[KIEKER-1074] Extraction/export of UML models

[rju]

JIRA Issue: KIEKER-1074 Extraction/export of UML models
Original Reporter: Andre van Hoorn

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Brief explanation:

Kieker's TraceAnalysis tool allows to discover and visualize architectural information from trace information collected at runtime. Internally, a system (meta-)model is used to represent views on the discovered architectures in terms of component types, component assembly, execution environment (including servers), and deployment of components to the servers. The supported visualizations (sequence diagrams, call trees, and dependency graphs) are based on this meta-model. It is implemented directly in plain Java. Shortcomings here are that a) models cannot be stored/reloaded and that b) visualizations have to be implemented from scratch rather than using existing architectural visualization tools — to mention just a few.

The goal of this project is to have a tighter integration of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) in Kieker in order to have a better integration with other UML tools, e.g., Papyrus. An EMF-based implementation of UML2 exists (in addition to other industry-standard meta-models) and is used by different UML tools.

Two ways to approach this topic are
1. Replacing the current Java-based system meta-model in the TraceAnalysis tool by UML. This requires the adjustment of various filters for trace reconstruction and visualization.
2. Developing a transformation from the Java-based system and visualization meta-model to UML.

Along with this project, the set of supported visualizations could be extended with respect to those being available in UML.

Note that our goal is not to cover the entire set of the UML's modeling features and diagrams.

Related tickets:

• KIEK-935: Feature wish: Use Case Maps (note: not UML)
• KIEK-532: Feature wish: Timing diagrams
• KIEK-14: Feature wish: UML Communication Diagrams
• KIEK-9353: Feature wish: TraceAnalysis meta-model should be implemented with Ecore
• KIEK-93502: Feature wish: Extraction of UML2 models
• KIEK-861: Feature wish: Integrate EMF-based model repository
• KIEK-201: Tighter integration of EMF technologies

Expected results:

After the successful completion of this project, Kieker is able to extract and save UML models, which can be then imported by other UML tools.

Knowledge prerequisite:

The student working on this topic should

• be a practised Java developer
• have basic knowledge about software architecture concepts (can be gained during the project)
• have basic modeling skills and basic knowledge of UML (the latter can be gained during the project)
• have some experience with the Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) (existing knowledge is really helpful, but can also be gained during the project)

Skill level:

• medium to high

Additional documentation

• Chapter 5 of the Kieker user guide documents the model extraction/visualization supported by the TraceAnalysis tool
• Unified Modeling Language
• Eclipse technology for model-driven engineering:
• Eclipse Modeling Project (EMP)
• Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF)
• Model Development Tools (MDT)

Candidate Mentor(s):

The primary contact for this project idea is marked in bold font.

• André van Hoorn ([Kieker developer|Kieker:author/avh/]; researcher with University of Stuttgart)
• Jan Waller ([Kieker developer|Kieker:author/jwa/]; researcher with Kiel University)
• Reiner Jung (researcher with Kiel University)