ArchGenXML 2.x - our baby grows

ArchGenXML is our code-generator. If you dont know it, its simple: Paint UML, generate Python-Code for Archetypes and Plone.

It's in my opinion one of the major tools around Plone helping integrators and not-so-skilled developers but also skilled developers and system-designers and consultants to do their daily business: Transforming customer needs into a diagram and generating a prototype, modeling of business processes and making the use of Plones powerful fine-grained permission-system.

From a technical point of view ArchGenXML now generates state-of-the-art Zope-Products for Plone 2.5 and 3.x.

With ArchGenXML we are here always one step behind the bleeding-edge recommandations for development with Plone, we have Eggs these days, Products are 'out'. So people asking me when can I generate eggs with ArchGenXML. Well, in fact you could do now wrap the generated code with an egg-strucuture. But its not automated.

Also as we know Archetypes has its borders. ArchGenXML targets on generation of Archetypes. Archetypes is a content-centric framework. Sometimes this makes things more difficult than it should be. I.e. when you have table-like data. Here we started a different project: Devilstick. Buts thats a different topic.

In the end its the process we like with ArchGenXML: Taking a graphical language (UML) and while talking to the customer we are drawing a model.

We want to have this in future as well. With devilsticks, with eggs or with whatever is the technical target.

At the moment ArchGenXML's code needs some cleanup. Dont understand me wrong: It works perfect as it is! But opposite to the best practice of the generated code and the agility of the process ArchGenXML is s huge code-monster needing some major refactorings.

We will do this. It's out major tool.

Next planned steps for reaching the goal: Make the XMIParser an own independent module. Refactor the generators to be based on component architecture. Make them generate eggs.

If you want to help: Just ping me on IRC (jensens) or drop me an e-mail. We already have a small but strong community around ArchGenXML and we'd be happy to get any help. A big thanks here to the past and current contributors!