DB-MAIN: A next generation meta-CASE

摘要

This paper describes the DB-MAIN meta-CASE architecture that attempts to conciliate seemingly contradictory goals concerning efficiency, ergonomics, evolution, reuse and ontologies integration. The architecture is based on two layers, the first of which includes built-in basic concepts and functions that should be part of every Information System oriented CASE tool. The second layer comprises four meta-mechanisms intended to reuse, extend and specialize the basic constructs: ontology definition (through a dynamic repository), graphical interface definition, functional definition and methodology definition. These mechanisms are activated through four cooperating languages that allows the CASE engineer to customize the DB-MAIN environment from merely adapting the graphical interface to defining new modeling domains. The paper shows how these mechanisms meet a hierarchy of requirements and how they compare with the current state of the art.