ecore2yed

ECore 2 YEd is a Python script to export EMF metamodels as a YEd graph (i.e. a graphml graph with additional formatting information).

The purpose of the script is to take advantage of YEd's advanced features (layouts, formatting, high-res export) in order to produce high-quality images of the metamodel for use in publications and/or slides. The scripts populates classes, attributes and references. Formatting is kept to a minimum so the user can adjust it to her/his needs.

External reference resolution is not fully supported. The script assumes that external references provide the metamodel location and that the location is accessible from where the script is run.

Installation

You need to install the lxml package in your machine (Windows users might want to use Conda to make this step easier).

The project contains a Pipfile if you want to use pipenv in order to setup a virtual environment for the project.

Use

Running the script:

$ python3 ecore2yed.py -h

usage: ecore2yed.py [-h] [-e] [-a] [-o OUTPUT] [--catalog CATALOG] [-v] input         

Transform an Ecore metamodel to yed (graphml). For EReferences across
metamodels, it assumes that thereferenced metamodel is accessible.                    
positional arguments:
input              the input ecore file (*.ecore)

optional arguments:                
  -h, --help         show this help message and exit
  -e                 create nodes for external references.
  -a                 Hide multiplicities on attributes.
  -o OUTPUT          the output yed file (*.graphml). If missing, same                
                     location as input                                                
  --catalog CATALOG  Specifies catalog files to resolve external metamodel            
                     references. Supports the configuration file format and           
                     expects a "Schema Location" section where keys are URIs          
                     andvalues are file locations (locations can be absolute          
                     or relative to the input metamodelpath).
  -v, --verbose      enables output messages (infos, warnings)                        

Schema Location Catalog

When you model references types from other metamodels the script will try to resolve the type references. When the types come from a metamodel referenced by URI you need to provide a schema location catalog. The schema location catalog is a configuration file with the following format:

[Schema Location]
uri=path

where uri is the metamodel uri (e.g. http://www.eclipse.org/emf/2002/Ecore) and pathis the location of the metamodel file. The path can be relative to the base metamodel or absoulte.