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GReTL: an extensible, operational, graph-based transformation language

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Abstract

This article introduces the graph-based transformation language GReTL. GReTL is operational, and transformations are either specified in plain Java using the GReTL API or in a simple domain-specific language. GReTL follows the conception of incrementally constructing the target metamodel together with the target graph. When creating a new metamodel element, a set-based semantic expression is specified that describes the set of instances that have to be created in the target graph. This expression is defined as a query on the source graph. GReTL is a kernel language consisting of a minimal set of operations, but it is designed for being extensible. Custom higher-level operations can be built on top of the kernel operations easily. After a description of the foundations of GReTL, its most important elements are introduced along with a transformation example in the field of metamodel integration. Insights into the design of the GReTL API are given, and a convenience copy operation is implemented to demonstrate GReTL’s extensibility.

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  1. Institute for Software Technology, University Koblenz-Landau, Koblenz, Germany

    Jürgen Ebert & Tassilo Horn

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  1. Jürgen Ebert
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  2. Tassilo Horn
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Correspondence to Tassilo Horn.

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Communicated by Dr. Andy Schürr and Arend Rensink.

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Ebert, J., Horn, T. GReTL: an extensible, operational, graph-based transformation language. Softw Syst Model 13, 301–321 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10270-012-0250-3

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