Ontologies in domain specific languages : a systematic literature review

The systematic literature review conducted in this paper explores the current techniques employed to leverage the development of DSLs using ontologies. Similarities and differences between ontologies and DSLs, techniques to combine DSLs with ontologies, the rationale of these techniques and challenges in the DSL approaches addressed by the used techniques have been investigated. Details about these topics have been provided for each relevant research paper that we were able to investigate in the limited amount of time of one month. At the same time, a synthesis describing the main trends in all the topics mentioned above has been done

Defining Domain Language of Graphical User Interfaces

Domain-specific languages are computer (programming, modeling, specification) languages devoted to solving problems in a specific domain. The least examined DSL development phases are analysis and design. Various formal methodologies exist, however domain analysis is still done informally most of the time. There are also methodologies of deriving DSLs from existing ontologies but the presumption is to have an ontology for the specific domain. We propose a solution of a user interface driven domain analysis and we focus on how it can be incorporated into the DSL design phase. We will present the preliminary results of the DEAL prototype, which can be used to transform GUIs to DSL grammars incorporating concepts from a domain and thus to help in the preliminary phases of the DSL design

Defining the semantics of IT Service Management Models Using OWL and SWRL

Service management is a set of specialized organizational capabilities that provide value to customers in the form of services. Many organizations are aware of the need to adopt best practices in order to create an effective IT Service Management (ITSM) for enabling Business and IT integration. However, the reuse and interchange of service models is still quite limited in the area of IT service support due to the problems in connecting with natural language. In this context, this paper presents the ITIL-based Service Management Model aimed at capturing ITSM best practices by means of a formal ontology-based business DSL (Domain-Specific Language). We show how this DSL can be formally represented adopting the Web Ontology Language (OWL) and the Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL). This ontology will precisely define the semantics associated to IT service management models, enabling different tools to interchange them without ambiguities. These models will be defined just in terms of the business logic, without any architectural or platform-specific consideration. That is, according to the OMG's four-layered architecture, the proposed model could be placed at a CIM level

Automated modelling assistance by integrating heterogeneous information sources

Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) uses models as its main assets in the software development process. The structure of a model is described through a metamodel. Even though modelling and meta-modelling are recurrent activities in MDE and a vast amount of MDE tools exist nowadays, they are tasks typically performed in an unassisted way. Usually, these tools cannot extract useful knowledge available in heterogeneous information sources like XML, RDF, CSV or other models and meta-models. We propose an approach to provide modelling and meta-modelling assistance. The approach gathers heterogeneous information sources in various technological spaces, and represents them uniformly in a common data model. This enables their uniform querying, by means of an extensible mechanism, which can make use of services, e.g., for synonym search and word sense analysis. The query results can then be easily incorporated into the (meta-)model being built. The approach has been realized in the Extremo tool, developed as an Eclipse plugin. Extremo has been validated in the context of two domains { production systems and process modelling { taking into account a large and complex industrial standard for classi cation and product description. Further validation results indicate that the integration of Extremo in various modelling environments can be achieved with low e ort, and that the tool is able to handle information from most existing technological spacesThis work was supported by the Ministry of Education of 1256 Spain (FPU grant FPU13/02698); the Spanish MINECO (TIN2014-52129-R);1257 the R&D programme of the Madrid Region (S2013/ICE-3006); the Austrian 1258 agency for international mobility and cooperation in education, science and re1259 search (OeAD) by funds from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research 1260 and Economy - BMWFW (ICM-2016-04969

Use of domain-specific language in test automation

The primary aim of this research project was to investigate techniques to replace the complicated process of testing embedded systems in automotive domain. The multi-component domain was composed of different hardware to be used in testing procedure which increased the level of difficulty in testing for an operator. As a result, an existing semi-automated testing procedure was replaced by more simpler and efficient framework (ViBATA). A key step taken in this scenario was the replacement of manual GUI interface with the scriptable one to enhance the automation. This was achieved by building a Domain-specific language which allowed test definition in the form of human readable scripts which could be stored for later use. A DSL is a scripting language defined for a particular domain with compact expressiveness. In this case the domain is testing embedded systems in general and automotive systems in particular. The final product was a test case specification document in the form of XML as an output of generated code from this DSL which will be input to ViBATA to make test specification component automated. In this research a comparative analysis of existing DSLs for alternative domains and investigation of their applicability to the presented domain was also performed. The technologies used in this project are Xtext to define the DSL grammar, Xtend to generate code in Java and Simple framework to generate output in XML. The stages involved in DSL development and how these stages were implemented is covered in this thesis. The developed DSL for this domain is tested for automotive and calculator systems in this thesis which proved that this is more general and flexible. The DSL is consistent, efficient and automated test specification component of testing framework in embedded systems

Evolution specification evaluation in industrial MDSE ecosystems

Domain-specific languages (DSLs) allow users to model systems using concepts from a specific domain. Evolution of DSLs triggers co-evolution of models developed in these languages. When the number of models that needs to co-evolve increases, so does the required effort to do so. This is called the co-evolution problem. We have investigated the extent of the co-evolution problem at ASML [1], provider of lithography equipment for the semiconductor industry. Here we have described the structure and evolution of a large-scale ecosystem of DSLs. We have observed that due to the large number of artifacts that require coevolutionary activity, manual solutions have become unfeasible, and an automated approach is required. A popular approach for automating co-evolution is the operator-based approach. In this paper we have evaluated the operator-based approach on a large-scale industrial case-study of twenty-two DSLs and 95 model-to-model transformations with a revision history of over three years, and have revealed deficiencies in existing operator libraries. To address these deficiencies we have presented a topdown methodology to derive a complete set of operators

Proceedings of the 4th Workshop of the MPM4CPS COST Action

Proceedings of the 4th Workshop of the MPM4CPS COST Action with the presentations delivered during the workshop and papers with extended versions of some of them

Pristup integraciji tehničkih prostora zasnovan na preslikavanjima iinženjerstvu vođenom modelima

In order to automate development of integration adapters in industrial settings, a model-driven approach to adapter specification is devised. In this approach, a domain-specific modeling language is created to allow specification of mappings between integrated technical spaces. Also proposed is the mapping automation engine that comprises reuse and alignment algorithms. Based on mapping specifications, executable adapters are automatically generated and executed. Results of approach evaluations indicate that it is possible to use a model-driven approach to successfully integrate technical spaces and increase the automation by reusing domainspecific mappings from previously created adapters.За потребе повећања степена аутоматизације развоја адаптера за интеграцију у индустријском окружењу, осмишљен је моделом вођен приступ развоју адаптера. У оквиру овог приступа развијен је наменски језик за спецификацију пресликавања између техничких простора који су предмет интеграције. Приступ обухвата и алгоритме за поравнање и поновно искориштење претходно креираних пресликавања са циљем аутоматизације процеса спецификације. На основу креираних пресликавања, могуће je аутоматски генерисати извршиви код адаптера. У испитивањима приступа, показано је да је могуће успешно применити моделом вођен приступ у интеграцији техничких простора као и да је могуће успешно повећати степен аутоматизације поновним искоришћењем претходно креираних пресликавања.Za potrebe povećanja stepena automatizacije razvoja adaptera za integraciju u industrijskom okruženju, osmišljen je modelom vođen pristup razvoju adaptera. U okviru ovog pristupa razvijen je namenski jezik za specifikaciju preslikavanja između tehničkih prostora koji su predmet integracije. Pristup obuhvata i algoritme za poravnanje i ponovno iskorištenje prethodno kreiranih preslikavanja sa ciljem automatizacije procesa specifikacije. Na osnovu kreiranih preslikavanja, moguće je automatski generisati izvršivi kod adaptera. U ispitivanjima pristupa, pokazano je da je moguće uspešno primeniti modelom vođen pristup u integraciji tehničkih prostora kao i da je moguće uspešno povećati stepen automatizacije ponovnim iskorišćenjem prethodno kreiranih preslikavanja

HybridMDSD: Multi-Domain Engineering with Model-Driven Software Development using Ontological Foundations

Software development is a complex task. Executable applications comprise a mutlitude of diverse components that are developed with various frameworks, libraries, or communication platforms. The technical complexity in development retains resources, hampers efficient problem solving, and thus increases the overall cost of software production. Another significant challenge in market-driven software engineering is the variety of customer needs. It necessitates a maximum of flexibility in software implementations to facilitate the deployment of different products that are based on one single core. To reduce technical complexity, the paradigm of Model-Driven Software Development (MDSD) facilitates the abstract specification of software based on modeling languages. Corresponding models are used to generate actual programming code without the need for creating manually written, error-prone assets. Modeling languages that are tailored towards a particular domain are called domain-specific languages (DSLs). Domain-specific modeling (DSM) approximates technical solutions with intentional problems and fosters the unfolding of specialized expertise. To cope with feature diversity in applications, the Software Product Line Engineering (SPLE) community provides means for the management of variability in software products, such as feature models and appropriate tools for mapping features to implementation assets. Model-driven development, domain-specific modeling, and the dedicated management of variability in SPLE are vital for the success of software enterprises. Yet, these paradigms exist in isolation and need to be integrated in order to exhaust the advantages of every single approach. In this thesis, we propose a way to do so. We introduce the paradigm of Multi-Domain Engineering (MDE) which means model-driven development with multiple domain-specific languages in variability-intensive scenarios. MDE strongly emphasize the advantages of MDSD with multiple DSLs as a neccessity for efficiency in software development and treats the paradigm of SPLE as indispensable means to achieve a maximum degree of reuse and flexibility. We present HybridMDSD as our solution approach to implement the MDE paradigm. The core idea of HybidMDSD is to capture the semantics of particular DSLs based on properly defined semantics for software models contained in a central upper ontology. Then, the resulting semantic foundation can be used to establish references between arbitrary domain-specific models (DSMs) and sophisticated instance level reasoning ensures integrity and allows to handle partiucular change adaptation scenarios. Moreover, we present an approach to automatically generate composition code that integrates generated assets from separate DSLs. All necessary development tasks are arranged in a comprehensive development process. Finally, we validate the introduced approach with a profound prototypical implementation and an industrial-scale case study.Softwareentwicklung ist komplex: ausführbare Anwendungen beinhalten und vereinen eine Vielzahl an Komponenten, die mit unterschiedlichen Frameworks, Bibliotheken oder Kommunikationsplattformen entwickelt werden. Die technische Komplexität in der Entwicklung bindet Ressourcen, verhindert effiziente Problemlösung und führt zu insgesamt hohen Kosten bei der Produktion von Software. Zusätzliche Herausforderungen entstehen durch die Vielfalt und Unterschiedlichkeit an Kundenwünschen, die der Entwicklung ein hohes Maß an Flexibilität in Software-Implementierungen abverlangen und die Auslieferung verschiedener Produkte auf Grundlage einer Basis-Implementierung nötig machen. Zur Reduktion der technischen Komplexität bietet sich das Paradigma der modellgetriebenen Softwareentwicklung (MDSD) an. Software-Spezifikationen in Form abstrakter Modelle werden hier verwendet um Programmcode zu generieren, was die fehleranfällige, manuelle Programmierung ähnlicher Komponenten überflüssig macht. Modellierungssprachen, die auf eine bestimmte Problemdomäne zugeschnitten sind, nennt man domänenspezifische Sprachen (DSLs). Domänenspezifische Modellierung (DSM) vereint technische Lösungen mit intentionalen Problemen und ermöglicht die Entfaltung spezialisierter Expertise. Um der Funktionsvielfalt in Software Herr zu werden, bietet der Forschungszweig der Softwareproduktlinienentwicklung (SPLE) verschiedene Mittel zur Verwaltung von Variabilität in Software-Produkten an. Hierzu zählen Feature-Modelle sowie passende Werkzeuge, um Features auf Implementierungsbestandteile abzubilden. Modellgetriebene Entwicklung, domänenspezifische Modellierung und eine spezielle Handhabung von Variabilität in Softwareproduktlinien sind von entscheidender Bedeutung für den Erfolg von Softwarefirmen. Zur Zeit bestehen diese Paradigmen losgelöst voneinander und müssen integriert werden, damit die Vorteile jedes einzelnen für die Gesamtheit der Softwareentwicklung entfaltet werden können. In dieser Arbeit wird ein Ansatz vorgestellt, der dies ermöglicht. Es wird das Multi-Domain Engineering Paradigma (MDE) eingeführt, welches die modellgetriebene Softwareentwicklung mit mehreren domänenspezifischen Sprachen in variabilitätszentrierten Szenarien beschreibt. MDE stellt die Vorteile modellgetriebener Entwicklung mit mehreren DSLs als eine Notwendigkeit für Effizienz in der Entwicklung heraus und betrachtet das SPLE-Paradigma als unabdingbares Mittel um ein Maximum an Wiederverwendbarkeit und Flexibilität zu erzielen. In der Arbeit wird ein Ansatz zur Implementierung des MDE-Paradigmas, mit dem Namen HybridMDSD, vorgestellt

Deployment and Operation of Complex Software in Heterogeneous Execution Environments

This open access book provides an overview of the work developed within the SODALITE project, which aims at facilitating the deployment and operation of distributed software on top of heterogeneous infrastructures, including cloud, HPC and edge resources. The experts participating in the project describe how SODALITE works and how it can be exploited by end users. While multiple languages and tools are available in the literature to support DevOps teams in the automation of deployment and operation steps, still these activities require specific know-how and skills that cannot be found in average teams. The SODALITE framework tackles this problem by offering modelling and smart editing features to allow those we call Application Ops Experts to work without knowing low level details about the adopted, potentially heterogeneous, infrastructures. The framework offers also mechanisms to verify the quality of the defined models, generate the corresponding executable infrastructural code, automatically wrap application components within proper execution containers, orchestrate all activities concerned with deployment and operation of all system components, and support on-the-fly self-adaptation and refactoring