Question

I am developing an interpreter for a visual programming language that I am implementing using Eclipse, EMF and GEF. I am currently creating an interpreter for the diagrams.

To execute a diagram, I decided to implement a launcher configuration. When the configuration is executed I want to read the EMF model from the active editor and interpret it. The problem I have is that the active editor can only be accessed from the UI thread, and I don’t want the interpreter to execute in the UI tread since it may be a long process. This is the code that works but should not be used:

@Override
public void launch(ILaunchConfiguration configuration, String mode, ILaunch launch, IProgressMonitor monitor)
        throws CoreException {
    final IWorkbench workbench = PlatformUI.getWorkbench();
    workbench.getDisplay().asyncExec(new Runnable() {
        @Override
        public void run() {
            IEditorPart activeEditor = workbench.getActiveWorkbenchWindow().getActivePage().getActiveEditor();
            OPMGraphicalEditor editor = (OPMGraphicalEditor) activeEditor;
            OPMObjectProcessDiagram opd = editor.getOPD();
            Interpreter.INSTANCE.interpret(opd);
        }
    });
}

I’m sure there is a proper way to do this, but I haven’t found it. The examples for launch configurations that I found in the internet use external programs, but I am (currently) implementing my interpreter as part of the workbench.

Thanks for the help.

Answer 1

You can use the above code with a ...getDisplay().syncExec(...) instead and then store the pointer to the editor into some enclosing object.