Installing Ecore Tools Graphical Visual Editor for EMF Models

The default tree-style Ecore model editor provided by Eclipse IDE is boring. At least during Helios release, there is another, sexier option which is Ecore Tools (Incubation project).

I think it's bundled with the "Eclipse IDE Modeling Edition" download but in any case, you can always install it into your Eclipse IDE or an Eclipse RCP Application by using the Eclipse Update Manager:

1. Go to Help > Install New Software...
2. Choose Work With > Helios - http://download.eclipse.org/releases/helios
3. Search for: Ecore Tools SDK (Incubation)

After installing Ecore Tools and restarting Eclipse, here's how to use it:

1. Right click an .ecore file in Project Explorer view, and and choose Initialize Ecore Diagram File... from the context menu.
2. Open the .ecorediag file

Wow! Now I get a full-featured diagram editor for my EMF/Ecore models (i.e. Java Classes).

Then you can process your models, for example generate Java class implementations/interfaces, and do other powerful things using EMF tooling.

See and download the full gallery on posterous