Seamless exchange of models among different modeling tools increasingly becomes a crucial prerequisite for the success of
modeldriven engineering. Current best practices use model transformation languages to realize necessary mappings between concepts
of the metamodels defining the modeling languages supported by different tools. Existing model transformation languages, however,
lack appropriate abstraction mechanisms for resolving recurring kinds of structural heterogeneities one has to primarily cope
with when creating such mappings.
We propose a framework for building reusable mapping operators which allow the automatic transformation of models. For each
mapping operator, the operational semantics is specified on basis of Colored Petri Nets, providing a uniform formalism not
only for representing the transformation logic together with the metamodels and the models themselves, but also for executing
the transformations, thus facilitating understanding and debugging. To demonstrate the applicability of our approach, we apply
the proposed framework for defining a set of mapping operators which are intended to resolve typical structural heterogeneities
occurring between the core concepts usually used to define metamodels.
This work has been partly funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT) and FFG
under grant FIT-IT-810806.0.