Meta-model based generation of domain-specific modeling tools
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Date
2019
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Abstract
Today software development often depends on the communication between
different shareholders with various professional backgrounds. Domain
specific languages (DSL) aim to close the semantic gap between these
shareholders by providing a common method for communication. When using
meta-tooling suites or language workbenches it is quiet easy to create
DSLs for small scenarios or even for single use. But with the more
frequent use of DSLs the need for domain-specific tooling has also
risen.
This dissertation deals with the challenges of creating domain-specific
modeling tools using high-level specification languages via code
generation. It focuses on three important elements of domain-specific
tool generation such as: specification languages, the tool generation
process and the generation of domain-specific APIs, for amplifying the
development of plug-ins for the generated tool, which are the main
contributions of this dissertation.
The first main contribution focuses on the formalization of the
specification languages. It is illustrated by detailing the three
specification languages of the meta-tooling suite. The second main
contribution introduces the product generation process, which is used to
create domain-specific modeling tools from the high-level domain
specific languages, defined in the first contribution. The approach is
illustrated by the [ product generation process]{} (), which defines the
necessary steps to produce a standalone modeling tool in the
meta-tooling suite. The third main contribution of this dissertation is
the generation of a domain-specific API based on the same high-level
descriptions used for the product generation. It uses information
present at generation time to create specific operations that are useful
for transformations on graph-models (such as typed successor/predecessor
or containment relationships). Therefore the API generation of any
product is generated during the execution of the . The API makes it easy
to develop any extensions for the product due to its domain-specific
nature and the ability to resemble user actions in the generated
editors.
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Keywords
Domain-specific modeling tools, Meta-modeling, Code generation, DSL