Managing Intent: Propagation of Meaning During Model Transformations

The Model Driven Architecture (MDA) maintains that systems can be abstractly specified, and specifically instantiated. The abstract specification is created using formally defined models; thus in order to fulfill these ambitions, model transformations must be employed on some level. The definition of these transforms—however—is not a trivial task. In addition to the basic problems of the transformation syntax, and an intuitive interface, there is a more significant and difficult problem: the translation of the platform-independent models (PIMs) into platform-specific models (PSMs) such that they are “correct” in the language of the PSM. This paper philosophically discusses the root causes of transformations, specifically the syntax and semantics changes that require MDA-like transformations between modeling languages. It also examines the difference between the intent of the modeler, and that of the model— an important distinction when creating transformations.