1. Nathalie Aquino 1, Jean Vanderdonckt 2, Francisco Valverde 1, Oscar Pastor 1 1 Department of Information Systems and Computation, Valencia University of Technology, Camino de Vera s/n. 46022 Valencia (Spain) {naquino, fvalverde, opastor}@dsic.upv.es – http://oomethod.dsic.upv.es 2 Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain School of Management (LSM) Place des Doyens, 1 – B-1348, Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium) jean.vanderdonckt@uclouvain.be - http://www.isys.ucl.ac.be/bchi This work has been developed with the support of MEC and MITyC under the projects SESAMO (TIN2007-62894) and PISA (FIT-340000-2007-110)

2.  Introduction  The Transformation Profile Approach ◦ Model Mappings ◦ Transformation Templates  Transformation Profiles in the Generation Process of User Interfaces in OO-Method  Conclusions

3.  Preliminaries ◦ The Cameleon Reference Framework defines a MDE- compliant (Model-Driven Engineering) development life cycle for multi-target User Interfaces (UIs) Abstract Interaction Objects (AIOs) Concrete Interaction Objects (CIOs) ◦ This work focuses on the transformation from an AUI model to a CUI model

4.  Motivations of the work ◦ In the field of MDE of UIs  There are approaches in which transformation rules are implicit in the transformation tools ( Teallach, MOBI-D, Mastermind, OLIVANOVA,... )  Lack of flexibility to customize transformations  Manual modifications may be needed in the final UI in order to achieve specific user requirements  There are similarities and differences among UI development projects and it is not reasonable to  Define the transformation rules for the AUI to CUI model transformation each time for each project  Use the same transformation rules for every UI development project

5.  Our proposal ◦ We propose the use of Transformation Profiles in order to  Externalize and customize the AUI to CUI model transformations  Re-use the model transformation knowledge between different projects

6.  Introduction  The Transformation Profile Approach ◦ Model Mappings ◦ Transformation Templates  Transformation Profiles in the Generation Process of User Interfaces in OO-Method  Conclusions

7.  One Transformation Profile = one set of Model Mappings + one Transformation Template

8.  Introduction  The Transformation Profile Approach ◦ Model Mappings ◦ Transformation Templates  Transformation Profiles in the Generation Process of User Interfaces in OO-Method  Conclusions

9.  The Mapping Model ◦ Is based on the UsiXML Mapping Model ◦ Is made up of reification relationships between the elements of an AUI model and a CUI model ◦ Allows to specify widget selection and layout ◦ Each mapping is specified by  Source: AIO of the AUI model  Target: CIO of the CUI model  Condition: boolean expression related to elements of the AUI model  Priority ◦ Different Model Mappings can be defined to address different UI platforms and end-user preferences

10.  Introduction  The Transformation Profile Approach ◦ Model Mappings ◦ Transformation Templates  Transformation Profiles in the Generation Process of User Interfaces in OO-Method  Conclusions

11.  Composed of Parameters that specify how the CUI model and the subsequent final UI are going to be structured and/or stylized  Types of Parameters ◦ Low-level parameters: related to a single attribute of a CIO  colours, font types, etc. ◦ High-level parameters: related to a group of attributes of one or more CIOs, or to the CIOs themselves and relations among them. They can also be related to AIOs.  Selection of widgets or layout, dialog style, alignment of elements, etc.  These parameters can overwrite previous mappings of the Mapping Model

12.  Each parameter is described by ◦ Name ◦ Set of possible values ◦ Default value ◦ Elements where it is applied ◦ Scope of application

13.  Examples of Parameters

14.  Introduction  The Transformation Profile Approach ◦ Model Mappings ◦ Transformation Templates  Transformation Profiles in the Generation Process of User Interfaces in OO-Method  Conclusions

15.  OO-Method  OO-Method is supported by OLIVANOVA (http://www.care-t.com)

16. OO-Method´s Presentation Model is based on Interface Patterns that specify a UI in an abstract way

17. OO-Method UI generation process: a) in its current state; b) incorporating the UsiXML CUI Model; c) using a Transformation Profile

18. Subset of the Mapping Model that externalizes the mappings used by the OLIVANOVA compiler in the generation of UIs

19. Subset of an alternate Mapping Model

20. Subset of a Transformation Template

21.  Introduction  The Transformation Profile Approach ◦ Model Mappings ◦ Transformation Templates  Transformation Profiles in the Generation Process of User Interfaces in OO-Method  Conclusions

22.  Contribution of the work : the application of Transformation Profiles (Transformation Template and a set of Model Mappings) inside a model-driven software development method  Transformation Profile advantages:  Externalization of the transformation rules. They can be edited, customized and reused  Independency from the underlying models  Model Mappings can be conditioned and prioritized  The different dimensions and scopes of the Transformation Template Parameters provide a lot of flexibility and expressivity for UI definition

23.  Shortcoming of the approach: implementation cost  Ongoing and further work: ◦ Parameters identification and specification ◦ Design and implementation of tools ◦ Validation of the approach  Improvements in the usability of the generated UIs (efficiency and satisfaction of the user)?  Improvements in the MDE UI development process?