Visual Modeling and Transformation System

Software modeling; Metamodeling; Wide range of domain-specific models; Highly customizable visualization; Flexible template-based code and artifact generation; Efficient graphical model transformation engine with visual debug support; Various export and import formats; Customizable memory representation; Cutting-edge technology; Four PhD theses; and more than one hundred and fifty papers.

Contact:  vmts@aut.bme.hu

Model-based software development is getting more and more emphasis nowadays. With the use of models and automated model processors, the reusability and the quality of the developed components can be significantly improved. Moreover, by providing domain-specific tool sets and visualization, modeling environments make possible to use and process models without programming knowledge. Domain-specific models provide efficient solutions to frequently appearing problems in various domains including but not limited to corporate workflow systems, power-grid monitoring, industrial robot controlling, and user interface design.

The Visual Modeling and Transformation System (VMTS) is a graph-based, domain-specific (meta)modeling and model processing framework. The system provides a graphical interface for defining, customizing, and utilizing languages. In VMTS, you can create a visual language workbench for your own domain in four simple steps:

  1. Create the metamodel (specification of the domain language) in our intuitive graphical modeling environment. No programming skills required.
  2. Generate the domain-specific tool set by clicking on the Generate button in the environment. Again, no programming skills required. 
  3. Start creating domain models. You can either use the default visualization provided by the framework automatically, or create a custom, domain-specific graphical notation.
  4. Create model processors (if required). You can either use our visual model transformation languages, or specify the transformation in an efficient template-based language.


No additional steps required. By following these steps, your domain is ready to use. For more information see our Tutorials.

The first version of VMTS was created in 2003. Since then, our group works continuously on the development of the tool and on the research of the relevant scientific areas. In VMTS, we use cutting-edge industrial technologies and the latest scientific results.  You can download VMTS from here.