Towards an understanding of model executability

Abstract

Processes are a major concern of information system. They need thus to be defined as precisely as any other artefact of the system. Meta-modeling techniques have proved their relevance for addressing such issues. However, a process meta-model may not be restricted to the definition of a set of concepts, relations and assertions. As the purpose of a process is to be executed, the underlying execution rules have also to be made explicit. In this paper we attempt to identify the main characteristics of executable meta-models. This study is illustrated with a concrete example, a Petri nets meta-model.