Towards a UML Profile for Model-Driven Object-Relational Mapping

By using UML (Unified Modeling Language) and ER (Entity Relationship) notations to describe a system, the specification of persistent and transient details became separated. UML and ER models use distinct notations, that cannot be checked for consistence, and therefore are not suitable to be used in a model driven development approach. This paper proposes a synergistic approach to persistence modeling by extending UML with a profile that represents object-relational mapping concepts, and provides rules to check the coherence between persistence and object oriented concepts. Model driven transformations are proposed, and implemented by a tool, in order to turn models into object relational mapped systems based upon the JPA (Java Persistence API) standard.