Reusing dependency, variable and catalog configuration with extension (.ste) files
A project that you want to import into Software AG Designer might have dependencies on any of the following:
Environment variables
String substitutions
Before you can build your project, you would need to add each dependency to Software AG Designer. An alternative to adding each dependency is to define the dependencies in a file, and place the file in the software_ag_install_dir\Designer\extensions folder. When Software AG Designer starts, it collects any files in its extensions folder and uses them to set up the Software AG Designer environment. When you then import your project, its dependencies are already in place.
Format of extensions file
A file in the extensions folder must have the .ste (Studio Tuning Extension) extension and the data it contains must be in the following format:
Define each item to be added to
Software AG Designer on its own line.
The first value in each line must be the type of the item you want to add. The type must be one of the following:
STRING_SUBSTITUTION VARIABLE BUNDLE_CATALOG In each line, insert a semicolon between values.
Insert
# at the beginning of a line to make it a comment.
The values you specify vary according to the specified type. Path specifications must be fully qualified; they cannot be relative. In a path specification, you can use a variable, which can be defined directly in
Software AG Designer or in any
.ste file. You can specify the items in any order.
For string substitutions, the substitution value cannot be edited or removed in
Software AG Designer. For details, See
Java development user guide >
Reference >
Preferences >
Run/Debug >
String Substitutions in the Eclipse help provided with
Software AG Designer. If you specify any character other than R, the substitution value can be edited and removed from
Software AG Designer. The format is as follows:
STRING_SUBSTITUTION ; variable_name ; path ; description ; Char (R)
For example:
STRING_SUBSTITUTION ; HOME ; C:\MyApp ; Install dir for my app; R
For variables, the variable's value cannot be edited and the variable cannot be removed in
Software AG Designer. If you specify any character other than R, the variable's value can be edited and removed from
Software AG Designer. The format is as follows:
VARIABLE ; variable_name ; path ; Char (R)
For example:
VARIABLE ; HOME ; C:\MyApp; R
For
BUNDLE_CATALOG, the path to the
bundle_catalog cannot be edited and cannot be removed in
Software AG Designer. Define this
BUNDLE_CATALOG variable in the
.ste file when adding the bundle catalogs to
Software AG Designer, and define the catalog as an extension of this
BUNDLE_CATALOG variable. The format is as follows:
BUNDLE_CATALOG ; path to the bundle_catalog folder
For example:
BUNDLE_CATALOG ; C:\MyBundles
Suppose you have a .ste file in place and you start Software AG Designer. If you subsequently modify the content of that .ste file, you must restart Software AG Designer for the changes to take effect.
Use the
.properties file to define these external variables while using the
engine_deploy utility. For more information about using the properties file, see
Deploying a correlator.
Results of using an extensions file
After you define an extensions file, place it in the software_ag_install_dir\Designer\extensions folder and then start Software AG Designer.
You should see the items you defined in the extensions file in the appropriate Software AG Designer dialogs.
If you import a project that uses any of the items specified in the extensions file then the imported project will be valid with regard to any of these dependencies.