1st International Workshop on the Verification and Validation of Model Transformations

VOLT 2012
Co-located with ICST 2012
http://www.model-based-testing.de/volt12
1st Workshop on the Verification and Validation of Model Transformations

Montréal, Québec, Canada
April 21st 2012

*** Call for Papers ***

Model transformation is at the heart of Model-Driven Development (MDD). Many experts have identified the verification of model transformation as one of the grand challenges of the domain. Despite some recent activity in the field, the work on the verification of model transformation remains scattered and a clear perspective on the subject in still not in sight. VOLT 2012 is the first workshop to offer researchers a dedicated forum to present, discuss, classify, integrate, and advance verification techniques of model transformation relevant to industry.

If we generically consider a model transformation as an algorithm describing a set of computations, then testing it or proving some of its properties can be envisaged through model checking or theorem proving. However, a model transformation performs a particular kind of computation where: (1) it operates on models, thus data at a high-level of abstraction rich in semantics and (2) from a pragmatic point of view, often only the initial input and the final output is of interest, glossing away from intermediate steps. These are primary fundamental differences between the verification of model transformation and typical model-based testing or model checking. A particular point of interest for VOLT is that model transformation is used to perform specific computations in the context of MDD, such as model refinement, refactoring, translation, synthesis, simulation, or synchronization. Thus useful verification techniques for model transformation can be specific to these activities.

VOLT’s interest spans both to academic and industrial practices. Part of the workshop is used as a forum for discussing practical applications of model transformation. The goal of the forum is to collect enough industrial case studies so that those problems can be stated at a theoretical level. In order to discuss these and further similar questions, we would like to invite submissions related to the following topics:

- Application of model checking or theorem proving to model transformation: what are the relevant properties to prove?
- Application of testing techniques to model transformation
- Verification of transformations of models expressed in languages defined using MOF or EMF
- Syntactic and semantic preservation of model transformations, particularly when translating models into different languages
- Verification of domain-specific model transformation, in contrast to general-purpose transformations
- Taxonomies of techniques for the verification of model transformation
- Case studies and experience reports
- Tools and automation
- Theoretical considerations

*** Publication ***

Submissions must follow the IEEE double column format. Authors may submit short papers (4 pages) or long papers (8 pages). The two best papers will be published in the Satellite Event Proceedings (LNCS) of the ICST conference.

*** Workshop Format ***

VOLT 2012 is a one-day workshop that is divided into two parts: paper presentations and discussions in working groups. We anticipate an enjoyable and exciting event where all participants will leave with answers or well-founded doubts ;) on model transformation and their validation & verification.

*** Important Dates ***

Submission: January 30, 2012
Notification to authors: February 25, 2012
Final version: March 10, 2012

*** Organization Committee ***

Levi Lúcio (McGill University, Canada)
Eugene Syriani (University of Alabama, USA)
Stephan Weißleder (Fraunhofer FIRST, Germany)