Using Meta-Modelling and Graph Grammars to Create Modelling Environments

This paper presents the combined use of meta-modelling and graph grammars for the generation of visual modelling tools for simulation formalisms. In meta-modelling, formalisms are described at a meta-level. This information is used by a meta-model processor to generate modelling tools for the described formalisms. We combine meta-modelling with graph grammars to extend the model manipulation capabilities of the generated modelling tools, as we store (meta-)models as graphs, and thus, express model manipulations as graph grammars.We show the design and implementation of these concepts in AToM³ (A Tool for Multi-formalism, Meta-Modelling). As an example we will present a meta-model for Causal Block Diagrams and a graph grammar to generate OOCSMP code, a continuous simulation language which has a compiler able to generate Java applets from the simulations models.