Keywords: By-Example, model transformation, metamodel, automatic transformation, GMF
Astract: Many of the existing approaches for model transformation are metamodel-based and thus require detailed knowledge of the corresponding concepts and syntax. A solution often consists of a complete set of rules, which map meta elements between domains. These rules have to be provided by a third-party or the user herself. The latter case requires high levels of familiarity with both metamodels.
Model Transformation By-Example (MTBE) introduces a new concept. It enables the user to make use of her existing knowledge of the syntax and notation at the M1 level by deriving the rules automatically from mappings on the instance of a metamodel. The result of these generated rules and therefore the level of completeness can be applied continuously during the process and may lead to an iterative way of de ning the necessary mappings. To be able to generate a complete rule set, the suggested framework is able to provide an extension mechanism to alter the behaviour of the whole analysing component.
This work proposes the implementation of an MTBE-based framework on top of the Graphical Modeling Framework (GMF). The framework is realized by utilising the plug-in capabilities of Eclipse. The graphical components used to create the diagrams and mappings are realized through a GMF editor. An extensible analyser is applied to translate those mappings to the next abstraction level and to provide a weaving model as well as a set of ATL (Atlas Transformation Language) rules for later use in transforming models in both directions.
The core of the analyser consists of three algorithms, which provide the basic logic and can be extended to handle additional domains. The Eclipse mechanism through extension points is used to provide this capability. For testing and demonstration purposes two GMF Editors were developed, one for UML class diagrams and one for the ER domain.

Keywords: Model Driven Software Development, Model Transformation, GMF, By-Example
Astract: Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) is getting more and more attention as a viable alternative to the traditional code-centric software development paradigm.
With its progress, several model transformation approaches and languages have been developed in the past years. Most of these approaches are metamodel-based and therefore require knowledge of the abstract syntax of the modeling languages, which in contrast is not necessary for defining domain models using the concrete syntax of the respective languages.
To cope with shortcomings of current model transformation approaches we propose Model Transformation By-Example (MTBE), which is based on the by-example paradigm. Our approach allows the user to define semantic correspondences between concrete syntax elements with the help of special mapping operators. This is more user-friendly than directly specifying model transformation rules and mappings on the metamodel level. In general, the user's knowledge about the notation of the modeling language and the meaning of mapping operators is sufficient for the definition of model transformations. The definition of mapping operators is subject to extension, which has been applied for the definition of mapping operators for the structural and the behavioral modeling domain. But to keep things transparent and user-friendly, only a minimal set of mapping operators has been implemented. To compensate for the additional expressiveness inherent in common model transformation languages we apply reasoning algorithms on the models represented in concrete as well as in abstract syntax and on the metamodels to generate adequate transformation code.
In order to fulfill the requirements for a user-friendly application of MTBE, proper tool support and methods to guide the mapping and model transformation generation tasks are a must. Hence, a framework for MTBE was designed that builds on state-of-the-art MDE tools on the Eclipse platform, such as the Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF), the Graphical Modeling Framework (GMF), the Atlas Transformation Language (ATL), and the Atlas Model Weaver (AMW). The decision to base our implementation on top of Eclipse and further Eclipse projects was driven by the fact, that there is a huge community we can address with our MTBE plug-in.
Finally, we evaluate our approach by means of two case studies in the areas of structural as well as behavioral modeling languages.

Keywords: Model Transformation, Business Process Models
Astract: Owing to company mergers and business to business interoperability, there is a need for model transformation in the area of business process modeling to facilitate model integration and model synchronisation. This need arises, on one hand, from the fact that there are many different business process modeling formalisms, for example the ADONIS Standard Modeling Method , UML 2.1 Activity Diagram, Event-driven Process Chains Method, and, the Business Process Modeling Notation.
These formalisms provide different ways to express and represent the same aspects of business process modeling. On the other hand, existing model transformation approaches, like ATL, QVT, and Fujaba, use very general concepts for transforming models for different purposes.
However, recurring structures have been observed when transforming models in the area of business process modeling. This leads to the assumption, that there are similar transformation problems in a distinct area. These recurring structures, however, are only inadequately supported by existing transformation approaches.
This thesis analyzes the different ways of how business process modeling aspects are represented in various business process modeling formalisms.
Furthermore, existing transformation approaches are evaluated concerning their suitability for transforming models in the area of business process modeling. Based on this evaluation, special requirements and solutions for model transformations in the area of business process modeling are derived. These solutions lead to the construction of the Model Morphing approach, which consists of an integrated metamodel and morphing methods which operate based on this metamodel. The Model Morphing approach makes it possible to concentrate on the specific transformation problems within a distinct domain. Furthermore, it reuses existing model transformation approaches and reduces the need for excellent programming skills when defining model transformations.

Keywords:
Astract: Ubiquitous web applications (UWA) are a new type of web applications which are accessed in various contexts, i.e. through different devices, by users with various interests, at anytime from anyplace around the globe. For such full-fledged, complex software systems, a methodologically sound engineering approach in terms of model-driven engineering (MDE) is crucial. Several modeling approaches have already been proposed that capture the ubiquitous nature of web applications, each of them having different origins, pursuing different goals and providing a pantheon of concepts. This paper aims to give an in-depth comparison of seven modeling approaches supporting the development of UWAs. This methodology is conducted by applying a detailed set of evaluation criteria and by demonstrating its applicability on basis of an exemplary tourism web application. In particular, five commonly found ubiquitous scenarios are investigated, thus providing initial insight into the modeling concepts of each approach as well as to facilitate their comparability. The results gained indicate that many modeling approaches lack a proper MDE foundation in terms of meta-models and tool support. The proposed modeling mechanisms for ubiquity are often limited, since they neither cover all relevant context factors in an explicit, self-contained, and extensible way, nor allow for a wide spectrum of extensible adaptation operations. The provided modeling concepts frequently do not allow dealing with all different parts of a web application in terms of its content, hypertext, and presentation levels as well as their structural and behavioral features. Finally, current modeling approaches do not reflect the crosscutting nature of ubiquity but rather intermingle context and adaptation issues with the core parts of a web application, thus hampering maintainability and extensibility. Different from other surveys in the area of modeling web applications, this paper specifically considers modeling concepts for their ubiquitous nature, together with an investigation of available support for MDD in a comprehensive way, using a well-defined as well as fine-grained catalogue of more than 30 evaluation criteria.

Keywords: data migration, information integration
Astract: Due to economical and technological progress, it is necessary to build not only iso-lated systems, but systems of systems, e.g., when companies merge. Most of these systems are based on digital information resources such as relational databases. In order to build successful systems of systems, ways have to be found to ensure the reliability and the efficient development of such systems.
One major topic in building systems of systems is concerned with the integration of data, which is getting more and more important in most business areas. For example companies, which have to integrate other companies because of a takeover or just because of a cooperation, and platforms, which make their business by providing consistent information from different resources, which may have different structures and formats, have to deal with a wide and sophisticated range of integration and migration problems.
In this thesis, the topic of information integration in general and especially of data migration is examined. By this, problem areas are discovered and the state-of-the-art migration technology and process is pointed out. The state-of-the-art data migration process is then applied on a practical example to gather experience and to demon-strate the applicability of this process.
An important aspect of data migration is the reliability and the correctness of such a solution. In order to ensure these properties, a new process which uses a test-driven approach by extending the state-of-the-art process is presented. The crucial point of test-driven approaches is the creation of significant test cases which are a prerequisite for the success of the migration solution. Therefore, a framework called TeCa-4-DaMi (Test Cases for Data Migration) is developed which especially focuses on the systematic development of test cases.

Keywords:
Astract: Today not only the world but also the requirements for computer-based applications change permanently. In addition to these requirements, the development of technologies and tools also continues. Modern and object-oriented technologies, such as UML and Java meet today's high standards.
Distributed systems and web applications respectively represent a wide field in software development. In relation to UML, an excellent way to develop such systems is the object-oriented programming language Java, or more precisely the Java Enterprise Edition. This topic, however, has been thoroughly discussed in [Soko07].
Further tools of today's projects are integrated development environments. When we think of Java software development we can find the project "eclipse" [Ecli08] being a very popular and freely accessible development environment. The advantage of this particular development environment is a distinctive plugin management which allows the project to be easily upgraded.
This thesis evaluates projects and plugins respectively for the development environment "eclipse" which support UML 2.0 and therefore assist in the development.
Furthermore, this thesis assesses whether the tested plugins allow an automated code generation by exemplifying an application.
Finally, this thesis shall also find cost-efficient alternatives to the development environments by IBM (IBM Rational Application Developer [IBM08]) and Omondo (Eclipse Uml [Omon08]).

Keywords: Web applications, Web modeling, Model, Metamodel, Transformation, WebML, OO-H, UWE, ATL
Astract: Web applications changed enormously over the last decades. The first generation provided information retrieval by means of static Web sites. Already the second generation opened a new dimension, where Web applications are not only seen as medium for representing information, but also provide multifaceted services. This change, though, requires technical improvement, such that the static Web sites may be supported through dynamic software systems. The increase in the development effort of Web applications created the need of supporting the development by using model-based development methods and specific Web modeling languages. Model-based software development has gained considerable importance by means of the Model Driven Architecture (MDA) initiative. In general, MDA tends to standardize the modeling languages from different fields for establishing interoperability among different modeling tools. Currently, however, MDA is seen as a vision, since the required basis for its realization is not available yet. Also the Web Engineering field is affected by MDA, because the existing Web modeling methods are not completely model driven in terms of MDA. Metamodels for the Web modeling languages and the model transformations are missing for assuring model exchange among Web modeling tools.
This work aims at implementing a first solution for the interoperability problem among the different Web modeling tools. The central research question is: Is an information loss free exchange of models between the Web modeling tools feasible?

Keywords: Schema Mapping, Information Integration, Schema Heterogeneity, Schema Matching, Machine Learning, Self-Tuning System
Astract: Information integration has a long history in computer science.
It has started with the integration of database schemas in the early eighties. With the rise of the semantic web and the emerging abundance of ontologies, the need for an automatic information integration increased further.
Information integration in general and automatic information integration in particular is a huge and challenging research area. One of the main problems is handling semantic heterogeneity and schema heterogeneity.
Manually finding the semantically overlapping parts of schemas is a tedious problem. Furthermore, writing integration code is a labor intensive, error-prone, and cumbersome task. A lot of approaches have already been developed to automate this work. Nevertheless, not all integration problems have been solved so far.
Matching tools are used to automatically find similarities between schemas. The results of these tools are simple correspondences. Based on these correspondences, one is able to write integration code. However, the simple correspondences are just suggestions and must be verified manually. Hence, the completeness and correctness of the resulting correspondences may not be assured. Furthermore, it is not possible to automatically derive transformation code for all found simple correspondences.
In order to write transformation code, different kinds of transformation languages have been developed. The produced code is too customized for a specific type of schema to be easily reused for other integration problems. Hence, to the best of our knowledge, there exists no transformation language to develop reusable transformation patterns for different kinds of heterogeneity problems.
This thesis addresses the heterogeneity problems, as well as the lack of reusable transformation code, and the need for establishing correct and complete correspondences between schemas.
The first two problems are tackled by developing an executable declarative mapping language, which is able to cope with the core of schema heterogeneity problems. In contrast to simple correspondences, this mapping language is able to express more constraints. Based on these more expressive mappings, the execution code is automatically derived.
The third problem is tackled by a self-tuning, iterative matching approach. This approach is based on the developed mapping language.
Mapping strategies are responsible for the application of mapping operators. Based on the executable mapping suggestion, completeness and correctness are achieved for a provided set of instance models by a test-driven approach. These instance models are used to evaluate the produced mapping model. The prototype of this self-tuning approach is called SmartMatcher.

Keywords: Health Level 7, Clinical Document Architecture, XML Schema, Schematron, XQuery, Constraint Checking, Didactics
Astract: There are a variety of different sources where electronic healthcare information may be produced, such as equipment measuring parameters of the human body or personnel entering patient information into a healthcare information application.
Representing healthcare information electronically allows to exchange information quickly utilizing all of information technology's advantages. One of the keys for electronic healthcare information exchange is a common format to represent information, such as it is specified through healthcare standards.
Regardless of the source of information, there are different possibilities where healthcare information may result into erroneous or faulty information.
The source of erroneous information may be physical equipment producing wrong results, as well as a human entering wrong information into an information system.
Having healthcare information available electronically, and moreover represented in a common format such as it is specified through healthcare standards, allows the processing of information using healthcare information applications.
Therefore, one of the goals of this thesis is to identify different sources in healthcare information processing where erroneous information may occur. Based on these findings, notations are identified that may be used to define constraints. The purpose of constraints is to allow the definition of rules, which may then be applied to healthcare information, in order to discover inconsistent and erroneous parts thereof. Furthermore, different technologies, including hardware and software, are described which may be used to apply constraints.
With the necessary theoretical background and technology, a fictional scenario is described. The purpose of the scenario is to illustrate different approaches to define and apply constraints to evaluate the quality and consistency of healthcare information. In particular, three different approaches are implemented and illustrated. It is then shown how constraint notations and the technology to apply constraints may support didactics in the healthcare area. The results found during the implementation and illustration of three different approaches are then evaluated, compared, and described. The findings include characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of each of the approaches taken. It is found that not all constraint notations and technologies are capable to define and apply constraints in order to discover erroneous healthcare information. However, even though certain technologies show limits, they have other advantages such as the configuration of a hardware device instead of creating an entire software application.
Finally, the conclusion of this thesis points to further areas where exploratory work is needed, but which has been beyond the scope of this thesis.

Keywords: mde, mda, aom, aop, oaw, gmf, emf, gef
Astract: Model Driven Engineering (MDE) and Aspect Oriented Software Development (AOSD) are among what is to be said 'the next big thing'.
Despite their youth, both approaches already show their value to the software engineering community manifold and gain more and more attention as well in other domains. Recently, the web modeling language WebML, an academic method that is supported by the commercial tool WebRatio, has been extended with concepts from the aspect-orientation paradigm. The resulting aspectWebML modeling language, allows for separately modeling crosscutting concerns such as customization for context-aware web applications, from the rest of the applications functionality. Currently aspectWebML is supported by a simple tree-based modeling editor built upon the Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF), only. While such EMF editors have been around for some time and proved their usefulness, their clumsy handling certainly does not address the modelers' needs.
The primary objective of this work is to propose an Graphical Integrated Develoment Environment (IDE) for allowing to develop web applications with aspectWebML in the sense of MDE. In this respect, a major focus is placed on integrating views that support the user in modeling and quickly absorbing aspect-orientation-related interconnections between elements, being at the very core of the aspectWebML language.
Furthermore, some technologies that build the foundation for GMFs success, i.e. EMF and the code generation framework openArchitectureWare (OAW), are to be used in the next step to construct basic model transformation and code generation facilites for aspectWebML that can be easily plugged into the IDE. The ultimate goal is to show how building an integrated toolset for custom metamodels can be done efficiently with current (open source) technologies.