Acceleo Operations Reference

Authors: Laurent Goubet
Laurent Delaigue
Contact: laurent.goubet@obeo.fr, laurent.delaigue@obeo.fr

Copyright © 2009, 2010 Obeo™.

Contents

Acceleo standard operations reference

Standard String Operations

first (Integer n) : String

Returns the first n characters of self, or self if its size is less than n.

examples:

Expression Result
'first operation'.first(8) 'first op'
'first operation'.first(-1) Ø

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index (String r) : Integer

Returns the index of substring r in self, or -1 if self contains no occurrence of r.

Important: String indexes start at 1. Consequently the last character's index in a string is equal to the string's length.

examples:

Expression Result
'index operation'.index('op') 7
'index operation'.index('i') 1
'index operation'.index('foo') -1

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isAlpha () : Boolean

Returns true if self consists only of alphabetical characters, false otherwise.

examples:

Expression Result
'isAlpha'.isAlpha() true
'isAlpha operation'.isAlpha() false (spaces are not alphabetical characters)
'isAlpha11'.isAlpha() false (digits are not alphabetical characters)

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isAlphanum () : Boolean

Returns true if self consists only of alphanumeric characters, false otherwise.

examples:

Expression Result
'isAlphanum'.isAlphanum() true
'isAlphanum operation'.isAlphanum() false
'isAlphanum11'.isAlphanum() true

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last (Integer n) : String

Returns the last n characters of self, or self if its size is less than n.

examples:

Expression Result
'first operation'.last(8) 'peration'
'first operation'.last(40) 'first operation'
'first operation'.last(-1) Ø

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strcmp (String s1) : Integer

Returns an integer that is either negative, zero or positive depending on whether s1 is alphabetically less than, equal to or greater than self. Note that upper case letters come before lower case ones, so that 'AA' is closer to 'AC' than it is to 'Ab'.

examples:

Expression Result
'strcmp operation'.strstr('strcmp') 10
'strcmp operation'.strstr('strcmp operation') 0
'strcmp operation'.strstr('strtok') -17

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strstr (String r) : Boolean

Searches for string r in self. Returns true if found, false otherwise.

examples:

Expression Result
'strstr operation'.strstr('ope') true
'strstr operation'.strstr('false') false

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strtok (String r, Integer n) : String

Breaks self into a sequence of tokens, each of which delimited by any one of the characters in s1, and return the next element in this sequence. The parameter flag should be 0 when strtok is called for the first time and will reset the sequence, 1 subsequently so as to access the next element.

examples:

Expression Result
'strtok operation'.strtok('opz', 0) 'strt'
'strtok operation'.strtok('pn', 0) 'strtok o'

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substitute (String r, String t ) : String

Substitutes substring r in self by substring t and returns the resulting string. Will return self if it contains no occurrence of the substring r.

examples:

Expression Result
'substitute operation'.substitute('t', 'T') 'subsTiTuTe operaTion'
'foobar foobar foobar'.substitute('t', 'T') 'foobar foobar foobar'

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toLowerFirst () : String

Creates a copy of self with its first character converted to lower case and returns it.

examples:

Expression Result
'ToLowerFirst operation'.toLowerFirst() 'toLowerFirst operation'

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toUpperFirst () : String

Creates a copy of self with its first character converted to upper case and returns it.

examples:

Expression Result
'toUpperFirst operation'.toUpperFirst() 'ToUpperFirst operation'

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Standard Integer operations

toString () : String

Converts the integer self to a string.

examples:

Expression Result
2009.toString() '2009'

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Standard Real operations

toString () : String

Converts the real self to a string.

examples:

Expression Result
(-5.3).toString() '-5.3'

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Acceleo non standard operations reference

Non-standard String operations

contains (String substring) : Boolean

Returns true if self contains the substring substring, false otherwise.

examples:

Expression Result
'contains operation'.contains('ins op') true
'contains operation'.contains('2009') false

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endsWith (String substring) : Boolean

Returns true if self ends with the substring substring, false otherwise.

examples:

Expression Result
'endsWith operation'.endsWith('ation') true
'endsWith operation'.endsWith('endsWith') false
'anything'.endsWith('') true

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equalsIgnoreCase (String other) : Boolean

Returns true if self is equal to the string other ignoring case considerations, otherwise returns false. Two strings are considered equal ignoring case if they are of the same length and corresponding characters in the two strings are equal ignoring case.

examples:

Expression Result
'lowercase'.equalsIgnoreCase('LOWERCASE') true
'lowercase'.equalsIgnoreCase('lowercase') true
'lowercase'.equalsIgnoreCase('lowerCase') true
'lowercase'.equalsIgnoreCase('uppercase') false

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lastIndex (String r) : Integer

Returns the last index of substring r in self, or -1 if self contains no occurrence of r.

Important: String indexes start at 1. Consequently the last character's index in a string is equal to the string's length.

examples:

Expression Result
'index operation'.lastIndex('op') 7
'index operation'.lastIndex('o') 14

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matches (String regex) : Boolean

Returns true if self matches the given regular expression pattern regex, false otherwise. The regex engine used is that of your runtime JDK. The given pattern is passed "as is" to the method matches of the java class String. For more about regular expressions, please refer to the JDK API documentation.

examples:

Expression Result
'characters and spaces'.matches('[\w\s]+') true
'characters and 3 digits'.matches('[\w\s]+') false

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replace (String substring, String replacement) : String

Substitutes the first occurrence of substring substring in self by substring replacement and returns the resulting string. Returns self if it contains no occurrence of substring. Note that both substring and replacement are treated as regular expressions.

examples:

Expression Result
'replace operation'.replace('p', 'P') 'rePlace operation'
'repla ce operation'.replace('(\\w+)\\s*', '\\1') 'replace operation'

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replaceAll (String substring, String replacement) : String

Substitutes all substrings substring in self by substring replacement and returns the resulting string. Returns self if it contains no occurrence of substring. Note that both substring and replacement are treated as regular expressions.

examples:

Expression Result
'replaceAll operation'.replaceAll('p', 'P') 'rePlaceAll oPeration'
'Repla ce All Operation'.replaceAll('(\\w+)\\s*', '\\1') 'ReplaceAllOperation'

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startsWith (String substring) : Boolean

Returns true if self starts with the substring substring, false otherwise.

examples:

Expression Result
'startsWith operation'.startsWith('star') true
'startsWith operation'.startsWith('ope') false
'anything'.startsWith('') true

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substituteAll (String substring, String replacement) : String

Substitutes all substrings substring in self by substring replacement and returns the resulting string. Returns self if it contains no occurrence of substring. Unlike the replaceAll operation, neither substring nor replacement are considered as regular expressions.

examples:

Expression Result
'substituteAll operation'.substituteAll('t', 'T') 'subsTiTuTeAll operaTion'

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substring (Integer startIndex) : String

Returns a substring of self, starting at startIndex (inclusive), until the end of self. Returns Ø when the startIndex is either negative, zero, or greater than self's length.

Important: String indexes start at 1. Consequently the last character's index in a string is equal to the string's length.

examples:

Expression Result
'short term'.substring(7) 'term'
'short term'.substring(-1) Ø
'short term'.substring(0) Ø
'short term'.substring(10) 'm'
'short term'.substring(11) Ø

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tokenize (String substring) : Sequence(String)

Returns a sequence containing all parts of self split around delimiters defined by the characters in String delim.

examples:

Expression Result
'tokenize operation'.tokenize('e') Sequence{'tok', 'niz', ' op', 'ration'}
'tokenize operation'.tokenize('i') Sequence{'token', 'ze operat', 'on'}

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trim () : String

Removes all leading and trailing white space characters (tabulation, space, line feed, ...) of self.

examples:

Expression Result
' trim operation '.trim() 'trim operation'

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Non-standard EObject operations

All of the examples from this section are set in the context of this model (with root being an instance of Model as per the UML metamodel) :

../images/model_example.png

ancestors () : Sequence(EObject)

Returns a Sequence containing the full set of the receiver's ancestors.

examples:

Expression Result
Class11.ancestors() Sequence{package11, package1, root}
package11.ancestors() Sequence{package1, root}

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ancestors (OclType oclType) : Sequence(oclType)

Returns the elements of the given type from the set of the receiver's ancestors as a Sequence. The returned sequence's elements are typed with the expected type (so there's no need to invoke oclAsType(oclType) on the sequence or its elements).

examples:

Expression Result
Class11.ancestors(Package) Sequence{package11, package1}
package11.ancestors(Package) Sequence{package1}

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eAllContents () : Sequence(EObject)

Returns the whole content tree of the receiver as a Sequence.

examples:

Expression Result
root.eAllContents() Sequence{package1, package11, Class11, Class1a, Class1b, package2, Class2, aClas2}
package1.eAllContents() Sequence{package11, Class11, Class1a, Class1b}

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eAllContents (OclType oclType) : Sequence(oclType)

Returns the elements of the given type from the whole content tree of the receiver as a Sequence. The returned sequence's elements are typed with the expected type (so there's no need to invoke oclAsType(oclType) on the sequence or its elements).

examples:

Expression Result
root.eAllContents(Class) Sequence{Class11, Class1a, Class1b, Class2}
package1.eAllContents(Class) Sequence{Class11, Class1a, Class1b}

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eContainer (OclType oclType) : oclType

Returns the first ancestor of the given type, i.e. the first ancestor for which oclIsKindOf(oclType) evaluates to true. The returned element is typed with the expected type (so there's no need to invoke oclAsType(oclType) on it).

Important: users of Acceleo 2.x should note that, contrary to what took place in acceleo 2.x, this operation never returns self even when self.oclIsKindOf(oclType) is true.

examples:

Expression Result
Class11.eContainer(Package) package11
package11.eContainer(Package) package1
aClass2.eContainer(Package) package11

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eContents (OclType oclType) : Sequence(oclType)

Returns a sequence of the direct children of self that are of the given type, i.e. the direct children for which oclIsKindOf(oclType) evaluates to true. The returned sequence's elements are typed with the expected type (so there's no need to invoke oclAsType(oclType) on the sequence or its elements).

examples:

Expression Result
package1.eContents(Class) Sequence{Class1b, Class 1a}

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eGet (String featureName) : EJavaObject

This will fetch the value of the feature named featureName on the current Object. Return type can as well be a collection as a single value.

examples:

Expression Result
package1.eGet('packagedElement') Sequence{Class1b, Class1a, package11}
package1.eGet('name') 'package1'

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eInverse () : Sequence(EObject)

Returns the set of all objects referencing self.

examples:

Expression Result
Class2.eInverse() Sequence{aClass2}
package11.eInverse() Sequence{}

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eInverse (OclType oclType) : Sequence(oclType)

Returns the elements of the given type from the set of the inverse references of self. The returned sequence's elements are typed with the expected type (so there's no need to invoke oclAsType(oclType) on the sequence or its elements).

examples:

Expression Result
Class2.eInverse(Property) Sequence{aClass2}
Class2.eInverse(Package) Sequence{}

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followingSiblings () : Sequence(EObject)

Returns a Sequence containing the full set of the receiver's following siblings.

examples:

Expression Result
Class11.followingSiblings() Sequence{}
Class1b.followingSiblings() Sequence{Class1a, package11}

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followingSiblings (OclType oclType) : Sequence(oclType)

Returns the elements of the given type from the set of the receiver's following siblings as a Sequence. The returned sequence's elements are typed with the expected type (so there's no need to invoke oclAsType(oclType) on the sequence or its elements).

examples:

Expression Result
Class1b.followingSiblings(Package) Sequence{package11}
Class1b.followingSiblings(Class) Sequence{Class1a}
Class1a.followingSiblings(Class) Sequence{}

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precedingSiblings () : Sequence(EObject)

Returns a Sequence containing the full set of the receiver's preceding siblings.

examples:

Expression Result
package11.precedingSiblings() Sequence{Class1b, Class1a}
Class11.precedingSiblings() Sequence{}
Class1a.precedingSiblings() Sequence{Class1b}

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precedingSiblings (OclType oclType) : Sequence(oclType)

Returns the elements of the given type from the set of the receiver's preceding siblings as a Sequence. The returned sequence's elements are typed with the expected type (so there's no need to invoke oclAsType(oclType) on the sequence or its elements).

examples:

Expression Result
Class1a.precedingSiblings(Package) Sequence{}
Class1a.precedingSiblings(Class) Sequence{Class1b}

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siblings () : Sequence(EObject)

Returns a Sequence containing the full set of the receiver's siblings.

examples:

Expression Result
Class11.siblings() Sequence{}
Class1a.siblings() Sequence{package11, Class1b}

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siblings (OclType oclType) : Sequence(oclType)

Returns the elements of the given type from the set of the receiver's siblings as a Sequence. The returned sequence's elements are typed with the expected type (so there's no need to invoke oclAsType(oclType) on the sequence or its elements).

examples:

Expression Result
Class11.siblings(Class) Sequence{}
Class1a.siblings(Class) Sequence{Class1b}

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Non-standard OclAny operations

A note on properties: properties can be accessed only if they've been added through the API. For this purpose, a number of facilities is provided. You can either override the generated launcher's addProperties method and add new paths to properties files there, call manually one of the methods AcceleoService#addPropertiesFile() or manually add key/value pairs through AcceleoService#addProperties(). Take note that the key/value pairs manually added will always take precedence over the properties taken from .properties files; and the first added property file will always take precedence over subsequently added files.

The example on all four getProperty variants will take into account the following setup: we provided the environment with a properties file a.properties containing the key/value pair:

a.b.c = This is a parameterized property: {0}

Then we provided it with a file b.properties containing the pairs:

a.b.c.d = This is a standard property
a.b.c = Parameterized property with a name conflict: {0}

current (Integer index) : OclAny

Returns the value of the context index ranks above the current context.

The following example is explained line by line in the "result" column.

Expression Result
[for (p: Package | root.packagedElement)]
[for (c: Class | p.packagedElement)]
[current(0)/]
[current(1)/]
[current(2)/]
[/for]
[/for]
Iterates over all packages of the Model root
Iterates over all classes of the current package
allows access to the current class (equivalent to c)
allows access to the current package (equivalent to p)
allows access to self as it was before the first for loop

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current (OclType filter) : OclAny

This will have the same effect as current(Integer) except that is will return the first context (self variable) of the given type, at or above the current one.

The following example is explained line by line in the "result" column.

Expression Result
[for (p: Package | root.packagedElement)]
[for (c: Class | p.packagedElement)]
[current(Class)/]
[current(Package)/]
[current(Model)/]
[/for]
[/for]
Iterates over all packages of the Model root
Iterates over all classes of the current package
allows access to the current class (equivalent to c)
allows access to the current package (equivalent to p)
allows access to the the root Model

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getProperty (String key) : OclAny

Returns the value of the property corresponding to the given key. Note that parameterized properties will be returned "as is" by this operation (parameters are not processed).

examples:

Expression Result
getProperty('a.b.c') 'This is a parameterized property: {0}'
getProperty('a.b.c.d') 'This is a standard property'
getProperty('a.b.c.d.e') null

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getProperty (String key, Sequence(OclAny) parameters) : OclAny

Returns the value of the property corresponding to the given key, with its parameters substituted with the given values if any.

examples:

Expression Result
getProperty('a.b.c', Sequence{'substitution'}) 'This is a parameterized property: substitution'
getProperty('a.b.c', Sequence{}) 'This is a parameterized property: {0}'
getProperty('a.b.c.d', Sequence{'substitution'}) 'This is a standard property'

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getProperty (String name, String key) : OclAny

Returns the value of the property corresponding to the given key from a properties file corresponding to the given name. Note that parameterized properties will be returned as is with this.

examples:

Expression Result
getProperty('b.properties', 'a.b.c') 'Parameterized property with a name conflict: {0}'
getProperty('a.properties', 'a.b.c.d') Ø

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getProperty (String name, String key, Sequence(OclAny) parameters) : OclAny

Returns the value of the property corresponding to the given key from a properties file corresponding to the given name, with its parameters substituted with the given values if any.

examples:

Expression Result
getProperty('b.properties', 'a.b.c', Sequence{'substitution'}) 'Parameterized property with a name conflict: substitution'
getProperty('b.properties', 'a.b.c', Sequence{}) 'Parameterized property with a name conflict: {0}'
getProperty('a.properties', 'a.b.c.d', Sequence{'substitution'}) Ø

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invoke (String class, String method, Sequence(OclAny) arguments ) : OclAny

Invokes the Java method method of class class with the given arguments. This will return OclInvalid if the method cannot be called in any way (bad arguments, mispelled name, mispelled signature, encapsulation errors, ...). This is only intended to be used to call Java methods for now.

examples:

Expression Result
invoke('java.lang.String', 'toUpperCase()', Sequence{root.name}) ROOT

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toString () : String

Returns the String representation of the receiver.

examples depend on the "toString()" implementation of self. Let's assume it has been changed to return the object's name:

Expression Result
Class11.toString() 'Class11'

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Non-standard Collection operations

sep (String separator) : Sequence(OclAny)

Returns all elements from the source collection separated by an element composed of the String separator.

examples:

Expression Result
package1.eContents().name.sep('2009') Sequence{'Package11', '2009', 'Class1a', '2009', 'Class1b'}
package1.eContents().sep('2009') Sequence{Package11, '2009', Class1a, '2009', Class1b}

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filter (OclType type) : Collection(OclType)

Filters out of the collection all elements that are not instances of the given type or any of its subtypes. The returned collection is typed according to type. Makes it easier to write select(e | e.oclIsKindOf(type)).oclAsType(type).

examples:

Expression Result
package1.eContents().filter(Class) Sequence{Class1b, Class1a}

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reverse () (Only on ordered collections)

Reverses the order of the collection: the last element becomes the first and vice-versa. Only available on ordered collections (Sequence and OrderedSet).

examples:

Expression Result
OrderedSet {1, 2, 3} OrderedSet {3, 2, 1}
Sequence {1, 2, 3} Sequence {3, 2, 1}

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lastIndexOf (T elt) : Integer (Only on ordered collections)

Returns the position of the given element in the collection it is applied to. Only available on ordered collections (Sequence and OrderedSet).

examples:

Expression Result
OrderedSet {1, 2, 1}->lastIndexOf(1) 3
Sequence {1, 2, 3}->lastIndexOf(4) -1
Sequence {1, null}->lastIndexOf(null) 2
Sequence {1, 2, 3}->lastIndexOf(null) -1

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Glossary

invalid
invalid is the singleton instance of the OCLInvalid type. It is returned whenever an evaluation fails, whatever the cause. Referred to as Ø in this guide.
Standard / Non-standard
We refer as standard everything that directly comes or has been inferred from the OMG MOFM2T specification. As such, Standard operations are operations that were defined in the MTL standard library. Likewise, non-standard features are deviations from the specification.
Ø
See invalid.