Data integration between objectiver and DB-Main: A case study of a Model-Driven Interoperability bridge

In building software systems, the integration of tools with the purpose of exchanging data (i.e. tool interoperability) is common practice. Such an integration is one of the application scenarios of Model-Driven Engineering (MDE), which is often called Model-Driven Interoperability (MDI). In the last few years, some MDI approaches have been presented, and they have shown how MDE techniques are useful in bridging tools in order to integrate data. However, the number of case studies is still limited and more practical experiences of building MDI bridges should be published. In this article, we present an MDI bidirectional bridge that integrates the Objectiver and DB-Main tools. DB-Main database schemas are obtained from Objectiver object models, and they are kept consistent. Through this case study, we contrast the majority of techniques that can be used to implement a MDI solution. We mainly focus on the level of automation offered by each alternative. Some lessons learned are commented on.