Domain-Specific Language Designer Terminology Overview

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In Domain-Specific Language Tools, you use the Domain-Specific Language Designer to define domain-specific languages. The Domain-Specific Language Designer opens when you create a domain-specific language solution. From the Toolbox, you can drag elements onto the designer to customize your domain-specific language and set properties for the elements in it. After you customize your domain-specific language, you can run the Transform All Templates tool in Solution Explorer and then build your domain-specific language. This language will run in the Visual Studio experimental build as a generated designer from which you can create diagrams, debug, run text templates, and finally deploy your domain-specific language. The following illustrations introduce the some of the terminology that is associated with the Domain-Specific Language Designer.

Domain-Specific Language Designer Windows
dsl designerDiagram in the Domain-Specific Language Designer
dsl designer with swimlane

The following table explains additional terminology that is associated with the Domain-Specific Language Designer.

Term

Definition

Domain Class

Domain Relationship

You use domain relationships to establish relationships among domain classes in a domain-specific language definition. You can create an embedding relationship or a reference relationship by dragging the embedding or reference relationship item from the Toolbox in the Domain-Specific Language Designer. A solid line indicates an embedding relationship, and a dashed line indicates a reference relationship. For more information, see:

Swimlane

You can add swimlanes to a domain-specific language definition from the Toolbox by using the Swimlane item. Swimlanes create horizontal or vertical lines on the generated designer. These lines designate defined areas in a diagram, and they can contain other shapes. For more information, see:

Shapes

Shapes reflect how domain classes appear in a generated designer. For example, you can map a geometry shape to a domain class and then define the shape to be round and blue. You can define and map the following shapes against domain classes:

  • geometry shape

  • compartment shape

  • image shape

  • port shape

You can also define and map a connector shape to a domain relationship.

For more information, see Defining Diagram Elements.

DSL Explorer

You can use DSL Explorer to set properties of all elements, but you must use it to manage elements that are not directly shown on the diagram. Such elements include:

DSL Details window

  • You can use the DSL Details window to define specific settings in a domain-specific language definition. These settings include:

  • link connect directives

  • element merge directives

  • deletion behavior

  • mapping details

  • By default, the DSL Details window appears next to the Error List and Output windows. For more information, see Working with the Domain-Specific Language Details Window.

See Also

Concepts

Overview of Domain-Specific Language Tools

Domain-Specific Language Tools Glossary

Creating Domain-Specific Language Solutions

Working with the Domain-Specific Language Designer