Choosing a Domain-Specific Language Solution Template

When you create a domain-specific language solution, you choose one of several solution templates that are available in the Domain-Specific Language Designer Wizard. You should use the solution templates as starting points for your own language definition. Your new solution is based on the solution template that you chose. You can use the new solution as it is, but you will probably modify the language to meet your needs. To minimize the modifications that you have to make to the starting solution, you should choose the solution template that most closely resembles the language that you are trying to create.

The following solution templates are available in the Domain-Specific Language Designer Wizard:

Template	Features	Description
Task Flow Diagrams	Image and geometry shapes Swimlanes	Use this solution template if your domain-specific language deals in workflow, states, or sequences. This solution template creates a domain-specific language that resembles the activity diagrams of UML. The main components are activities and transitions between them. The solution template includes several classes of ancillary elements such as objects, start state, final state, and a synchronization bar.
Class Diagrams	Compartment shapes Class inheritance Relationship inheritance Shape inheritance Relationship properties	Use this solution template if your domain-specific language deals in objects or entities and relationships with lists of properties. This solution template creates a domain-specific language that resembles the class diagrams of UML. The main components are classes, interfaces, several types of associations, and the generalization and implementation relations. A class or interface appears as a box that contains a list of attributes.
Minimal Language	One class and shape One relationship and connector	Use this solution template if your domain-specific language is very different from any of the other solution templates. This solution template creates a domain-specific language with one class and one relationship, which are represented in the Toolbox as Box and Line. The class and the relationship each have an example string property.
Component Diagrams	Ports	Use this solution template if your domain-specific language must include ports. A port is a small shape that is attached to a side of a bigger shape that is used to define a relationship in the model. The relationship is between the objects that correspond to the ports and the objects that correspond to the main objects.

See Also

Concepts

Creating Domain-Specific Language Solutions

Overview of Domain-Specific Language Tools

How to: Create Domain-Specific Language Solutions