TextUML Toolkit 1.6 RC1 is now available

26th July, 2010 - Posted by rafael.chaves - 4 Comments

TextUML Toolkit 1.6 RC1 is now available! You can install it using the Marketplace Client or by pointing Eclipse to the update site:

http://abstratt.com/update

If you find any problems installing this build, please let us know asap so it can be addressed before the final release.

New features

Much of the work in this release went into improving the model building infrastructure to be even more notation agnostic. That work is still ongoing and should be completed in 1.7. But there were plenty of user-facing feature additions as well:

  • preconditions on operations (2986923 and 3002571)
  • support for a default notation (so file extensions can be optional) (2995372)
  • support for implicitly applying profiles/stereotypes (so models are less verbose) (2981580)
  • support for derived properties (2928428)
  • support for initial values in properties (2115439)
  • advanced features (closures, constraints) are now implemented using profiles instead of metamodel extensions (2933692)

In other news

The reason it took so long for a new TextUML Toolkit release to come about was that I have been busy working on AlphaSimple, which went on public beta today. AlphaSimple is an online tool for domain-driven prototyping that currently uses TextUML as modeling notation. Thus, AlphaSimple is also the driving force behind most of the changes that happened in the 1.6 cycle, and you can try them right away by starting a guest session and studying the example projects.

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AlphaSimple public beta starting today!

26th July, 2010 - Posted by AlphaSimple Team - 1 Comment

It’s official. AlphaSimple is now available in open beta for anyone who wants to try. Take a look and let us know what you think. This initial release brings a simple yet effective web-based environment for domain-driven prototyping.

Don’t know what AlphaSimple is?

AlphaSimple is an environment for rapid prototyping. You compose your domain model using an in-browser editor. The model is automatically validated every time you save. Play with your prototype right away. Rinse. Repeat.

AlphaSimple is an online tool for collaborative creation. Once you are happy with your prototype, publish it and send the URI to clients, team members, anyone you would like to see it no matter where they are.

AlphaSimple is a place for sharing. Feeling proud of your work? Share your projects for others in the community to learn from you. It’s just a button away.

AlphaSimple is a place for learning. Don’t know where to start? Browse the catalog of public projects, play with a prototype, and clone it to make it your own. No easier way to learn. If you still need help, the AlphaSimple community forum is there for you (and there is some documentation too).

What are you waiting for?

Take AlphaSimple for a spin. If you are unsure about signing up, try it as a guest. Except for sharing/publishing projects, guest sessions are full-featured.

UPDATE on browser compatibility: the browsers we have been testing on are Chrome and Firefox. Syntax highlighting is broken on Safari, so it has been turned off by default (you can turn it back on). AlphaSimple does not work on Internet Explorer at this time. Flash is required for running prototypes.

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