[great-users] TTC 2010: Call for Cases

[Pieter Van Gorp]

Call for Cases: Transformation Tool Contest 2010

Satellite workshop to TOOLS 2010, Malaga.
[ PDF version: http://is.tm.tue.nl/staff/pvgorp/events/TTC2010/CallForCases.pdf
]

1 Scope: Why people who have never heard of transformation tools
  should also submit cases
________________________________________________________________

Today models are used in a wide range of application domains from
biology to logistics, from geographic information systems to
finance, and, of course, also in software engineering.

With more and more models, the requirement naturally arises to
transform (i.e. convert) models into other models. As an example,
consider a tool that requires its input data in a particular
form, but the actual data is only available in another form.
Another popular use case of model transformation is the
simulation of dynamic systems. Here, the model evolves by
successively applying certain rules. For instance, using
state-of-the-art transformation tools, problems such as the
intra-cellular synthesis of proteins have been modeled
successfully.

A (non-exhaustive) list of typical use cases of transformation
tools:

• model synchronisation and merging,
• interoperability and migration,
• model execution and simulation,
• verification (of models or rule sets),
• knowledge extraction.

The Transformation Tool Contest (or TTC) aims at bringing the
people from such problem domains together with the people that
master tools for solving their transformation problems. Since it
is difficult for people unfamiliar with model transformation to
judge whether their problem is appropriate for TTC and, if so, to
specify their problem in a way understandable by model
transformation professionals, the organizing committee (see
below) welcomes any questions in this respect.


2 About TTC
________________________________________________________________

The aim of this event is to compare the expressiveness, the
usability and the performance of graph and model transformation
tools along a number of selected case studies. A deeper
understanding of the relative merits of different tool features
will help to further improve graph and model transformation tools
and to indicate open problems.

This contest is the fourth of its kind (after an AGTiVE 2007
session, and the GraBaTs 2008 and 2009 workshops), but the first
to appear under this new acronym. It will be organized as a
satellite event of the TOOLS conference, this time TOOLS 2010 in
Malaga, Spain. Since TOOLS is colocated with the international
conference on model transformation (ICMT), teams from the major
international players in the development and use of model
transformation tools are expected to participate.


3 TTC Procedure
________________________________________________________________

  Phase 1: Case proposal submission
  ---------------------------------------------------------------
  In order to facilitate the
  comparison of transformation tools, we are soliciting potential
  case studies. If you have a suitable case study, please
  describe it shortly but as detailed as needed and submit it
  before March 15 to the online submission system. Cases that
  have already been solved using a particular tool (or general
  purpose programming language) are also very welcome. Please
  include a reference solution for such cases to support the
  evaluation of the correctness of submitted solutions.

  A committee will select a small, but representative set of case
    studies to be used for the contest. Case descriptions should
    answer the following questions:

  • What is the context of the case?
(provide a short description and references)

  • What is the subject to be modeled?

  • What should the model (be able to) do?
(what manipulations/rules should be possible?)

  • What is the purpose of the model?
(what would it be used for from a larger perspective?)

  • What are variation points in the case?
(divide up your case in core characteristics and extensions)

  • How should the model be used?
(e.g., are visual aspects important, is manual simulation
    allowed/required?)

  • What are the challenges involved in the case?
(suggestions on how to measure submissions with respect to these
    challenges)

  • Are there reference input/ouput documents (models/graphs)?
(please include them in the case description)

  Please submit at http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ttc2010

  Phase 2: Case solution submission
  ---------------------------------------------------------------
  All those who like to participate in the contest will be asked
  to choose one or more case studies, take their favorite
  transformation tool and submit their solutions. A separated
  call for solutions will be distributed, after the cases have
  been selected.

  Phase 3: Workshop and live contest
  ---------------------------------------------------------------
  Besides the presentations of the submitted solutions, the
  workshop will comprise a live contest. For more details (such
  as example cases and solutions from previous editions), please
  consult the TTC website: http://is.tm.tue.nl/staff/pvgorp/events/TTC2010/

4 Important dates
________________________________________________________________

+-------------------------------+--------------+-----------------+
| Event                         |  Deadline    |  Interval to    |
|                               |              |  next deadline  |
+-------------------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+-------------------------------+--------------+-----------------+
| Call for cases                |  8 February  |  5 weeks        |
| Case submission deadline      |  15 March    |  2 weeks        |
| Call for solutions            |  29 March    |  6 weeks        |
| Solution submission deadline  |  10 May      |  2,5 weeks      |
| Notification                  |  26 May      |  5 weeks        |
                                 --------------------------------+
| Workshop                      |  1-2 July 2010 (tentative)     |
+-------------------------------+--------------------------------+


5 Committees
________________________________________________________________

5.1 Organizing Committee

• Pieter Van Gorp (Eindhoven University of Technology, The
  Netherlands)
• Steffen Mazanek (formerly Universität der Bundeswehr München, Germany)
• Arend Rensink (University of Twente, The Netherlands)

5.2 Case Committee

• Barbara König (University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany)
• Jordi Cabot, (École des Mines de Nantes, INRIA, France)
• Tihamér Levendovszky (Budapest University of Technology and
  Economics, Hungary)
• Steffen Mazanek (formerly Universität der Bundeswehr München)
• Anantha Narayanan (Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee)
• Arend Rensink (University of Twente, The Netherlands)
• Bernhard Schätz (Technische Universität München)
• Gabriele Taentzer (University of Marburg, Germany)
• Pieter Van Gorp (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
• Gergely Várro (Budapest University of Technology and Economics,
  Hungary)
• Albert Zündorf (University of Kassel, Germany)