Selecting a model interchange format: the SPOOL case study

The aim of the paper is to provide tool developers with effective strategies to minimize the risks, costs, effort and time involved in handling model interchange issues. Specifically, we establish a requirements list for model interchange formats and highlight the advantages and disadvantages of representative solutions RSF, TA, RDF, XIF and XMI. As a case study, we introduce SPOOL, our prototype environment for design recovery and composition, and discuss the particular project requirements that led us to envision an XMI-based model interchange engine. We then discuss implementation details and relate the lessons learned in pursuing the described path.