Enhancing syntax expressiveness in domain-specific modelling

TL;DR

This paper explores methods to improve the expressiveness of domain-specific modelling editors, especially for geometric and positional syntaxes, through experimental implementations on a web platform.

Contribution

It introduces approaches to extend modelling editor expressiveness beyond topological syntaxes, addressing the needs of engineering fields requiring geometric notations.

Findings

Experimental solutions implemented on jjodel platform

Identified challenges in enhancing syntax expressiveness

Opportunities for future development in modelling tools

Abstract

Domain-specific modelling helps tame the complexity of today's application domains by formalizing concepts and their relationships in modelling languages. While meta-editors are widely-used frameworks for implementing graphical editors for such modelling languages, they are best suitable for defining {novel} topological notations, i.e., syntaxes where the model layout does not contribute to the model semantics. In contrast, many engineering fields, e.g., railways systems or electrical engineering, use notations that, on the one hand, are standard and, on the other hand, are demanding more expressive power than topological syntaxes. In this paper, we discuss the problem of enhancing the expressiveness of modelling editors towards geometric/positional syntaxes. Several potential solutions are experimentally implemented on the jjodel web-based platform with the aim of identifying challenges and opportunities.