TCS/Language Project

A TCS Language Project is an Eclipse project (typically with the ATL nature), which contains:

• A KM3 metamodel defining the abstract syntax of the language.
• A TCS model defining the concrete syntax of the language.
• Optionally, such a project may also contain:
  • Constraints (e.g., in OCL, as part of an ATL transformation).
  • A compiler (e.g., in ATL, or in ACG).

Creating a Language Project

This section details the steps required to create a language project. Whenever the name of the language appears, we use MyLanguage.

Creating the Directory Structure

• Create an ATL project:
  • Open: File->New->ATL Project
  • Name the project like your language (e.g., MyLanguage)
• Create the following folders and files in your project:
  • MyLanguage/ (this is the project we just created)
    • Metamodel/
      • MyLanguage.km3 (you can copy and paste SampleLanguage.km3 and rename it)
    • Samples/
      • <sample programs written in your language, with the corresponding file extension>
    • Syntax/
      • MyLanguage.tcs (you can copy and paste SampleLanguage.tcs and rename it)
  • build.properties (you can copy and paste /SampleLanguage/build.properties and modify it)

Adding the Language Builder

Building a language involves:

• Compiling its KM3 metamodel to Ecore.
• Compiling its TCS model into a parser.
• Optionally compiling its ACG compiler.

Here are the steps to follow to add the Language Builder to the project:

• Creating the builder:
  • Right-click on your language project (e.g., MyLanguage) and select "Properties".
  • Go to the "Builders" section.
  • Click "New..."
  • Select "Ant Build"
  • Click "OK"
• Configuring the builder:
  • Set the name of the builder to "MyLanguage Language Builder"
  • In the "Main" tab:
    • Set "Buildfile" to "${workspace_loc:/AMMAScripts/build.dsl.xml}"
    • Set "Base Directory" to "${workspace_loc:/MyLanguage}"
  • In the "Targets" tab:
    • Set "During a Clean" to target "clean"
  • In the "Classpath" tab:
    • Add all the jars from the "/AMMAScripts/libs/" folder

• • In the "JRE" tab:
    • Check "Run in the same JRE as the workspace"
  • Click "OK"
• Set the language builder before any other builder