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Base Language and Extensions

Base Language

jetbrains.mps.baselanguage

Look at this ticket search ⧉ for a complete list of Base Language bugs and feature requests.

Blog Posts

Paste as Java class doesn't work.

You can't paste some newer Java features, such as the double colon operator(::). Loops with more than one variable also don't work.

Set the Export flag at the moduleX import.

You are using a class that extends another class located in another solution. That means that the export flag for the other solutions should be set in the current module so that there is automatically a dependency on this module. Dependencies: export flag contains some more information.

What Java language features aren't supported in Base Language?

The following features are not supported (yet):

A function with Base Language code doesn't return anything when called.

Base Language permits implicit returns. Methods automatically return the last statement. In some places, implicit returns aren't supported, such as when returning a new ListScope class. Make sure to add a return statement in those cases.

What library does MPS use to parse Java code?

It uses the parser of the Eclipse Java Development Tools (JDT). Eclipse JDT - Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) and the Java Model ⧉ describes the AST.

How do you know if you've commented out a node? How can I comment out nodes programmatically?

Use the class CommentUtil ⧉. It has methods for commenting/uncommenting and checking if the node is commented out (CommentUtil#isCommentedOut).

Var Variable

jetbrains.mps.baselanguage.varVariable

This extension allows declaring local variables with the type automatically inferred from the initializer, which must not be empty. Example:

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var value = (ISimple) {var input => return 1; }
var x=0c710

TextGen is not found for concept of X language.

A wrong generator order of languages can be the issue. Example: The generators of language x execute first, and then the generator of the var variable of the same language is called. It should be the other way around. You can specify a custom generation plan to fix this issue.

Closures

jetbrains.mps.baselanguage.closures

Exception when passing closure literal as a parameter in a behavior method call

You can use closures for functional interface types such as java.util.Runnable in behavior methods (see MPS-31866 ⧉)

Collections

How can you create a sequence with one element?

Use the singleton constructor: 

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new singleton<string>("single")`

How do you convert from a Java ArrayList to a Base Language list?

Use the copy constructor: 

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new arraylist<string>(copy: yourArrayList)`

How do you convert Base Language collections to Java streams?

First, convert your collection to a list you downcast to a Java list. Then you can convert it into a stream StreamSupport.stream(list/.spliterator(), false)

Why doesn't yield work inside a select operation?

Given I have this code: myNode.items.select({~it => yield it.index}) When I run it, then I expect the result [0,1,2,3,4], but unexpectedly, I get the same list of nodes as if I ran myNode.items What's happening?

Yield does not work with .select({…}). It will do what you expected if you call .selectMany({…}) instead. That'll also clarify what happens if you yield multiple times during an iteration and that the control flow doesn't end when you're yielding.

contributed by: @abstraktor

How do you sort a collection of children?

Given I have a node myNode with a child collection myNode.children. How do I sort them by their toString()? I tried myNode.children/.sort(Ordering.lexical()), but that doesn't do anything. Stepping revealed that it creates a copy of that list and sorts that one.

Use the bold sort, call toList to materialize the result, and then .clear and .addAll it:

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sequence<T> sorted = list.sort({~a,~b => ORDERING.compare(a, b); }, asc).toList;
list.clear;
list.addAll(sorted);

contributed by: @abstraktor

Checked Dots

jetbrains.mps.baselanguage.checkeddots

  • It voids NullPointerException when Java executes a method call on a null variable. For example, it won't throw a NullPointerException, if myObject is null.
  • Bold methods or dot-expressions are null safe, for example, new arraylist<string>().where({~it => })

Access Language

jetbrains.mps.lang.access

Transactional Property Cells

jetbrains.mps.lang.editor.structure

  • An intention can mark a regular property cell such as string, int, and boolean as transactional.
  • MPS updates the editor when the cursor leaves the cell (= commit).
  • Define the commit handler in the inspector. The benefit is that the editor doesn't permanently update after every keyboard event.
  • For example, this cell can be helpful if you dynamically set your text color.

Images

jetbrains.mps.lang.editor.figures

  • Statically embed images into the editor.

image cell

example: image cell

Base Language Internal

Specific Languages blog: Poor man's cross-model generation: baseLanguageInternal ⧉

Sax Parser

jetbrains.mps.core.xml.sax

You can use SAX ⧉, also known as the Simple API for XML, for parsing XML documents. This language allows the creation of SAX parsers. The parser can take parameters and save data into variables. You start by specifying the root element and then at rules for XML tags.

Rules

The rule can have an optional creator, which creates a Java object from the current element. They support a complete and compact view. You can then declare attributes (attr), and children who take can have an optional handler. It has two arguments: the result, which has the same type as the type of the rule, and the child, which is the parsed child object. The attribute can be mandatory, and the child can override the tag and supports conditional invocation. Use the default child block for children with any tags. Next, there can be a text handler that supports an optional handler that can process the text content of an XML element. At last, you can validate the element in the validate method, which should return a boolean value depending on if the validation succeeds or fails. You can also handle text through the global text handler text. Example:

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sax parser ModelReader8 { 
  parameters 
    interfaceOnly : boolean 
    ...
  variables 
    model : DefaultSModel 
    ...

  root model 

  rule model for tag model() -> ModelLoadResult { 
    create()->ModelLoadResult throws SAXException { 
      model = new  DefaultSModel(PersistenceFacade.getInstance().createModelReference(modelUID), header); 
      hasSkippedNodes = false; 
      helper = new  ReadHelper(model.getReference()); 
      return new  ModelLoadResult((SModel) model, ModelLoadingState.NOT_LOADED); 
    } 

    required attr modelUID 

    ...

    child with tag devkit => module_reference() 
      (result, child)->void throws SAXException { 
        model.addDevKit(child); 
      } 

    ...

    validate(result)->boolean throws SAXException { 
      result.setState(hasSkippedNodes ? (interfaceOnly ? ModelLoadingState.INTERFACE_LOADED : ModelLoadingState.NO_IMPLEMENTATION) : ModelLoadingState.FULLY_LOADED); 
      return true; 
    } 
  } 
  ...

  compact rule ignoredLink for tag link() -> <no type> { 
    <no creator> 
    attr role 
    ...
  } 

  global text handler <no globalText> 
}

Use InternalClassCreator ⧉ from Base Language Internal to use the generated parser. Example:

new [ XMLSAXHandler ] jetbrains.mps.smodel.persistence.def.v8.LineToContentMapReader8Handler (withPropertyValues, withAssociationTarget)

Property References

jetbrains.mps.lang.checkedName

Use this language to reference properties. property/<node>,<role>/is the main expression that has the type propRef<>. To access the value, use .value. Example: 

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propRef<string> property = property/node/Class/ | name/;
#print property.value;
This expression is the node pendant for the property/<concept>:<name>/ expression from jetbrains.mps.lang.smodel which takes a concept as an argument and returns an instance of class SProperty ⧉.

Properties File

jetbrains.mps.core.properties

This language adds support for Java .properties ⧉ files. The generator automatically escapes the keys and values when they contain special characters. The generated properties file has the encoding ISO-8859-1. Example: 

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mps_home=/Applications/MPS.app 
deploy.dir=./artifacts 

# locale 
encoding=utf-8 
locale=en_US

Forms (Checkbox)

jetbrains.mps.lang.editor.forms

This language adds support for checkboxes. Text-based checkboxes (text checkbox UI) and image checkboxes (platform checkbox UI) are available. You can style the text-based checkbox like any other constant text. The checkbox cell has an ui parameter which allows switching between both styles. A boolean property backs the state. The label specifies the visible text. The checkbox can be toggled by clicking and pressing space.

forms: checkbox

Image Generation for Nodes

jetbrains.mps.lang.editor.imageGen

The single concept ImageGenerator can generate an image for a node. It accepts a file name and a scale (1 is 100%) and needs a reference to a node. You must provide a node ID if you didn't set the reference. The facet GenerateImages ⧉ generates the image. The facet executes after the generate facet. Execute the following code on the console to get the list of supported file formats: 

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IIORegistry registry = IIORegistry.getDefaultInstance(); 
StringBuilder builder = new  StringBuilder(); 
Iterator<ImageWriterSpi> serviceProviders = registry.getServiceProviders(ImageWriterSpi.class, false); 
while (serviceProviders.hasNext()) { 
  ImageWriterSpi next = serviceProviders.next(); 
  builder.append(String.format("description: %-27s   format names: %s%n", next.getDescription(Locale.ENGLISH), Arrays.toString(next.getFormatNames()))); 
} 
#print builder.toString();

Last update: July 16, 2023

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