Software reuse: MDA-based ontology development to support data access over legacy applications

Abstract

Unified Modeling Language (UML) and ontology share common properties such as classes, properties and instances. We propose using Model-Driven Architecture (MDA) enriched with ontological approach to provide ontology development method. The method leverages the UML model in the initial phase of ontology development, and then the produced ontology is aligned with specific domain ontology. The steps involved consist of: (1) generating the UML model from the legacy application, (2) generating OWL ontology from the UML model, (3) enriching the generated ontology with domain ontology, and (4) incorporating the ontology in ontology-based query answering. For simulation, the query is implemented using SPARQL over the OpenBiblio database. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.