Context-Driven Model Refinement

An important drive for Model-Driven Architecture is that many software applications have to be deployed on a variety of platforms. The platform is considered to be part of the general context in which the software runs. Using software models, e.g. described in the Unified Modeling Language (UML), one can abstract from specific platforms. A software model can then be transformed to a refined model, given the context in which it should run. In current MDSD approaches, the model transformations implicitly represent this platform – or context – model. Therefore, the number of different target platforms/contexts is limited to the number of supported model transformations.

We propose a separate platform model, written in OWL-DL, that can can be used to automatically select and configure a number of reusable model transformations for a concrete platform. This platform model is integrated with an existing context ontology. The platform model can be extended to describe the relevant platform information, including concrete platform instances as well as platform constraints for each model transformation. Since the model transformations are no longer limited to targeting one platform, more platforms can be supported with the same set of transformations.

To bring the model transformations and platform models together, we propose to augment an existing technique for configuration management with platform models. Domain-Specific Modelling is a technique that can be used to model software configurations. Software configurations are described in a domain-specific configuration language. The configuration rules are typically represented by the configuration language meta-model.

Since the configuration of an MDA-based build framework involves the choice of model transformations, these model transformations are represented in the configuration language meta-model as meta-classes. We annotate each of these meta-classes with one or more platform constraints. In this way, we can determine the platform constraints for each model transformation, but also for each configuration – or combination – of model transformations. This is done by reflection on the meta-classes that have been used to define a configuration model. An automatic reasoner can be used to determine which configuration of model transformations forms the closest match to a concrete platform. It can also verify whether a concrete platform satisfies a configuration of model transformations.

• Dennis Wagelaar

The following literature explains the idea behind Context-Driven Model Refinement in more detail:

• Wagelaar, D. and Jonckers, V. Explicit Platform Models for MDA. Proceedings of the ACM/IEEE 8th International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems (MoDELS 2005), Montego Bay, Jamaica, October 2005 - LNCS 3713, November 2005, pp. 367-381. (C) Springer-Verlag. ISBN/ISSN: 0302-9743 [ download paper ]

• Wagelaar, D. Context-Driven Model Refinement. Proceedings of the MDAFA 2004 workshop, Linköping, Sweden, June 2004 - LNCS 3599, August 2005, pp. 189-203. (C) Springer-Verlag. ISBN/ISSN: 0302-9743 [ download paper ]

• Preuveneers, D., Van Den Bergh, J., Wagelaar, D., Georges, A., Rigole, P., Clerckx, T., Berbers, Y., Coninx, K., Jonckers, V. and De Boscchere, K. Towards an extensible context ontology for Ambient Intelligence. Proceedings of the Second European Symposium on Ambient Intelligence (EUSAI 2004), Eindhoven, The Netherlands, November 2004 - LNCS 3295, pp. 148-159. (C) Springer-Verlag. ISBN/ISSN: 0302-9743 [ download paper ]

• PlatformKit - a platform modelling and platform dependency management toolkit for MDA.

• Model-Driven Case Studies
• Platform Ontologies

• Almeida, J.P.A., Dijkman, R.M., van Sinderen, M. and Pires L.F. On the notion of abstract platform in MDA development. Proceedings of the 8th International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference (EDOC 2004), Monterey, CA, USA, September 2004, pp 253–263. (C) IEEE Computer Society.

• Tekinerdoğan, B., Bilir, S. and Abatlevi, C. Integrating platform selection rules in the model driven architecture approach. Model Driven Architecture: European MDA Workshops: Foundations and Applications, MDAFA 2003 and MDAFA 2004, Enschede, The Netherlands, June 2003 and Linköping, Sweden, June 2004. Revised Selected Papers - LNCS 3295, pp. 159–173. (C) Springer-Verlag. ISBN/ISSN: 0302-9743

• Meng, W.J., Rilling, J., Zhang, Y., Witte, R. and Charland, P. An ontological software comprehension process model. Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on Metamodels, Schemas, Grammars, and Ontologies for Reverse Engineering (ATEM 2006), Genoa, Italy, October 2006.

• Bézivin, J., Devedžić, V., Djurić, D., Favreau, J., Gašević, D. and Jouault, F. An m3-neutral infrastructure for bridging model engineering and ontology engineering. Proceedings of the First International Conference on Interoperability of Enterprise Software and Applications (INTEROP-ESA’05) Geneva, Switzerland, February 2005. (C) Springer-Verlag.

• Czarnecki, K., Helsen, S. and Eisenecker, U.W. Staged configuration through specialization and multilevel configuration of feature models. Software Process: Improvement and Practice 10(2), pp. 143–169. Special Issue on Software Product Lines.

• Deursen, A.v. and Klint, P. Domain-specific language design requires feature descriptions. Journal of Computing and Information Technology 10(1), 1–17.