the GEF Adopter Guide that describes in a step-by-step manner how to setup your environment in order to develop your client code against GEF4. As a contributor/committer, please consult the GEF Contributor Guide that describes how to checkout and compile the sources, execute a headless Tycho-build, provide a patch, and more.

In either case, all relevant information about where to obtain our source code, where to find our Hudson build jobs, update sites (CI, milestones, releases), mailing lists, or our forum, etc. can all be found in the respective sections of the GEF project dashboard.

The developer documentation for each GEF4 component is referenced from within the developer documentation section on this page. Each component documentation includes references to examples, where applicable.

Developer Documentation

GEF4 is internally constituted of the following nine components (with their respective sub-modules). The reference documentation for each component may be accessed via the component links. You may also consult the Further Reading-section for additional information.

GEF4-Components.png

The naming of the components' sub-modules indicate their UI-toolkit and Eclipse UI dependencies. That is, module names containing '.SWT', '.JFace', or '.FX' indicate a respective dependency to SWT, JFace, or JavaFX. Module names containing '.UI' indicate a dependency to the Eclipse UI. Please not that '.FX' is only used to indicate dependencies on the JavaFX UI toolkit and that JavaFX collections and properties are used throughout (except by GEF4 Geometry and GEF4 Cloudio).

Idea.png Usage of API is demonstrated by undeployed Geometry Examples.
  • GEF4 FX (FX / FX.SWT / FX.JFace) - Provides support for rendering GEF4 Geometry-based shapes, as well as abstractions that are needed in the context of graphical editors and views, i.e. visual anchor implementations and a connection abstraction. Also enhances the JavaFX-SWT-Integration with forwarding of touch gestures and provides proper support for embedding SWT Controls via a generic adapter into a JavaFX scene graph (within the context of the JavaFX SWT integration).
Idea.png Usage of API is demonstrated by undeployed FX Examples and FX SWT Examples.
  • GEF4 Graph (Graph) - Provides a simply, UI-independent data-model (Graph, Node, Edge) for representing directed graphs. Is used as data model by GEF4 DOT and underlying visualization-model for GEF4 Zest.
  • GEF4 Layout (Layout) - Provides layout algorithm implementations as well as a model facade to adapt layout model data for these algorithms.
Idea.png Usage of API is demonstrated by undeployed Layout Examples.
  • GEF4 MVC (MVC / MVC.UI / MVC.FX / MVC.FX.UI) - Provides the core model-view-controller framework to build up graphical editors and views. Provides an UI toolkit independent and a JavaFX specific layer, as well as Eclipse-UI integration for both. Can be used to build standalone and Eclipse-integrated editors and views.
Idea.png Usage of API is demonstrated by a bundled MVC Logo Example, which is available as a standalone application, an Eclipse Workbench UI integrated view, as well as a JNLP-based web application.
Idea.png Usage of API is demonstrated by a bundled Zest Graph Example, which is available as a standalone application and an Eclipse Workbench UI integrated view, as well as undeployed Zest Examples and Zest JFace Examples.
Idea.png Usage of (still internal) API is demonstrated by undeployed DOT Examples.
  • GEF4 Cloudio (Coudio.UI) - Provides support for visualizing tag clouds. Is based on SWT/JFace, integrated in the Eclipse UI, and will (at least for now) not be ported to JavaFX.
Idea.png Usage of (still internal) API is demonstrated by undeployed Cloudio UI Examples.

User Documentation

The user documentation for the GEF4 DOT and GEF4 Cloudio end-user tools is provided in terms of a GEF4 DOT User Guide and GEF4 Cloudio User Guide.

Further Reading

Further information about the history and current plans, as well as on technical details can be inferred from the following presentations/articles/posts:

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