Model Sharing Framework

During System Development Life Cycle, especially the adoption of Model Driven Development in industry, many kinds of essentially interrelated models are produced. Oftentimes, such as modeling or documentation, in order to make the model information more comprehensive, and to maintain the consistence between models, people like to put the several kinds of models together, so one model often needs to refer others.Thus, model information sharing and interoperability are the urgent need in modeling field. Although people have worked out several solutions, these solutions cannot completely solve the problems. The challenge here is that it is very hard to make tools present and operate the models created by other modeling tools, namely, hard to share the model information between different models, especially in graphical diagram approach. On the other hand, current technologies cannot handle most significant characters of model, relationship, properly; they lack the necessary mechanism to maintain relationships between model elements.To address the challenges stated above, Model Sharing Framework (MSF) is proposed. MSF is based on Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) and Graphical Editing Framework (GEF). There are two core technologies in MSF, Model Linking and Embedding (MLE) and Traceability Model. MLE is a model integration technology, as well as a tool integration technology, which allows for creating model elements within one modeling tool and then linking or embedding them into the model created by other tools. Traceability Model addresses two issues, cross model relationship manipulation and cross model navigation.In MSF, we proposed a mechanism and model structure to support foreign model elements linking and embedding. These mechanisms include modellet management mechanism, linking & embedding mechanism, and MLE framework. By grouping the model, view, control parts of element into modellet, MSF provides an element centered view of modeling tools. In Traceability Model, we proposed a mechanism and model structure to support construction and visualization of extensible traceability information model.By using MSF, developers can implement a new kind of open modeling tools, which can present and edit the model elements that defined in other MSF compatible tools. At the same time, the user can edit the model elements in foreign tools as if in the original tools.