Creation of Domain-Specific Languages for Executable System Models with the Eclipse Modeling Project

Model-based systems engineering is an increasingly accepted method supporting design decisions. System engineers or modelers have the choice between tools and system description languages that are either abstract and generic or specifically adapted to their domain. The latter approach is easier and more efficient but restrictive. The success of this approach strongly relies on the support of domain-specific tools. The design or adaptation of such software tools and their underlying conceptual models is a complex task, which can be supported by a model-based approach on the meta model level itself. This paper proposes a workflow for designing complex systems by using domain-specific models which may combine structural and behavioral aspects. It is loosely based on the Object Management Group's Model Driven Architecture approach. For this purpose we use the Eclipse Modeling Framework and Eclipse Sirius Project, which are part of the Eclipse Modeling Project. The paper describes the complete workflow based on a simple real-life system example to clarify our approach. It covering the design of the domain-specific language, semi-automatic model editor generation, modeling the system, and finally executing a simulation of its behavior.