An Approach for Evolving Transformation Chains

Abstract

A transformation chain (TC) generates applications from high-level models that are defined in terms of problem domain concepts. The result is a low-level model that is rooted in the solution domain. The evolution of a TC is a complex and expensive endeavor since there are intricate dependencies between all its constituent parts. More specific, an evolution problem arises when we need to add an unanticipated concern (e.g., security) that does not fit the expressiveness of the high-level metamodel, because such an addition forces us to adapt existing assets (i.e., metamodels, models, and transformations). We present a solution that adds a new concern model to the TC, in an independent way.

This research was performed in the context of the Caramelos project (VLIR), the VariBru project (ISRIB), and the MoVES project (IAP, Belgian Science Policy).