A tool to support the definition and enactment of model-driven migration processes

Abstract

The Journal of Systems and Software, num. 128 (March 2017) pages: 106–129 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2017.03.009 2016 Impact Factor: 2.444 (Q1 - rank 22/106) 5-year Impact Factor: 2.619 ABSTRACT One of the main challenges to achieve the industrial adoption of Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) paradigm is building tools able to support model-driven software processes. We present a tool for the definition and enactment of model-driven migration processes. We have created a SPEM-based language for defining Abstract Migration models that represent an MDE migration solution for a particular pair of source and target technologies. For each legacy application to be migrated, the Abstract Migration model is transformed into a Concrete Migration model which contains all the information needed for the enactment. Then, these models are enacted by means of a process interpreter which generates Trac tickets for executing automated tasks by means of Ant scripts and managing manual tasks with the Mylyn tool. Our work has therefore two main contributions: i) it proposes a novel solution for the enactment that integrates the execution of the automated tasks with the generation of tickets to support the manual tasks, and ii) it describes how MDE techniques can be used to implement process engineering tools, in particular migration processes. The article presents the approach and describes in detail the essential aspects of our tool.