A Domain Specific Language for Extracting Models in Software Modernization

Model-Driven Engineering techniques can be used both to create new software and to modernize existing software systems. Model-Driven Software Modernization requires a first step for the extraction of models. Most modernization scenarios involve dealing with the GPL source code of the existing system. Techniques and tools providing efficient means to extract models from source code are therefore needed. In this paper, we analyze the difficulties encountered when using the existing approaches and we propose a language, called Gra2MoL, which is especially tailored to address the problem of model extraction. This provides a powerful query language for concrete syntax trees, and mappings between source grammar elements and target metamodel elements are expressed by rules similar to those found in model transformation languages. Moreover, the approach also allows reusing existing grammars.

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