Setting up the environment before importing projects
A project that you want to import into Software AG Designer might have dependencies on any of the following:
Environment variables
Catalogs of blocks, bundles or functions
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 will already be 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:
BLOCK_CATALOGBUNDLE_CATALOG FUNCTION_CATALOG STRING_SUBSTITUTION VARIABLE 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 block, bundle, or function catalogs, the format is the type followed by a path. For example:
BLOCK_CATALOG ; C:\Program Files\MyCompany\MyApp\MyBlockCatalog
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. The format is as follows:
STRING_SUBSTITUTION ; variable_name ; path ; description
For example:
STRING_SUBSTITUTION ; HOME ; C:\MyApp ; Install dir for my app
For variables, the variable's value cannot be edited and the variable cannot be removed in Software AG Designer. The format is as follows:
VARIABLE ; variable_name ; path
For example:
VARIABLE ; HOME ; C:\MyApp
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.
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. For example, select Window > Preferences and then expand Software AG > Apama and click Catalogs. Any catalogs you specified in the extensions file should appear in the appropriate tab. However, you cannot edit or remove any catalogs that were added to Software AG Designer by means of an extensions file.
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.