Model Management Lab

Context

Model management aims at developing technologies and mechanisms to support the integration, merging, evolution, and matching of complex data models. This support is required for the management of complex, integrated, distributed, heterogeneous information systems. The management of metadata is of particular importance for model management. Metadata is data about data and is becoming more and more important as distributed and heterogeneous information systems need to be integrated. Using a metadata-based approach in the design and implementation of an integrated information system increases the flexibility and adaptability of the system, as information about the structure of data models and their dependencies are not hidden in the source code of the system. Instead, this information is captured in semantically rich metadata models, which enable the (re)use of the information in various contexts. 

Goals

The goal of this lab course is to get knowledge and experience with current metadata technologies. One important standard for the exchange of metadata is XMI (XML Metadata Interchange). Sun has developed an Java-based API for metadata called JMI (Java Metadata Interface). An implementation of JMI is the Netbeans metadata repository. 

Links

	Homepage of the ConceptBase system
	Working Group Model Management
	Model Management Research Group at Microsoft Research