Overview

ModuleStudio is a RCP application and provides a DSL describing extensions for the next generation of the popular PHP-based PostNuke Application Framework. Following principles of the architecture-centric MDSD common technical artefacts are being encapsulated by a general, MVC-like terminology.

A domain model consists of four technical subdomains which are persistence, processing, presentation as well as behavior. All meta models are created with MagicDraw and processed by the oAW uml2ecore cartridge which creates an ecore file for each package.

Working on the generator is still wonderful, since XPand and XTend offer very powerful functionality. openArchitectureWare is further used for aspectual customization of the different GMF editors before generation time. The GMF adapter brings validation with check files into the game. If no more errors exist, the user can start an oAW workflow from the menu.

Outlook

While the author worked out the project concept in his diploma thesis, the current implementation is not that far yet. The preview version on the project's homepage is mainly a proof of concept, but already quite impressive. It has some bugs and shows only the tip of the iceberg though. There will be four different editions whereby the first one will be kept free for the community.

As there are many functional dependencies in the architectural development, the next version will take some time until some tasks have been completed which are needed to keep those different editions maintainable. In the long term further generator cartridges are possible in order to support other frameworks and target platforms.

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