A framework for interoperability between models with hybrid tools

Complex system development and maintenance face the challenge of dealing with different types of models due to language affordances, preferences, sizes, and so forth that involve interaction between users with different levels of proficiency. Current conceptual data modelling tools do not fully support these modes of working. It requires that the interaction between multiple models in multiple languages is clearly specified to ensure they keep their intended semantics, which is lacking in extant tools. The key objective is to devise a mechanism to support semantic interoperability in hybrid tools for multi-modal modelling in a plurality of paradigms, all within one system. We propose FaCIL, a framework for such hybrid modelling tools. We design and realise the framework FaCIL, which maps UML, ER and ORM2 into a common metamodel with rules that provide the central point for management among the models and that links to the formalisation and logic-based automated reasoning. FaCIL supports the ability to represent models in different formats while preserving their semantics, and several editing workflows are supported within the framework. It has a clear separation of concerns for typical conceptual modelling activities in an interoperable and extensible way. FaCIL structures and facilitates the interaction between visual and textual conceptual models, their formal specifications, and abstractions as well as tracking and propagating updates across all the representations. FaCIL is compared against the requirements, implemented in crowd 2.0, and assessed with a use case. The proof-of-concept implementation in the web-based modelling tool crowd 2.0 demonstrates its viability. The framework also meets the requirements and fully supports the use case.