Applying a Model Driven Architecture Approach: Transforming CIM to PIM Using UML

Abstract

Over the last few years, as they evolve with business needs and technology, enterprises are faced with the need to adapt their business processes to work in open settings. In such settings, the automation and the interoperability of business process and applications become a key concern. The Model Driven Architecture (MDA) is introduced as an approach to cope with this challenge. MDA specifies four levels of abstraction, most of the existing studies focus on modeling and transforming the Platform-Independent Model (PIM) to Platform-Specific Model (PSM) levels, while the more conceptual level, the Computation-Independent Model (CIM) is often presumed as present and is not further studied. In this paper, we propose an approach for transforming a CIM into a PIM using the core modeling concepts of the Unified Modeling Language (UML). One important characteristic of this approach is that it provides a method to capture and describe the requirements of the business process using a use cases model. The other important characteristic is proposing an architecture of the PIM based on the classes model. The execution of the transformation is programmed by the Query View Transformation (QVT) language.