Users can create their own resource distribution files and install resources from them using the Resource Manager. These files can contain plugins/profiles/model libraries etc. The resources must be packed to separate .zip files.

This can be useful for distributing a set of resources accompanied with custom resources or in a locked down environment where the resource bundle is hosted in a local network.

There are multiple ways to create a resource bundle:

1) Using the Development Tools plugin GUI

  1. Install the Development Tools plugin using your tool using Resource Manager.
  2. Restart the modeling tool.
  3. Create a new empty folder, place the resources there.
  4. In the modeling tool main menu, click Tools > Development Tools > Build Resource Distribution File.
  5. Browse and select the created folder, choose the output location and click OK. A resource distribution file will be built in the output folder.

The Development Tools plugin can be installed from nomagic.com or found in the resource distribution file (.rdzip).

2) Using command line tool.

In case the process of building a resource distribution files should be automated, it can be done using command line tool.

Three arguments are required:

  • Resource directory path
  • Output directory path
  • Result distribution file name

Example:

java -cp "lib/*;lib/bundles/*" com.nomagic.magicdraw.resourcemanager.distribution.GenerateResourceDistributionFileTask "E:\myResources" "E:\myBundles" "myCustomResourceDistributionFile"

Resource distribution file creator checks for validity of each resource. Only valid resources are included in the resource distribution file. The resources must meet the required folder/file structure and must contain appropriate descriptor file. For more information about the folder/file structure visit Creating required files and folders structure