Generating model transformation rules from examples using an evolutionary algorithm

Abstract

We propose an evolutionary approach to automatically generate model transformation rules from a set of examples. To this end, genetic programming is adapted to the problem of model transformation in the presence of complex input/output relationships (i.e., models conforming to meta-models) by generating declarative programs (i.e., transformation rules in this case). Our approach does not rely on prior transformation traces for the model-example pairs, and directly generates executable, many-to-many rules with complex conditions. The applicability of the approach is illustrated with the well-known problem of transforming UML class diagrams into relational schemas, using examples collected from the literature.