Model RealTime 11.1 2022.13

The Model RealTime development team has just finalized two new releases:

• Model RealTime 11.1 2022.13
• Model RealTime 11.2 2022.13. This is the second experimental release of Model RealTime 11.2 for Eclipse 2021.06.

Let's have a look at some of the new features in these releases.

Marking Elements as Deprecated

Several kinds of elements (operations, classes, enumerations etc) can now be marked as deprecated. If the C++ compiler detects that a deprecated element is used, it will print a warning. If you want you can provide your own warning message. For example, the message can inform the user what alternative he should use instead of the deprecated element.

Using this feature requires a C++ 14 compiler, and you must have set the C++ language standard preference to C++ 14 or higher (this preference can now be set to exactly the C++ version you are using).

Improved Inheritance Explorer

The Inheritance Explorer has been improved in many ways:

• It's now easier to open it thanks to a new context menu command Explore Inheritance that is available at the top-level in the Project Explorer context menu. There is also a new keybinding that can be used Alt+Shift+Q,I.
• Generated C++ code can now be directly opened from the context menu in the Inheritance Explorer.
• Interfaces are fully supported.
• New filters for showing ports, states and transitions are useful when exploring capsule inheritance.
• It's now possible to filter the members list so that only redefinitions are shown. For example, this can be used to quickly understand what parts of a capsule state machine that redefine states and transitions from an inherited state machine.

Textual State Machines

A new feature in Model RealTime 11.2 makes it possible to convert a graphical state machine into a textual notation. Textual state machines have some advantages that sometimes make them a better choice. Some examples:

• It's easier to quickly edit a textual state machine, for example using textual copy/paste.
• All code snippets of the state machine can be seen in a single text editor, which for example simplifies searching.
• Compare/merge of changes in state machines can be easier when using a textual notation.

Textual state machines can be edited in any text editor, but Model RealTime provides a dedicated text editor with many features that improve your productivity. Examples include navigation by Ctrl+click on names, hover tooltips, smart content assist by Ctrl+space, syntax coloring, formatting etc. Of course, the model compiler supports textual state machines and generates the same code from them as from regular graphical state machines.

Note that the support for textual state machines is an experimental feature, as there are some known limitations.

Mattias Mohlin
Architect for IBM Model RealTime