3. I Like Diagrams
Are very suggestive
Simplify communication
Highlight relations between elements
Are made for humans!
4. Diagram Tools
Human-centric requirements
Good visuals
Usability
Customizable behavior
Limited amount of information
Multiple diagrams for single model (projection)
Integration with non-graphical tooling
7. Editor Sync
Projection means
Changes have to be merged with other editors
Frameworks won’t help!
Solutions introduce further usability issues
IDE surprises
Loss of changes
12. Graphical Model Views
K.I.S.S.
Uni-directional mapping from model to diagram
Read-only model access
Makes multiple views on the same model easy
Leave model modification and details to Xtext
Simplicity allows to focus on
Visuals
Usability
Custom behavior
16. Zest
Views based on GEF
JFace abstractions for diagrams
IContentProvider
ILabelProvider
Hooks to configure figures, nesting and filters
New layouts
Enhanced Usability (?)
23. GEF
GEF is the base of all graphical Eclipse frameworks
Lowest level of abstraction
-> maximum freedom
Allows to enhance usability to a certain degree…
…but is seriously limited in rendering
25. JavaFX
Next generation graphics framework
Overcomes limitations of GEF/SWT
Not primarily a diagram framework
Intuitive API
Combine with Xtend for max productivity
29. Conclusion
Please, start to focus on humans/users again!
Visuals and ease of use are essential
Build your own behavior
Graphical views
Are simple to implement
Avoid usability issues of graphical editors
Head for
A state-of-the art rendering framework
A diagram library to get you started quickly
A powerful language to build your own additions