Ontological Metamodeling with Explicit Instantiation

Alfons Laarman; Ivan Ivanov

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-12107-4_14

Ontological Metamodeling with Explicit Instantiation

Alfons Laarman, Ivan Ivanov

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

660 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Model Driven Engineering (MDE) is a promising paradigm for software development. It raises the level of abstraction in software development by treating models as primary artifacts. The practical application of this paradigm is seriously endangered by the current weak modeling foundation of the approach. The definition of a metamodel is a recurring task in MDE and requires sound and formal support. The lack of such support causes deficiencies such as conceptual anomalies in the modeling languages, limited applicability of model transformations, and limited reuse of model libraries. From philosophical point of view metamodels can be seen as ontological commitments. Metalanguages have to provide constructs for building ontological theories as a base for modeling languages. This paper describes a new metalanguage derived from the study of Formal Ontology. This metalanguage raises the level of abstraction of metamodels from pure abstract syntax to semantics descriptions based on ontologies. Thus the language developers can make conscious choices for their modeling concepts and can explicitly define important relations such as instantiation and generalization. With this metalanguage we aim at a precise conceptual and formal foundation for metamodeling.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Software Language Engineering
Subtitle of host publication	Second International Conference, SLE 2009, Denver, CO, USA, October 5-6, 2009, Revised Selected Papers
Editors	Mark van den Brand, Dragan Gašević, Jeff Gray
Place of Publication	Berlin, Heidelberg
Publisher	Springer
Pages	174-183
Number of pages	10
ISBN (Electronic)	978-3-642-12107-4
ISBN (Print)	978-3-642-12106-7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12107-4_14
Publication status	Published - Jan 2010
Event	2nd International Confence on Software Language Engineering, SLE 2009 - Denver, United States Duration: 5 Oct 2009 → 6 Oct 2009 Conference number: 2

Publication series

Name	Lecture Notes in Computer Science
Publisher	Springer
Volume	5969
ISSN (Print)	0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)	1611-3349

Conference

Conference	2nd International Confence on Software Language Engineering, SLE 2009
Abbreviated title	SLE
Country/Territory	United States
City	Denver
Period	5/10/09 → 6/10/09

Keywords

MDE
MDA
CR-I.2.5
Language Engineering
SE-MDA: Model Driven Architecture
Meta-modeling

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-642-12107-4_14

Laarman2009ontologicalAccepted author version, 181 KB

Cite this

Laarman, A., & Ivanov, I. (2010). Ontological Metamodeling with Explicit Instantiation. In M. van den Brand, D. Gašević, & J. Gray (Eds.), Software Language Engineering: Second International Conference, SLE 2009, Denver, CO, USA, October 5-6, 2009, Revised Selected Papers (pp. 174-183). (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. 5969). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12107-4_14

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abstract = "Model Driven Engineering (MDE) is a promising paradigm for software development. It raises the level of abstraction in software development by treating models as primary artifacts. The practical application of this paradigm is seriously endangered by the current weak modeling foundation of the approach. The definition of a metamodel is a recurring task in MDE and requires sound and formal support. The lack of such support causes deficiencies such as conceptual anomalies in the modeling languages, limited applicability of model transformations, and limited reuse of model libraries. From philosophical point of view metamodels can be seen as ontological commitments. Metalanguages have to provide constructs for building ontological theories as a base for modeling languages. This paper describes a new metalanguage derived from the study of Formal Ontology. This metalanguage raises the level of abstraction of metamodels from pure abstract syntax to semantics descriptions based on ontologies. Thus the language developers can make conscious choices for their modeling concepts and can explicitly define important relations such as instantiation and generalization. With this metalanguage we aim at a precise conceptual and formal foundation for metamodeling.",

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Laarman, A & Ivanov, I 2010, Ontological Metamodeling with Explicit Instantiation. in M van den Brand, D Gašević & J Gray (eds), Software Language Engineering: Second International Conference, SLE 2009, Denver, CO, USA, October 5-6, 2009, Revised Selected Papers. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 5969, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, pp. 174-183, 2nd International Confence on Software Language Engineering, SLE 2009, Denver, Colorado, United States, 5/10/09. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12107-4_14

Ontological Metamodeling with Explicit Instantiation. / Laarman, Alfons; Ivanov, Ivan.
Software Language Engineering: Second International Conference, SLE 2009, Denver, CO, USA, October 5-6, 2009, Revised Selected Papers. ed. / Mark van den Brand; Dragan Gašević; Jeff Gray. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, 2010. p. 174-183 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. 5969).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

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AB - Model Driven Engineering (MDE) is a promising paradigm for software development. It raises the level of abstraction in software development by treating models as primary artifacts. The practical application of this paradigm is seriously endangered by the current weak modeling foundation of the approach. The definition of a metamodel is a recurring task in MDE and requires sound and formal support. The lack of such support causes deficiencies such as conceptual anomalies in the modeling languages, limited applicability of model transformations, and limited reuse of model libraries. From philosophical point of view metamodels can be seen as ontological commitments. Metalanguages have to provide constructs for building ontological theories as a base for modeling languages. This paper describes a new metalanguage derived from the study of Formal Ontology. This metalanguage raises the level of abstraction of metamodels from pure abstract syntax to semantics descriptions based on ontologies. Thus the language developers can make conscious choices for their modeling concepts and can explicitly define important relations such as instantiation and generalization. With this metalanguage we aim at a precise conceptual and formal foundation for metamodeling.

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Laarman A, Ivanov I. Ontological Metamodeling with Explicit Instantiation. In van den Brand M, Gašević D, Gray J, editors, Software Language Engineering: Second International Conference, SLE 2009, Denver, CO, USA, October 5-6, 2009, Revised Selected Papers. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. 2010. p. 174-183. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science). doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-12107-4_14

Ontological Metamodeling with Explicit Instantiation

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Keywords

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