Installation Instructions for SADL-IDE, Version 3

Last revised 6/4/2021. Contact us.

Note: installation is currently not working as expected and as documented below. For a workaround, please follow these instructions.

To Install SADL Version 3 do the following:

1. If not already installed, download and install a Java Developer Kit (JDK) from https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html or https://adoptopenjdk.net/
• For SADL 3.5.0 and later, Java 11 is required.
• For versions before 3.5.0 Java 8 can be used.
• See How to check Java Version.
2. Download and install Eclipse from http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/ . This can be Eclipse IDE for Java Developers or Eclipse IDE for Java and DSL Developers.
1. For SADL 3.5.0 and later, Eclipse 2020-12 is recommended.
2. For versions before 3.5.0, 2020-03 is recommended and newer versions will probably not work as Xtext cannot be newer than 2.21.0.
3. Download the latest SADL V3 installation ZIP file from https://github.com/SemanticApplicationDesignLanguage/sadl/releases.
• Note: to install the latest bleeding edge automated build, go to Actions, click on the latest (or any desired) result, scroll down to Artifacts, and download the ZIP file for installation.
4. Start Eclipse, go to Help -> Install New Software. Click on Add... to create a new update site. Then click on Archive and browse to the ZIP file downloaded in step 3. Click OK to install SADL. Select all features, accept the license agreement, confirm installation and restart.
5. Note that the Eclipse workspace path must NOT have any spaces or other non-URL compatible characters. If needed, switch to a different workspace on a valid (Unix-compatible) path (File -> Switch Workspace).
6. Note: for WebSadl installation, see https://hub.docker.com/r/theiaide/sadl.

To verify that SADL is properly installed, do the following:

1. Create a new Eclipse General project
   • File -> New -> Project...
   • General -> Project
   • Next
   • Name the project, e.g., MyFirstProject (Do not put spaces or other non-URL compatible characters in the project name.)
   • Finish
2. Create a new SADL file
   • With the name of the project selected in the left-side Package Explorer window, either (If the Package Explorer isn't visible: Window -> Show View -> Package Explorer.)
     • right-click on the project name and select New -> File on the popup menu, or
     • select File -> New -> File from the menu bar
   • Enter a file name ending in ".sadl", e.g., MyFirstModel.sadl (Do not put spaces or other non-URL compatible characters in the file name.)
   • Finish
3. The file should be opened in an editor window. There should be an error marker on the first line of the file. Clicking on the error marker should display the message "mismatched input '<EOF>' expecting 'uri'.
4. Click in the first line right after the error marker to place the focus in the editor window and the cursor at the beginning of the first line.
5. Hold down the control key and press the space bar (the content assist request (CA) in Windows, check Window -> Preferences -> General -> Keys and find Content Assist to check key binding)
6. "uri" should be filled in as that is the first non-comment word in every SADL file. Type in a valid URI in double quotes or request CA again to generate the default model URI.
7. Type "alias" or request CA again and choose "alias"
8. Another request for CA will fill in the alias or prefix for the model (must be a single text string with no special characters)
9. Add a period (.), the end of statement (EOS) character.
10. The error marker should go away.
11. Save the model (cntr-s or File -> Save.

If you obtain the behavior described above you have a valid SADL editing environment.

While you're installing....

You might want to install a graphing package to help you visualize your models. See the Model Visualization, section for SADL V3.