Adaptive Object-Models and Metamodeling Techniques

Abstract

A system with an Adaptive Object-Model (AOM) has an explicit object model that it interprets at run-time. If you change the object model, the system changes its behavior. For example, a lot of workflow systems have an Adaptive Object-Model. Objects have states and respond to events by changing state. The Adaptive Object-Model defines the objects, their states, the events, and the conditions under which an object changes state.

There are various techniques that share common features with AOM's. Especially, those that try also to capture business rules and build domain specific languages, namely – Grammar-oriented Object Design (applied in the three major areas of configurable workflow, tier-to-tier mapping and object graph traversal) or – Meta-CASE tools and environments approaches, à la MetaEdit+ or à la MétaGen (applied in various fields of information system modeling: telecom, finance, medicine, etc.). There are other techniques which also describe ways to build systems that change behavior at runtime, namely – Reflection at the language level (mostly applied to programming language design). What is actually common to those various techniques is that they are leading to, or are driven by, metamodeling principles and implementation using OO languages.

This workshop will focus on identifying, cataloging and comparing these techniques one towards another. We will also try to establish the conditions of use of these techniques, look at where they meet or overlap, and hopefully set some cross-fertilization ideas of benefit for each technique.

Call For Papers

Adaptive Object-Models and other techniques such as Grammar-oriented Object Design, meta-CASE environment approaches or Reflection at the language level, address at least one of the two following problems:

Capturing [business] rules for user modeling and/or building [Domain] Specific Languages;
Building systems that need to change requirements and reflect those requirements as quickly as possible, i.e. runtime or dynamic adaptability;

What is generally common to these techniques is that they actually implement or use metamodeling principles through OO languages capabilities.

This workshop will focus on identifying, cataloging and comparing these techniques one towards another, and other similar ones that share common goals. We will also try to establish the conditions of use of these techniques, look at where they meet or overlap, and hopefully set some cross-fertilization ideas of benefit for each technique.

Workshop position papers should be 3-10 pages in length and should address one or more of the following:

Examples of the different techniques
Concrete development reports with lessons learned from them
Prerequisites or needs for each technique
Pros and Cons of the different techniques
Comparison of the different techniques showing overlapping and non-overlapping areas

Please submit position papers to the three organizers: Nicolas.Revault@lip6.fr; yoder@refactory.com; arsanjan@us.ibm.com,
or simply to ecoop2001submissions@adaptiveobjectmodel.com, as an alias.

URL: http://adaptiveobjectmodel.com/ECOOP2001/ and/or http://www-poleia.lip6.fr/~revault/research/ecoop01ws

References

A link to the Metadata and Active Object-Model Pattern Mining Workshop given at ECOOP 2000 in Cannes France can be found at:

http://adaptiveobjectmodel.com/ECOOP2000/

Also you can find links to other related workshops and related links at:

http://adaptiveobjectmodel.com/

Organisers

Nicolas Revault

Nicolas.Revault@lip6.fr
Univ. Paris 6
LIP6/PoleIA (& Univ. Cergy-Pontoise)
4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05
France

Joseph W. Yoder

yoder@refactory.com
The Refactory Inc
7 Florida Drive, Urbana, IL 61801
USA

Ali Arsanjani

arsanjan@us.ibm.com
National e-business Application Development Center of Competency
IBM Global Services
USA