Controlling Meta-Model Extensibility in Model-Driven Engineering

Model-driven engineering (MDE) considers the systematic use of models in software development. A model must be specified through a well-defined modeling language with precise syntax and semantics. In MDE, this syntax is defined by a meta-model. While meta-models tend to be fixed, there are several scenarios that require the customization of existing meta-models. For example, standards of the object management group (OMG) like the knowledge discovery meta-model (KDM) or the diagram definition (DD) are based on the extension of base meta-models according to certain rules. However, these rules are not “operational”but are described in natural language and therefore not supported by tools. Although modeling is an activity regulated by meta-models, currently there are no commonly accepted mechanisms to regulate how meta-models can be extended. Hence, in order to solve this problem, we propose a mechanism that allows specifying customization and extension rules for meta-models, as well as a tool that makes it possible to customize the meta-models according to such rules. The tool is based on the Eclipse modeling framework, has been implemented as an Eclipse plugin, and has been validated to guide the extension of OMG standard meta-models, such as KDM and DD.