exampleLang¶

exampleLang is a MAL language intended to demonstrate the Maven project structure of a MAL language.

This project has the following structure:

The file pom.xml is the Maven configuration file of the project.
The directory src/main/mal contains the MAL specification exampleLang.mal, which is the MAL specification of exampleLang.
The directory src/main/resources/icons contains SVG icons for the assets in exampleLang.
The directory src/test/java/org/mal_lang/examplelang/test contains the unit tests of exampleLang.

Apache Maven¶

Apache Maven is a build tool and dependency management tool for Java projects. You can read more about Maven at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Maven. Follow the instructions at https://maven.apache.org/download.cgi to download Maven, and follow the instructions at https://maven.apache.org/install.html to install Maven.

Building exampleLang and running the unit tests¶

The MAL compiler compiles MAL specifications (.mal files) into different formats, using different backends. The reference backend generates Java code that is suitable for testing purposes and evaluating your language. The securiCAD backend generates a .jar file that can be used with foreseeti’s products, including securiCAD, which is a tool that can be used to graphically create models using your language and to simulate attacks on those models.

Building with the reference backend and running the unit tests¶

To compile exampleLang with the reference backend of the MAL compiler and then run the unit tests, execute the following command from the exampleLang directory:

mvn test

This will invoke the MAL compiler’s reference backend to generate .java files under target/generated-test-sources. These .java files and the unit tests in src/test/java will then be compiled into .class files under target/test-classes. The unit tests will then finally be executed.

To only compile exampleLang into .java files, execute the following command:

mvn generate-test-sources

To compile exampleLang into .java files and then compile these .java files and the unit tests in src/test/java into .class files, execute the following command:

mvn test-compile

To run a specific test class, execute the following command:

mvn test -Dtest=TestExampleLang

Where TestExampleLang is the test class.

To run a specific test method in a test class, execute the following command:

mvn test -Dtest=TestExampleLang#testNoPassword

Where TestExampleLang is the test class and testNoPassword is the test method.

Building a securiCAD compatible .jar file¶

To build a securiCAD compatible .jar file, you need access to foreseeti’s maven repository. To request access, please contact support@foreseeti.com. When you have received your credentials, you can store them in a file ~/.aws/credentials (%UserProfile%\.aws\credentials on windows). For example:

[default]
aws_access_key_id=AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE
aws_secret_access_key=wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY

To compile exampleLang with the securiCAD backend of the MAL compiler, execute the following command:

mvn package -PsecuriCAD

The resulting .jar file will be located in target/examplelang-1.0.0.jar.

If you don’t want to run the unit tests when building a securiCAD compatible .jar file, execute the following command:

mvn clean package -PsecuriCAD -Dmaven.test.skip=true

Using exampleLang as a template MAL language¶

To create a new language using exampleLang as a template, you need to do the following:

Create a new MAL language project using exampleLang as the template
- cp -r exampleLang/ myLang/
Enter the directory of the new MAL language project
- cd myLang/
Remove build scripts
- rm -rf .buildscript
- rm .travis.yml
Update LICENSE with a license of your choice
- Update copyright notices to reflect your license in
  - NOTICE
  - pom.xml
  - src/main/mal/exampleLang.mal
  - src/test/java/org/mal_lang/examplelang/test/*.java
Update README.md with relevant information about your language. Information about how to use Markdown can be found at https://help.github.com/en/articles/basic-writing-and-formatting-syntax.
Update pom.xml to reflect your project
- Update <groupId> with a reverse domain name that you can use
  - Example: com.example
- Update <artifactId> with a suitable name
  - Example: mylang
- Update <version> with the version of your language
  - Example: 1.0.0
- Update <name> with the name of your language
  - Example: myLang
- Update <mal.file> with the name of the main MAL specification of your language
  - Example: myLang.mal
- Update <mal.securicad.package> with the package name of your language
  - Example: com.example.mylang
- Update <mal.reference.package> with the test package name of your language
  - Example: com.example.mylang.test
Rename src/main/mal/exampleLang.mal to the name of the main MAL specification of your language
- mv src/main/mal/exampleLang.mal src/main/mal/myLang.mal
Update your main MAL specification’s #id and #version
- Example: #id: "com.example.mylang", #version: "1.0.0"
Rename unit tests in src/test/java to reflect your language
Change the package name of the unit tests to the test package name of your language
- Example: package com.example.mylang.test;

License¶

All files distributed in the exampleLang project are licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0, except for the following files:

See LICENSE and NOTICE for details.