context-dependent transformation models

• Applicant: Privatdozentin Dr.-Ing. Annerose Braune
• Subject Area: Human Factors, Ergonomics, Human-Machine Systems
• Term: from 2014 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 247281444

In Model-Based User Interface Development, formal models describe the domain-specifc content at different levels of abstraction. Model transformations map the more abstract model elements onto the more concrete model elements and execute the transformation. In any case, transformations are the linking element between all the different levels. Therefore, their quality and reusability is a key factor for the efficiency of the entire model-based approach. However, nowadays these transformations are mostly programmed manually for each modeling language at each level of abstraction and for each platform characteristic. This causes very high design costs and reduces the advantages of model driven methods. Therefore, the aim of this project is the development of universal and reusable transformation models for user interfaces. Configurable transformation models are to be developed to overcome programmed special solutions. These transformation models describe which model or meta-model element of the source language can be mapped onto which model element of the target language. The mappings use a descriptive specification and are independent of the technology that is used afterwards for the implementation of the transformation execution. The mapping models do not specify dependencies on special context properties but define it as algorithms. The results are conditional transformation models, which depend on external content models. The advantage is that changed content properties only require appropriate changes of the content model but no changes of the transformations. In this project platform models are used as representative part of context models. Existing platform models focus mostly on typical office based visualization devices using mouse and keyboard with touch interactions. They are neither able to describe new interaction methods, nor the specific properties of industrial automation devices such as temperature or humidity. Therefore, the design of basic concepts of a platform description language is part of the project. A final validation period of the project focuses on the analysis if the conditional transformation models together with the specified platform models are rich enough to model the dependencies of original automation solutions and in what extend user interactions are necessary or preferable for the design of transformation models. Furthermore we aim to analyze under which conditions the developed transformation and platform models are able to reduce the overall effort of the model based user interface development.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Person: Professor Dr. Klaus Janschek