As described in the Ecore page, Ecore models consists of EPackages containing EClassifiers (EClasses and EDataTypes) containing EStructuralFeatures (EAttributes and EReferences) and EOperations, and possibly with EAnnotations. This structure is stored (serialized to) files with the "ecore" extension, i.e. ending in ".ecore". Eclipse has a file creation wizard for Ecore models that lets you create such files. It will then open it in the default tree-based Ecore editor, so you can build the structure of Ecore model elements. However, there are you alternatives you should also consider, to make editing more comfortable and efficient. Below we'll describe the default editor and some of the alternatives.

The default tree-based Ecore editor

The default Ecore editor provides tree-based editing of the main hierarchical structure of Ecore model elements, with commands for creating, deleting, copying and pasting elements, and a property sheet for editing details. The latter is shown in the standard Properties view outside the editor itself. An example of the editor and Properties view is show right. The root node represents the file, it contains an EPackage containing three EClasses.