Looking to enable transitions between application modeling platforms, IBM this week is making available the IBM Model Transformation Framework (MTF) on its alphaWorks site for previewing technologies.
Integrated with Eclipse and Rational modeling tools, MTF is a framework and toolkit that developers can use to implement comparison, consistency checking, and transformation tools. The technology creates a record of mappings between model elements that can be reloaded later on to support changes, the company said.
"(MTF) gives developers a chance to use different modeling frameworks and basically convert from one framework to another," such as from UML (Unified Modeling Language) to EMF (Eclipse Modeling Framework), said Marc Goubert, manager of IBM alphaWorks. Bidirectional transformation also is enabled from UML 2.0 to the XSD (XML Schema Definition) data format.
The framework consists of a language for defining mappings between EMF models and a transformation engine for interpreting mapping definitions to enforce consistency between models. Also included are an editor and debugger for mapping definitions and generating rich text documents from EMF models.
Through MTF, a record is developed that lists what was mapped to the transformation, which can be used to support round-tripping, reconciliation of changes and displaying results to a user.
The technology is available for previewing at http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/mtf.
