Creating transformation projects

To create a transformation, you must create an Eclipse plug-in that contains an instance of the transformation provider extension point and a transformation provider.

To create a transformation project:

Create an Eclipse plug-in:
1. Click File > New > Other.
2. On the Select a wizard page, in the Wizards pane, expand Transformation Authoring, and click Generic Transformation Project.
3. Click Next.
4. In the New Plug-in Project wizard, on the Plug-in Project page, in the Project name field, specify a project name. If you specify a name that contains spaces, in the remaining pages of the wizard, the spaces are converted to underscores in the plug-in identifier (ID) and plug-in name. Accept the default values for the other fields on this page and click Next.
On the Plug-in Content page, specify the structure of the project and click Next. The information that you specify on this page is used to customize the plug-in manifest file and the top-level Java™ class in the plug-in.
On the Templates page, if it is not selected already, select the Create a plug-in using one of the templates check box.
In the Available Templates pane, click Plug-in with Transformation and click Next.
On the New Transformation Provider page, create a transformation provider:
1. In the Package field, accept the default value, or specify the name of the package that contains the implementation of the abstract transformation provider class.
2. In the Class field, accept the default value, or specify the name of the class that implements the abstract transformation provider class.
Note: For more information about the other fields on this page and the remaining pages in the wizard, see the context-sensitive help by pressing F1 when that page is displayed in the product. If you are using the Linux^® platform, for more information about the other fields on this page and the remaining pages in the wizard, see the context-sensitive help by pressing Shift+F1 when that page is displayed in the product.
Click Next.
On the New Transformation page, complete the following steps:
- To create a Transformation element and to register this transformation with the transformation service, accept the default values or specify values for the following fields:
  - ID
  - Name
  - Class
  - Source model type. To change the model type, click the ellipsis button (...).
  - Target model type. To change the model type, click the ellipsis button (...).
  - Group path
  - Version
- To define the transformation properties that refine the transformation output, beside the Properties table, click Insert and specify values for the fields in the table. The next time that you create a transformation configuration for this transformation, the properties that you define are displayed on the Properties page the New Transformation configuration wizard or in the transformation configuration editor.
  Note: To specify transformation properties at a later time, you must edit the plug-in manifest file.
- To delete a transformation property, click a row in the Properties table and click Delete.
- To create transformation rules, verify that the Use default UML2 transformation framework check box is selected. If you clear this check box, the New Rule Definition page is not available in the wizard.
  Note: To add a rule to the transformation at a later time, you must manually create a Java class that extends the com.ibm.xtools.transform.core.AbstractRule class, customize the code in the class, and add an instance of the rule to the Java file that contains the transformation implementation.
Click Next.
Optional: On the New Rule Definitions page, specify the rules of the transformation:
- To add a rule to the transformation, click Insert and specify values for the fields in the table.
- To delete a rule, click a rule in the table and click Delete.
Click Finish.

An Eclipse plug-in project that contains the following artifacts is created in the workspace:

A src/n/transformationProvider folder, where n is the project name, that contains a Java implementation for a transformation provider and a transformation
A src/n/m.rules folder, where m is the name of the transformation, that contains an implementation for each transformation rule or extractor that you define
A plug-in manifest file that defines the plug-in dependencies and defines the following elements:
- A com.ibm.xtools.transform.core.transformationProviders extension point
- A TransformationProvider and Transformation element
- A Property element for each property that you define

The transformation that you specify in this plug-in is registered automatically with the transformation service.