Syntax Map: A Modeling Language for Capturing Requirements of Graphical DSML

Domain-specific modeling languages (DSMLs) are designed to model particular domains of interest using graphical, textual, or mixed syntax. Although most metamodeling tools offer an environment that automates several language development tasks, there is still a lack of support for aiding the domain expert to capture the requirements of a graphical DSML. We introduce the Syntax Map as an approach to address the challenges of graphical DSML requirements specification. It is designed to aid domain experts in describing a first-class graphical DSML requirement using a set of graphical notations. In addition, the Syntax Map can be used to generate a metamodel by means of model transformations. This short paper motivates the need for the Syntax Map, provides several brief examples, and discusses lessons learned in our investigation of this approach.