MetaCASE Technology



Abstract

The paper explain the concept of MetaCASE technology in a holistic context. This paper focuses primarily on the features of MetaCASE technology that enables & make it easier to develop CASE tools for new methods. MetaCASE is a large field with many different viewpoints. There has been no extensive effort towards formal organization of this field and consistent analysis of different research results. Some researchers claim that their version of MetaCASE provides solutions to key problems surrounding adoption and use of traditional CASE tools. However, there has been very little work towards the examination and analysis of these claims.



Table of Contents

Abstract2

Introduction4

The Range of MetaCASE tools4

MetaCASE Technology Built Case Tools Easily For New Methods6

Conclusion11

References12

MetaCASE Technology

Introduction

The term 'meta' is used by many researchers very loosely. Often the context of usage explains the meaning(Boloix, 2010). Meta refers to the use of a representation facility or a mechanism in describing a similar type of a representation facility or a mechanism. As an example, metadata is data that describes other data like the classes in objectoriented models. Models are also metadata that describe the modeled things rather than the actual things (Alderson, 2010). MetaCASE technology is concerned with making it easier to develop CASE tools for new methods.

The Range of MetaCASE tools

Although MetaCASE is a recent technology, it has attracted the interest of many industrial and research organizations. Many commercial CASE tool vendors and research organizations have developed tools that they call MetaCASE. These vendors and organizations have their own standards and often develop their own unique terminologies. Meta-models are data modeling techniques such as those based on entity relationships. They are used in MetaCASE tools to capture the underlying data models of different methodologies. MetaCASE technology dates back to the introduction of structured editors and the possibility of customizing tools that manipulate them. An example is Hotdraw, a graphics framework that allows creation of editing applications. (Allen, 2009) An application, such as a state transition diagram editor, has a set of figures, for representation of states and transitions and a set of tools for creating and manipulating the figures. Today, MetaCASE makes full use of structured editors and has added many more technology specific capabilities, such as correctness checking, through the introduction and use of underlying data modeling techniques that suit software engineering applications. (Aslett, 2011)

With a large amount of research material described using various terminologies, MetaCASE field can be mystifying for a newcomer. It is difficult to read the literature and distinguish between different concepts that appear to be similar. There are numerous publications that uniformly examine CASE tools and provide frameworks and comparison methods. Due to fundamental differences between CASE and MetaCASE, provided CASE examination methods are not applicable to MetaCASE tools. As a result, industrial organizations have a very hard time adopting and using the various MetaCASE tools. (Allen & Jackson, 2011)

To help MetaCASE research, frameworks specially designed for examining MetaCASE tools are greatly needed. MetaCASE frameworks must also be used in providing comprehensive surveys of the existing ...