Initializing the project structure

The Micro Radiant is the visual model editor developed by NSX. It serves as the primary interface for developers and analysts to define, view, and update the application model, which is the software equivalent of the real-world business requirements.

Initializing our application

The Application Project screen provides a streamlined way to set up a new application according to the defined Normalized Systems (NS) structure.

Step 1: Prepare your directory

First, create the project directory that will serve as the home for your new applications, workspace. This step is performed in your file system, not the application screen.

Example Directory Structure: /my/development/path/workspace/

Step 2: Launch the application

Start the Micro Radiant application by clicking its icon. You will be immediately prompted with a screen to open or import a project.

Step 3: Installing our first plugin

By default, the Micro Radiant editor a limited set of functionality. To extend it, we can install Plugins. To create our first application, we will install the mrp-nsinit-plugin (nsinit is short for NS Initializer).

1. Navigate to the top menu
2. Select Settings
3. Select Plugins
4. Search for "nsinit"
5. Select and install net-democritus-nsinit-plugin
6. Restart

Step 4: Initialize a new project

Open the Micro Radiant and select initialize Project. In the new screen we will choose the location of our NS application.

1. Select location and navigate to the workspace folder you previously created
2. fill in euRent as folder name
3. Click Initialize Project

Step 5: Configuring our initialization step

The Application Project setup screen should be shown after initializing, we will now configure the default settings of our application.

The center panel of the screen allows you to input the core metadata for your application. We will use the following values, corresponding to the fields in the attached image:

Input Field	Value	Description
application	euRent	The application’s unique identifier.
applicationInstance	euRent	The name for this specific instance.
component	rentWork	Our main component for rental management.
groupld	org.normalizedsystems	Standard Maven naming convention for the project.
dockerImage	nsapp/euRent	The default Docker image name is automatically suggested based on the application name. Leave as default.

Step 6: Select optional features

The right panel lists various optional features and integrations for the project. Check or uncheck the boxes based on the required setup. The tutorial requires the following selections:

Feature	Check/Uncheck Status
jenkins	Unchecked (We will ignore external build pipeline settings for now.)
git	Unchecked (You can set this up manually later if required.)
gitFlow	Unchecked
sonar	Unchecked
modelValidation	Unchecked
baseComponents	Checked (Includes essential cross-cutting modules like account, assets, etc.)
Docker	Checked (To generate files to package the application as a Docker image.)
releasePromotion	Unchecked
scripts	Checked (To generate utility/demo scripts.)
aws	Unchecked
examples	Unchecked

Step 7: Save the project

After filling in all the required fields and selecting the desired options, click the main action button in the center of the screen:

• Click: Initialize Project

The system will now generate the complete directory structure, XML model definition files, configuration settings, and utility scripts in the euRent folder you prepared in Step 1.

You have successfully completed the first major step and established the foundational structure of your Normalized System application using the GUI.