Representing XML schema in UML - A comparison of approaches

Abstract

There is a need to integrate XML schemas, i.e., schemas written in XML Schema, into UML-based software development processes. Not only the production of XML schemas out of UML models is required, but even more the integration of given XML schemas as input into the development process. In the model driven architecture, a two step integration is assumed, comprising a platform specific model and a platform independent model. Several approaches already exist addressing the problem of automatically creating a platform specific model for XML schemas. This paper contributes a comparison of these approaches, based on a comprehensive set of transformation patterns supporting creation of a platform specific UML model that is as concise and semantically expressive as possible without loosing XML Schema information.