A Model Management Framework for Next-Generation Web-based Modeling Tools

By: David Jaeger, Adam Lencses, Martin Fleck, Philip Langer, Dominik Bork

Abstract

The move towards web technologies has arrived at modeling and especially modeling tools. Several frameworks and platforms have been proposed recently, aiming at the efficient realization of web-based modeling tools, i.e., tools developed with web technologies that natively allow for cloud-based deployment and use in web browsers. Most of these frameworks separate modeling tool functionality like editing, rendering, and management of the model into separate specialized components, often realized in different technologies. For the model management of Ecore-based modeling languages like the UML, the Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) is still prevalent. While this may maximize reuse, it comes at a cost: EMF is Java-based, entailing a polyglot technology stack, which complicates the development and hinders an entirely browser-based deployment without any backend. In this paper, we address this problem by introducing a Typescript-only approach for generating Langium-based modeling language grammars and model management servers. Using our approach, developers can build next-generation web-based modeling tools with a homogeneous technology stack, which can be executed as cloud applications or plain browser applications without any backend, if needed. We evaluate our approach by applying it to two distinct modeling tools: a Workflow and a UML modeling tool.

Keywords

Modeling tools, Web modeling, Langium, LSP, GLSP, UML.

Cite as:

David Jaeger, Adam Lencses, Martin Fleck, Philip Langer, Dominik Bork, “A Model Management Framework for Next-Generation Web-based Modeling Tools”, Journal of Object Technology, Volume 24, no. 2 (May 2025), pp. 2:1-14, doi:10.5381/jot.2025.24.2.a1.