DOWNLOAD OPENFLEXO INFRASTRUCTURE
About Openflexo Software...
Openflexo is not a single application: it is an infrastructure for model federation. It lets you connect models that live in different technologies, such as spreadsheets, XML files, ontologies, databases or diagrams, and work with them through FML, the Flexo Modelling Language. It is made of several kinds of components:
- Generic components: Connie (expression language), Pamela (modelling framework), Gina (user interfaces) and Diana (diagrams). They do not depend on model federation. They are published as Maven artefacts on maven.openflexo.org, so you can use them in your own projects.
- The model federation core (FML-Core), which runs FML. Its version is the version of the whole infrastructure: 2.0.1 is the last stable release, and 2.99 is the one under development.
- Technology adapters (also called connectors). Each one handles a single technology: Excel, Word, PowerPoint, EMF, OWL, JDBC, REST, and more.
- Modules: applications built for a specific job, such as FreeModellingEditor or the Enterprise Architecture module.
You don't download these components one by one. They come in packages, each one a ready-to-run mix of modules and technology adapters. The table below shows what each package contains, for each version. If you are not sure which one to pick, choose Openflexo Designer.
All packages need Java 8. Read Installing and running Openflexo before you start.
FreeModellingEditorThis metamodelling tool is used to make concept emergence from a simple drawing or from a PowerPoint slide. | Openflexo DesignerThis packaging also contains various technology adapters suitable for many contexts. | Openflexo HeadlessIt contains command-line terminal as well as various technology adapters suitable for many contexts | Openflexo MaintainerThe purpose of this packaging is to offer full features for developers of Openflexo model federation infrastructure. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Download | WindowsmacOSLinux | WindowsmacOSLinux | WindowsmacOSLinux | WindowsmacOSLinux |
| Modules | ||||
 FreeModellingEditor | ||||
 OpenflexoModeller | ||||
 EAModule | ||||
| Technology Adapters | ||||
 Diagram | ||||
 M/S PowerPoint | ||||
 EMF | ||||
 XML/XSD | ||||
 OWL ontologies | ||||
 M/S Word | ||||
 M/S Excel | ||||
 PDF | ||||
 JDBC | ||||
 ODT | ||||
 GINA | ||||
 Java | ||||
 Kafka | ||||
 OPC-UA | ||||
 OSLC | ||||
 REST | ||||
 JSON | ||||
 Rhapsody |
Installing and running Openflexo
Which package?
- FreeModellingEditor: the smallest one, only the free modelling editor.
- Openflexo Designer: the modules and the most common technology adapters. The right choice for most users.
- Openflexo Headless: the FML command-line interpreter, without graphical interface.
- Openflexo Maintainer: everything, for developers of the infrastructure.
- Openflexo Server: an HTTP server exposing the infrastructure, delivered as a Linux archive only (see below).
The download links above point to the snapshot packaged on the date shown. Every snapshot is kept in the snapshot directory.
- Windows
- macOS
- Linux
- Install a Java 8 runtime with an installer (not a zip archive), for instance the Eclipse Temurin 8 JRE. The Openflexo launcher finds Java through the Windows registry: a Java that was merely unzipped is not detected.
- Download the
.zippackage and extract it (right-click, Extract All...). - Run
Openflexo <Package> 2.99SNAPSHOT.exe. The variant ending with- Console.exealso opens a console window showing the logs, useful when reporting a problem.
The launcher only accepts Java 8. If none is found, it says so and offers to open the Java 8 download page. If it keeps saying so after installing Java 8, check that the installer registered Java in Windows: with Temurin, enable the option setting the JavaSoft (Oracle) registry keys during installation.
Two ways to run Openflexo on a Mac.
Using the application (.dmg)
- This application needs Oracle's Java 8 runtime for macOS: it looks for Java exclusively where Oracle's Java 8 installer puts it (
/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin). Other Java 8 distributions are not detected — use the archive below instead. - Double-click the
.dmg. The disk image mounts silently: no window opens. The volume, named<Package>-2.99SNAPSHOT, appears in the Finder sidebar. - Drag the application from that volume to your Applications folder.
- The application is not signed, so macOS blocks its first launch (unidentified developer). Control-click the application, choose Open, then confirm with Open. Later launches work normally.
- On a Mac with Apple silicon the application runs under Rosetta 2, which macOS offers to install if needed.
Instead of control-clicking, the quarantine can also be removed from a terminal:
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Openflexo Designer 2.99SNAPSHOT.app"
Using the Linux archive in a terminal
This works with any Java 8, for instance an Eclipse Temurin 8 JDK installed with its .pkg installer (x64; it runs under Rosetta 2 on Apple silicon). Download the Linux package, then:
mkdir -p ~/Openflexo && cd ~/Openflexo
tar -xzf ~/Downloads/"Openflexo Designer 2.99SNAPSHOT.tar.gz"
export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.8)
export PATH="$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH"
./start.sh
The archive has no top-level directory: extract it into a directory of its own, and prefer a path without spaces.
- Install a Java 8 and make sure it is the
javafound first on yourPATH:java -versionmust print1.8. Your distribution's OpenJDK 8 or Eclipse Temurin 8 both work. - Extract the
.tar.gzpackage into a directory of its own — the archive has no top-level directory — preferably in a path without spaces. - Run
start.sh.
java -version # must print 1.8
mkdir -p ~/Openflexo && cd ~/Openflexo
tar -xzf ~/Downloads/"Openflexo Designer 2.99SNAPSHOT.tar.gz"
./start.sh
Openflexo Server
The server is delivered as a Linux archive only, and needs a Java 8 as well. Extract it like the Linux packages, then start it with its options:
./start.sh --port 8080 --center /path/to/resource-center
--hostand--port: where the server listens,localhost:8080by default. Use--host 0.0.0.0to accept connections from other machines.--center path: a resource center to register; may be given several times.--project path: a project to open; may be given several times.--preload file: a file listing resources to load at startup, one URI per line.-v: verbose mode;-h: help.