PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS IN A MULTI-LEVEL METAMODELING ARCHITECTURE

Abstract

Following the successful use of object-oriented metamodeling in the definition of the UML and other notation standards there is increasing interest in extending the approach to cover other concepts of software development, including processes. However, it turns out that the "obvious" approaches for using metamodels to describe processes and artifacts independently do not integrate well together in a natural and straightforward way. In this paper we discuss the problems and inconsistencies than can arise when trying to model a process and the products it creates within the same metamodeling framework, and present a solution that not only avoids many of these problems but also qualifies as a general metamodeling pattern. We then generalize the conceptual architecture to support the sound co-modeling of all independent areas of concern within the context of strict metamodeling.