Constructing And Navigating Non-Invasive Model Decorations

Model-Driven Engineering tasks, such as simulation or transformation, often cannot be carried out directly on the models at hand; models often need to be decorated with additional information, and this information is in some cases not accounted for by existing metamodels. Moreover, engineers often need to experiment with alternative and complementary types of model decorations, particularly when carrying out more exploratory styles of development. Heavyweight approaches to decoration are not convenient in such situations. In this paper we demonstrate the limitations of existing model decoration mechanisms and tools, and present a novel approach that enables engineers to capture decoration information in the form of separate interchangeable models. The approach allows engineers to transparently and programmatically navigate decorations as if they were embedded in the decorated model.