Linking Goal-Oriented Requirements and Model-Driven Development - Intentional Perspectives on Information Systems Engineering - page 255

Involved Constructs

GORE Language Metamodel MDD Language Metamodel

Instance Of Instance Of

Used To

GORE Model Initial MDD Model

+

Extra Information

Fig. 2 Basic goal-oriented requirements and MDD linking schema

aspects must be specified later in the refinement of the initial MDD model that is
obtained. Thus, the basic linking schema presented in Fig. 2 is the starting point of
our proposal. From this initial linking schema, we can state that it is possible to auto-
mate the generation of the MDD model by means of well-defined model-to-model
transformations, which are based on the metamodels of the modeling languages
involved. This automatic generation is possible by using model transformation tech-
nologies such as ATL [ 17] or QVT [31] . However the question of what happens to
the required extra information arises. If this extra information is not precisely repre-
sented, then the transformation rules cannot be automatically performed. This issue
is observed in proposals such as [ 1, 28] . In these proposals, guidelines to trans-
form goal-oriented models into software conceptual models are defined, but they
must be manually applied because of the lack of a proper mechanism to specify the
additional information required.
To solve this problem and to provide a well-defined input for the automatic
generation of a MDD model, we use metamodel extensions to represent the extra
information that is required. For the specification of these metamodel extensions,
we use a process that generates them automatically. This process is focused on pro-
viding standardized support for the integration of modeling languages, which is the
core of our linking proposal.

3.1 Automatic Generation of Metamodel Extensions

The process used for the generation of metamodel extensions (see Fig. 3) is based
on an approach that was originally defined in [ 10] to integrate UML and Domain-
Specific Modeling Languages (DSML) [ 24, 36] . This process proposes that the
abstract syntax of a source modeling language can be integrated into a target mod-
eling language through the automatic generation of specific metamodel extensions.
The automatic generation of these extensions also provides the information that
is essential for performing the interchange of the involved models by means of
model-to-model transformations.
The required metamodel extensions are defined by means of a UML profile,
which can be used to customize any metamodel that is defined according to the
MOF standard [ 30] , and not just the UML metamodel. The articles [ 4, 9] are good
references that explain the different metamodel extension mechanisms and UML
profiles, respectively.