Awards

Distinguished Papers

PrefetchML: A Framework for Prefetching and Caching Models

Authors: Gwendal Daniel, Gerson Sunyé, Jordi Cabot

Abstract: Prefetching and caching are well-known techniques integrated in database engines and file systems in order to speed-up data access. They have been studied for decades and have proven their efficiency to improve the performance of I/O intensive applications. Existing solutions do not fit well with scalable model persistence frameworks because the prefetcher operates at the data level, ignoring potential optimizations based on the information available at the metamodel level. Furthermore, prefetching components are common in relational databases but typically missing (or rather limited) in NoSQL databases, a common option for model storage nowadays. To overcome this situation we propose PrefetchML, a framework that executes prefetching and caching strategies over models. Our solution embeds a DSL to precisely configure the prefetching rules to follow. Our experiments show that PrefetchML provides a significant execution time speedup. Tool support is fully available online.

Query-based Access Control for Secure Collaborative Modeling using Bidirectional Transformations

Authors: Gábor Bergmann, Csaba Debreceni, István Ráth, Dániel Varró

Abstract: Large-scale model-driven system engineering projects are carried out collaboratively. Engineering artifacts stored in model repositories are developed in either offline (checkout- modify-commit) or online (GoogleDoc-style) scenarios. Com- plex systems frequently integrate models and components developed by different teams, vendors and suppliers. Thus confidentiality and integrity of design artifacts need to be protected by access control policies. We propose a technique for secure collaborative modeling where (1) fine-grained access control for models can be defined by model queries, and (2) such access control policies are strictly enforced by bidirectional model transformations. Each collaborator obtains a filtered local copy of the model containing only those model elements which they are allowed to read; write access control policies are checked on the server upon submitting model changes. We illustrate the approach and carry out an initial scalability assessment using a case study of the MONDO EU project.

Unifying Explanatory and Constructive Modeling

Author: Thomas Kühne

Abstract: The universal agreement regarding modeling as a useful endeavor can hide the large divide that runs through the modeling community. The differences between explanatory and constructive modeling give rise to two almost disjoint modeling universes, each based on different, mutually incompatible assumptions, rules, and tools. This division is undesirable as it prevents modelers from fluently transitioning between these worlds and denies them the benefits afforded by the underpinnings of the opposite camp. In this paper I characterize the typing disciplines underlying these different schools of thought, identify their respective trade-offs, and propose a unified approach which treats the different world views as modes of modeling that one may transition into in either direction. I present a unifying typing framework that can form the basis for a mutual fertilization between the hitherto rather separated worlds of explanatory versus constructive modeling.

Most Influential Paper

Merging Models with the Epsilon Merging Language – A Decade Later

Authors: Dimitris Kolovos, Richard Paige, and Fiona Polack

Abstract: In our 2006 MoDELS paper titled “Merging Models with the Epsilon Merging Language”, we introduced the Epsilon Merging Language (EML), a new domain-specific transformation language tailored for model merging. Ten years later, EML is still alive and actively maintained as part of the Eclipse Epsilon project (http://www.eclipse.org/epsilon/). This talk will provide an overview of the evolution of the syntax, semantics, and capabilities of the language and its underlying platform over the last decade. It will also present applications of EML, and reflect on the role of a dedicated model merging language in the Model-Driven Engineering
toolbox.

Career Award

What Went Right: The Secret History of UML and Related Matters

Author: Bran Selic

Abstract: Model-driven reflections on modeling, model-driven careers, and all that.

Distinguished Reviewers

Awardees: Achim Brucker, Zinovy Diskin