A Metamodeling Approach to Support the Engineering of Modeling Method Requirements

The notion of "modeling method requirements" refers to a category typically neglected by RE taxonomies and frameworks – i.e., those requirements that motivate the realization of (conceptual) modeling methods and tools. They can be considered domain-specific, in the sense that all modeling methods provide a knowledge schema for some selected application domain (narrow or broad). Besides this inherent domain-specific nature, we are investigating how the characteristics of modeling methods inform the RE perspective, and how in turn RE can support the engineering of such artifacts. Thus, the work at hand aims to raise awareness about modeling method requirements in the RE community. The core contribution is the CoChaCo (Concept-Characteristic-Connector) method for the representation and management of such requirements, as well as for streamlining with subsequent engineering phases. CoChaCo is itself a modeling method – i.e., it achieves its goals through diagrammatic modeling means for which a supporting tool was prototyped and evolved. The proposal originates in required support for the initial phase of the Agile Modeling Method Engineering (AMME) methodology, which was successfully applied in developing a variety of project-specific modeling tools. From this accumulated experience, awareness of "modeling method requirements" emerged and informed the design decisions of CoChaCo.