j2og -- Java To OmniGraffle, Updated

Three years ago, I wrote a small plugin called "j2og" (for Java To OmniGraffle) which can create OmniGraffle drawings from your existing Java files. At that time, I used AppleScript to create the drawing. Unfortunately this mechanism was a little bit fragile, and somehow it didn't work with new versions of OmniGraffle / Mac OS X. Instead of fixing the AppleScript problem, I rewrote the export.

The new version now directly exports to OmniGraffle files. That means OmniGraffle is no longer needed to export your files to an OmniGraffle drawing. Actually, there are several tools which can open the exported drawings now:

• OmniGraffle, of course; only available for Mac OS X
• Diagrammix, via "Import"; only available for Mac OS X
• Lucidchar, not tested yet; available for Mac OS X and Windows

The overall functionality was not changed. E.g., you can export classes and interfaces with or without attributes or operations, attributes can be transformed to associations, context of classes can be exported as well. The screenshot shows a sample drawing exported from the j2og sources. Since j2og does not layout the drawing (I was too lazy to write an layout algorithm), you have to manually layout the diagram. E.g., use the auto-layout of OmniGraffle as I did for the sample screenshot.

You can either install j2og from the Eclipse marketplace or the update site (see j2og homepage at github for details).

CfP: Workshop on Methodical Development of Modeling Tools (ModTools15)

Same procedure as last year? Same procedure as every year... but this time it's Australia. This is where EDOC 2015 is located, and this is where the following workshop is located this year:

3rd International 
Workshop on Methodical Development of Modeling Tools (ModTools15)
on the 19th IEEE International Enterprise Computing Conference EDOC 2015

This year, EDOC takes place in Adelaide, Australia. You will find the call for paper and other information at the workshop's hompage: http://www.wi-inf.uni-duisburg-essen.de/ModTools15/. Submission deadline is April 15th 2015.
The workshop Methodical Development of Modeling Tools focuses on procedures and architectural principles related to the creation of software for presenting, editing, or analyzing models.
Software tools for modeling are required for scientific and practical applications of modeling methods and modeling languages in enterprise computing. To test and exemplify new modeling approaches, research prototypes of model editors are required, as well as tools for presenting and analyzing models. To be able to efficiently develop such modeling tools, it is desirable to methodically guide the development of modeling tools, and elaborate procedures to align their design with the conceptualization of new modeling languages and modeling methods.