Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Metamodel

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of Database Systems

Synonyms

Meta model

Definition

A metamodel is a model that consists of statements about models. Hence, a metamodel is also a model but its universe of discourse is a set of models, namely those models that are of interest to the creator of the metamodel. In the context of information systems, a metamodel contains statements about the constructs used in models about information systems. The statements in a metamodel can define the constructs or can express true and desired properties of the constructs. Like models are abstractions of some reality, metamodels are abstractions of models. The continuation of the abstraction leads to meta metamodels, being models of metamodels containing statements about metamodels. Metamodeling is the activity of designing metamodels (and metametamodels). Metamodeling is applied to design new modeling languages and to extend existing modeling languages.

A second sense of the term metamodel is the specification of the generation of mathematical models, in...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 2,500.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Recommended Reading

  1. Abrial J.R. Data semantics. In Database Management. In Proc. IFIP Working Conf. on Database Management, 1974, pp. 1–60.

    Google Scholar 

  2. American National Standard Institute. American National Standard X3.138-1988, Information Resource Dictionary System (IRDS). American National Standard Institute, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bailey J.W. and Basili V.R. A Meta-model for software development resource expenditures. In Proc. 5th Int. Conf. on Software Eng., 1981, pp. 107–116.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Jeusfeld M.A., Jarke M., Nissen H.W., and Staudt M. Managing conceptual models about information systems. In Handbook on Architectures of Information Systems, P. Bernus, K. Mertins, G. Schmidt (eds.). 2nd edn., Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, 2006, pp. 273–294.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Object Management Group. Meta Object Facility (MOF) Specification, Version 1.4. April 2002. Available at: http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/mof.htm.

  6. Object Management Group. Object Constraint Language, OMG Available Specification Version 2.0. May 2006. Available at: http://www.omg.org/cgi-bin/doc?formal/2006-05-01.

  7. Scheer A.-W. and Schneider K. ARIS – Architecture of integrated information systems. In Handbook on Architectures of Information Systems, P. Bernus, K. Mertins, G. Schmidt (eds.).2nd edn., Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, 2006, pp. 605–623.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Terrasse M.-N., Savonnet M., Leclercq E., Grison T., and Becker G. Do we need metamodels and ontologies for engineering platforms? In Proc. 2006 Int. Workshop on Global Integrated Model Management, 2006, pp. 21–28.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Tolvanen J.-P. MetaEdit+: integrated modeling and metamodeling environment for domain-specific languages. In Proc. 21st ACM SIGPLAN Conf. on Object-Oriented Programming Systems, Languages & Applications, 2006, pp. 690–691.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands

    Manfred A. Jeusfeld

Authors
  1. Manfred A. Jeusfeld
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, 266 Ferst Drive, 30332-0765, Atlanta, GA, USA

    LING LIU (Professor) (Professor)

  2. Database Research Group David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    M. TAMER ÖZSU (Professor and Director, University Research Chair) (Professor and Director, University Research Chair)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this entry

Cite this entry

Jeusfeld, M.A. (2009). Metamodel. In: LIU, L., ÖZSU, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-39940-9_898

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation