Incremental Model Synchronization by Bi-Directional Model Transformations

Model transformation is a focused area in model-driven software development. With the help of model transformations we can generate source code, other models and documentation from the source models. During the development, a recurring problem is that the source and target artifacts coexist and they evolve independently. This means that after the transformation the target artifacts can be changed by the developer. The problem in this case is that the target artifact will not be consistent with the source model. One option to maintain consistency is by synchronizing our artifacts with model transformation. With the help of synchronization, the developer can work on each artifact, because they are consistent. However the synchronization can be quite complex and cannot be applied in many cases. Usually the inverse transformation does not exist, or it cannot be determined uniquely. This paper presents how we can track the modifications of the transformation, and how we can use this information in the synchronization process.