A system and a method are provided for generating (28) a schema (22) for a relational database corresponding to a document having a document-type definition (18) and data complying with the document-type definition (18). The document-type definition (18) has content particles representative of the structure of the document data including one or more of the following content particles: elements, attributes of elements, nesting relationships between elements, grouping relationships between elements, schema (22) ordering indicators, existence indicators, occurrence indicators and element ID referencing indicators. The system and method described herein also contemplates loading the data into the relational database in a manner consistent with the relational schema (22). Metadata is extracting from the document-type definition (18) representative of the document-type definition (18). The schema (22) for the relational database is generated from the metadata, wherein at least one table is thereby defined in the relational database corresponding to at least one content particle of the document-type definition (18) via the metadata (34). The data is then loaded into the at least one table of the relational database according to the relational schema (22) in a manner driven by the metadata (34).

System and method for automatic loading of an xml document defined by a document-type definition into a relational database including the generation of a relational schema therefor

Since software systems need to be continuously available under varying conditions, their ability to evolve at runtime is increasingly seen as one key issue. Modern programming frameworks already provide support for dynamic adaptations. However the high-variability of features in Dynamic Adaptive Systems (DAS) introduces an explosion of possible runtime system configurations (often called modes) and mode transitions. Designing these configurations and their transitions is tedious and error-prone, making the system feature evolution difficult. While Aspect-Oriented Modeling (AOM) was introduced to improve the modularity of software, this paper presents how an AOM approach can be used to tame the combinatorial explosion of DAS modes. Using AOM techniques, we derive a wide range of modes by weaving aspects into an explicit model reflecting the runtime system. We use these generated modes to automatically adapt the system. We validate our approach on an adaptive middleware for home-automation currently deployed in Rennes metropolis.

https://www.irisa.fr/triskell/publis/2009/Morin09a.pdf

Taming Dynamically Adaptive Systems using models and aspects

A system and a method for synchronizing and updating a relational database with supplemental data in which the relational database has a set of tables defined by a relational schema. The supplemental data preferably comprises data in a tagged format having a document-type definition representative of the relational schema and is represented in a document object. The system and method preferably ensure record-by-record updating and synchronization of the relational database with the at least one proposed data update by receiving at least one proposed data update from a source external to the relational database; and propagating the received at least one proposed data update into the relational database. In this matter, the compliance with both the relational database relational schema and the tagged data document type definition is ensured without requiring reloading existing data in the relational database.

System and method for synchronizing and/or updating an existing relational database with supplemental XML data

Process modeling and rule modeling languages are both used to document organizational policies and procedures. To date, their synergies and overlap are under-researched. Understanding the relationship between the two modeling types would allow organizations to maximize synergies, avoid content duplication, and thus reduce their overall modeling effort. In this paper we use the Bunge-Wand-Weber (BWW) representation theory to compare the representation capabilities of process and rule modeling languages. We perform a representational analysis of four rule modeling specifications: The Simple Rule Markup Language (SRML), the Semantic Web Rules Language (SWRL), the Production Rule Representation (PRR) and the Semantics of Business Vocabulary and Business Rules (SBVR) specification. We compare their BWW representation capabilities with those of four popular conceptual process modeling languages. In our analysis we focus on the aspects of maximum ontological completeness and minimum ontological overlap. The outcome of this study shows that no single language is internally complete with respect to the BWW representation model. We also show that a combination of two languages, in particular SRML and BPMN, appears to be better suited for combined process and rule modeling than any of these modeling languages used independently.

Modeling Languages for Business Processes and Business Rules: A Representational Analysis

Web engineering is a new research line in software engineering that covers the definition of processes, techniques, and models suitable for Web environments in order to guarantee the quality of results. The research community is working in this area and, as a very recent line, they are assuming the Model-Driven paradigm to support and solve some classic problems detected in Web developments. However, there is a lack in Web requirements treatment. This paper presents a general vision of Navigational Development Techniques (NDT), which is an approach to deal with requirements in Web systems. It is based on conclusions obtained in several comparative studies and it tries to fill some gaps detected by the research community. This paper presents its scope, its most important contributions, and offers a global vision of its associated tool: NDT-Tool. Furthermore, it analyzes how Web Engineering can be applied in the enterprise environment. NDT is being applied in real projects and has been adopted by several companies as a requirements methodology. The approach offers a Web requirements solution based on a Model-Driven paradigm that follows the most accepted tendencies by Web engineering.

NDT. A Model-Driven Approach for Web Requirements

The use of different modeling languages in software development makes their integration a must. Most existing integration approaches are meta-model-based with these metamodels representing both an abstract syntax of the corresponding modeling language and also a data structure for storing models. This implementation specific focus, however, does not make explicit certain language concepts, which can complicate integration tasks. Hence, we propose a process which semi-automatically lifts metamodels into ontologies by making implicit concepts in the metamodel explicit in the ontology. Thus, a shift of focus from the implementation of a certain modeling language towards the explicit reification of the concepts covered by this language is made. This allows matching on a solely conceptual level, which helps to achieve better results in terms of mappings that can in turn be a basis for deriving implementation specific transformation code.

Lifting metamodels to ontologies : A step to the semantic integration of modeling languages

The use of different modeling languages in software development makes their integration a must. Most existing integration approaches are metamodel-based with these metamodels representing both an abstract syntax of the corresponding modeling language and also a data structure for storing models. This implementation specific focus, however, does not make explicit certain language concepts, which can complicate integration tasks. Hence, we propose a process which semi-automatically lifts metamodels into ontologies by making implicit concepts in the metamodel explicit in the ontology. Thus, a shift of focus from the implementation of a certain modeling language towards the explicit reification of the concepts covered by this language is made. This allows matching on a solely conceptual level, which helps to achieve better results in terms of mappings that can in turn be a basis for deriving implementation specific transformation code.

/pdf/lifting-metamodels-to-ontologies-a-step-to-the-semantic-1wpjx2iqvy.pdf

Lifting metamodels to ontologies: a step to the semantic integration of modeling languages

Relational databases get more and more employed in order to store the content of a web site. At the same time, XML is fast emerging as the dominant standard at the hypertext level of web site management describing pages and links between them. Thus, the integration of XML with relational database systems to enable the storage, retrieval and update of XML documents is of major importance. This paper presents X-Ray, a generic approach for integrating XML with relational database systems. The key idea is that mappings may be defined between XML DTDs and relational schemata while preserving their autonomy. This is made possible by introducing a meta schema and meta knowledge for resolving data model heterogeneity and schema heterogeneity. Since the mapping knowledge is not hard-coded but rather reified within the meta schema, maintainability and changeability is enhanced. The meta schema provides the basis for X-Ray to automatically compose XML documents out of the relational database when requested and decompose them when they have to be stored.

X-ray: towards integrating XML and relational database systems

With the rise of model-driven software development, more and more development tasks are being performed on models. Seamless exchange of models among different modeling tools increasingly becomes a crucial prerequisite for effective software development processes. Due to lack of interoperability, however, it is often difficult to use tools in combination, thus the potential of model-driven software development cannot be fully utilized. To tackle this problem, we propose ModelCVS, a system aiming at model-based tool integration. ModelCVS enables transparent transformation of models between different tools' languages and exchange formats, as well as versioning exploiting the rich syntax and semantics of models, thus going beyond existing low-level model transformation approaches. For this, ModelCVS utilizes semantic technologies in terms of ontologies and supports different integration patterns at the metamodel level. To foster reuse, a knowledge base captures essential information relevant for tool integration.

/pdf/towards-a-semantic-infrastructure-supporting-model-based-16fsc83w7j.pdf

Towards a semantic infrastructure supporting model-based tool integration

Metamodels are a prerequisite for model-driven engineering (MDE) in general and consequently for model-driven web engineering in particular. Various modeling languages, just as in the web engineering field, however, are not based on metamodels and standards but instead define proprietary languages rather focused on notational aspects. Thus, MDE techniques and tools can not be deployed for such languages. The WebML web modeling language is one example that does not yet rely on an explicit metamodel. Instead, it is implicitly defined within the accompanying tool in terms of a document type definition (DTD), i.e., a grammar-like textual definition for specifying the structure of XML documents. Code generation then has to rely on XSLT-based model-to-code transformations.In this paper, we propose a metamodel for WebML which is based on the Meta Object Facility (MOF). To establish such a metamodel a semi-automatic approach is provided that allows to generate MOF-based metamodels from DTDs. The metamodel for WebML accomplishes the following aims: First, it represents an initial step towards a transition to employing MDE techniques (e.g., model transformations or language extensions through profiles) within the WebML design methodology. Second, it represents an important step towards a common metamodel for Web modeling. Third, the provision of a MOF-based metamodel ensures interoperability with other MDE tools.

/pdf/bridging-existing-web-modeling-languages-to-model-driven-q0op0m19pt.pdf

Elisabeth Kapsammer

Papers

Lifting metamodels to ontologies : A step to the semantic integration of modeling languages

Lifting metamodels to ontologies: a step to the semantic integration of modeling languages

X-ray: towards integrating XML and relational database systems

Towards a semantic infrastructure supporting model-based tool integration

Bridging existing Web modeling languages to model-driven engineering: a metamodel for WebML