Using multi level-modeling techniques for managing mapping information

Traditional modeling approaches support a limited set of instantiation levels (typically one for classes and another adjacent one for objects). Multi-level modeling approaches on the other hand have no such limit to the number of levels. As a consequence, an arbitrary number of levels may be used to define models, and the distinction between class and instance is redefined. The paper summarizes the experience gained from applying multi-level modeling techniques to a real application from the domain of development process improvement (DPI). The underlying case study has been conducted in cooperation with a large automotive supplier. We discuss the pros and cons of using multi-level modeling techniques and propose areas that we think would benefit from further research.