System and method for developing and deploying a model-driven editor

• US 20070089089A1
• Filed: 10/14/2005
• Published: 04/19/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kelly, Kevin, Wells, Keith, Kratky, Jan, Speicher, Steven
• Granted Patent: US 8,266,579 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/110
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/20 Software design

Abstract

A system and method for developing software using dynamic dual-mode model and data entry is presented. During development, a model developer uses a model window and an editor window to create a model-driven editor. The model window displays model data, and the editor window displays instances of the model data, which results in the model-driven editor. When the developer is ready to deploy the model-driven editor, the model developer simply inhibits the model window. Therefore, the models are not compiled during deployment and, in turn, the model developer does not need to test compiled code. Since the model-driven editor relies upon self-contained models, the models may be updated, added, or removed locally or remotely on an individual basis. In one embodiment, the end user is able to re-enable the model window in order to view model data.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

displaying a model and corresponding instance data during a model-driven editor development on a display, the model-driven editor resulting from the instance data;

receiving a developer configuration request from a developer to deploy the model-driven editor;

disabling viewing the model in response to the developer configuration request; and

deploying the model-driven editor after the disabling, the deployed model-driven editor including the model.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the model is displayed in a model window and the instance data is displayed on an editor window, and the disabling results in disabling the model window.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

receiving, prior to the deploying, model changes from the developer using the model window; and

updating, without restarting, the editor window with updated instance data based upon the model changes.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an end user configuration request from an end user;

determining whether the end user is authorized to view the model in response to receiving the end user configuration request; and

displaying the model to the end user based upon the determination.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, after the deployment, an updated model;

replacing the model with the updated model; and

displaying updated instance data corresponding to the updated model instead of the instance data in response to the replacing.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the deploying does not require code compilation.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

wherein the model-driven editor is adapted to support mixed-content documents; and

wherein the method is performed on an Eclipse Modeling Framework.

8. A computer program product stored on a computer operable media, the computer operable media containing instructions for execution by a computer, which, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to implement a method for developing and deploying a model-driven editor, the method comprising:

displaying a model and corresponding instance data during a model-driven editor development, the model-driven editor resulting from the instance data;

receiving a developer configuration request from a developer to deploy the model-driven editor;

disabling viewing the model in response to the developer configuration request; and

deploying the model-driven editor after the disabling, the deployed model-driven editor including the model.

9. The computer program product of claim 8 wherein the model is displayed in a model window and the instance data is displayed on an editor window, and the disabling results in disabling the model window.

10. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, prior to the deploying, model changes from the developer using the model window; and

updating, without restarting, the editor window with updated instance data based upon the model changes.

11. The computer program product of claim 8 wherein the method further comprises:

receiving an end user configuration request from an end user;

determining whether the end user is authorized to view the model in response to receiving the end user configuration request; and

displaying the model to the end user based upon the determination.

12. The computer program product of claim 8 wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, after the deployment, an updated model;

replacing the model with the updated model; and

displaying updated instance data corresponding to the updated model instead of the instance data in response to the replacing.

13. The computer program product of claim 8 wherein the deploying does not require code compilation.

14. The computer program product of claim 8 further comprising:

wherein the model-driven editor is adapted to support mixed-content documents; and

wherein the method is performed on an Eclipse Modeling Framework.

15. An information handling system comprising:

one or more displays;

one or more processors;

a memory accessible by the processors;

one or more nonvolatile storage devices accessible by the processors; and

a editor generation tool for developing and deploying a model-driven editor, the editor generation tool being effective to;

display a model and corresponding instance data during a model-driven editor development on one or more of the displays, the model-driven editor resulting from the instance data;

receive a developer configuration request from a developer to deploy the model-driven editor;

disable viewing the model on one of the displays in response to the developer configuration request; and

deploy the model-driven editor to an end user after the disabling, the deployed model-driven editor including the model.

16. The information handling system of claim 15 wherein the model is displayed in a model window on one of the displays and the instance data is displayed in an editor window on one of the displays, and the disabling results in disabling the model window.

17. The information handling system of claim 16 wherein the editor generation tool is further effective to:

receive, prior to the deploying, model changes from the developer using the model window; and

update, without restarting, the editor window with updated instance data based upon the model changes.

18. The information handling system of claim 15 wherein the editor generation tool is further effective to:

receive an end user configuration request from an end user;

determine whether the end user is authorized to view the model in response to receiving the end user configuration request; and

display the model on one of the displays to the end user based upon the determination.

19. The information handling system of claim 15 wherein the editor generation tool is further effective to:

receive, after the deployment, an updated model over a computer network;

replace the model located in one of the nonvolatile storage devices with the updated model; and

display updated instance data corresponding to the updated model on one of the displays instead of the instance data in response to the replacing.

20. The information handling system of claim 15 wherein the deploying does not require code compilation.