PyDev for Script Tab

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ulfl
Posts: 15
Joined: 01 Feb 2010, 10:47

Hello,

since developing import-, export- and migration-scripts using Jython in the Script Tab is not really comfortable we looked into the possibility of using a real IDE for this purpose. We found a way to use "PyDev" (Python IDE for Eclipse) for script development including a real debugger! Basically Protégé will be started from within Eclipse and the PyDev remote debugger will connect against it and execute a script.

Before we go on to finalize the solution by building a full Protégé plugin for PyDev I would like to be sure that I did not overlook existing solutions to this problem. I cannot believe that we are the first users of the Protégé Script Tab to be unhappy with the development environment but we could not find anything using Google. Does anyone know of other solutions for this? How are others handling complex script developments?

Best Regards,
Ulf
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jonathan.carter
Posts: 1087
Joined: 04 Feb 2009, 15:44

Hi Ulf.

You are certainly not the first to have seen the need for some improvements with the Script Tab. For example, if you get an exception, the Script Console Tab no longer sends standard-out to the console. So, any print statements that you try return nothing on the screen.

I'm not aware of anything (and we haven't got any plans) like a Tab that links to PyDev, but it is worth checking the Protege site (and Google) to see if anyone else has done something similar.

However, we are just about to release a new tab that packages up a set of scripts and runs them in the required sequence for performing scripted updates to the Protege repository - both classes and instances.
We call this the Essential Update Tab and the idea with it is to make it is easy as possible to apply the kinds of script updates that until now, we have all had to run via the Script Console Tab.

There are limits (from the underlying Java) to the length of script that the script engines can run but our new Update Tab takes care of splitting the script into acceptable-sized chunks that can be run in the correct sequence.

I'm not sure that the Update Tab is meeting the same problem that you are trying to solve but all future Essential meta model updates and instance packs will be released in the form ready to be run by the Update Tab.

Let me know your thoughts

Jonathan
Essential Project Team
ulfl
Posts: 15
Joined: 01 Feb 2010, 10:47

We did check the Protégé community and Google but did not come up with any existing solutions. We will continue with our development and hopefully not be dependend on print statements for debugging of JPhyton scripts any more :-).

The Essential Update Tab will still be useful to actually execute scripts. But it does not help to make development of scripts any easier.

Ulf
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