A model management framework for maintaining traceability links

Abstract

In MDE diverse modeling and model transformation languages are applied to describe and derive the envisioned system. Traceability is a prerequisite for maintaining consistency between different development artifacts. Thereby, the usefulness of traceability links increases with their completeness and correctness. In practice, automatic creation and maintenance of traceability links is required to be useful. This is addressed by heuristic approaches that derive traceability information statically or by model transformation technologies that provide traceability links as additional execution result. However, the maintenance of traceability links for a set of diverse languages and transformation technologies as combined in MDE is still a challenging task. In this paper, we present a framework that provides and treats all traceability information using the common format of hierarchical megamodels. Thereby, different approaches for gaining traceability information can be combined. Information provided by transformation technologies is translated into this common format.