Getting Started with Obeo Designer for End-Users

Obeo Designer allows you to execute graphical designers dedicated to domain specific languages (DSL) or standard metamodels (UML, SysML, Togaf, BPMN, etc). The graphical designers created with Obeo Designer provide diagrams, tables, matrix or trees to create and edit models according to your own vocabulary, notation, process and technical target.

With Obeo Designer, models are stored in a Modeling Project and composed of at least two files:

• the data: contains the non-graphical definition of the model elements, it is an EMF model;
• the representations: contains the graphical representations of the model elements, it is an .aird file.

To create your first model with Obeo Designer, follow these steps:

1. Select the Modeling Perspective. It provides you with specific Obeo Designer menus and shortcuts.
   
   


2. Create a Modeling Project.
   
   This project is initialized with a representations.aird file which will contain all the information about the representations you create (for example diagrams).
   
   


3. Create an EMF model. Select the Modeling Project, right-click and choose New > Other....
   In the wizard which opens, find the Example EMF Model Creation Wizard category and select the domain corresponding to your graphical designer.
   
   Select the type of the root element. It corresponds to the object which will hold all the other model elements. The model is created and initialized with this root element. Note that some designers provide their own menu to facilitate the creation of new models.
   


4. Select a Viewpoint to activate the possibility to create representations
   Right-click on the Modeling Project and select the menu Viewpoint Selection. The proposed viewpoints are those defined by the designer, they are specific to each designer.
   
   Note that if no viewpoint is proposed, it means that your Modeling Project does not contain any model corresponding to the installed designers (a designer can be associated to a specific file extension).
   


5. Create a Representation for the root element. Expand the model in the Model Explorer view, right-click on the root element, click on the menu New representation and select one of the available representations which can be created on the root element.
   
   Once the representation has been created you can use the provided tools to create new model elements and new representations.
   
   Note that the available tools are specific to each representation and each designer.