Building a UML profile entails defining concepts required to cover a specific domain, and then, using stereotypes to map domain concepts onto UML metaclasses. Capture of domain concepts with an object-oriented language (like UML) may be inappropriate, and may impede the mapping, where more than two modeling levels are required. Use of only classes and objects may introduce accidental complexity into the domain model if other modeling levels (e.g. metatype level) are necessary. In such situations, a multilevel paradigm with deep characterization and deep instantiation is recommended to reduce complexity. However, this paradigm deserves to be further explored, and its value for definition of UML profiles assessed. We therefore propose a solution to put in practice the multi-level paradigm within a standard UML 2.x tool. Our solution involves a semi-automatic process that transforms a model annotated with multi-level characteristics into a profile-based implementation. Such automation lessens the gap between domain model and implementation and ensures consistency. As an example, we have taken an excerpt from the MARTE time profile. We then describe the new design opportunities inherent in our process and show how this process facilitates both domain specification and profile definition
