The Mangrove - SOA Modeling Framework project is a proposed open source project under the Eclipse SOA Tools Platform (STP) (soon to become SOA TLP).
This proposal is in the Project Proposal Phase (as defined in the Eclipse Development Process) and is written to declare its intent and scope. We solicit additional participation and input from the Eclipse community. Please send all feedback to the Eclipse STP forum until a proper newsgroup is established.
Note that in this proposal, the long name "Mangrove - SOA Modeling Framework" is sometimes used in a shorter form ("Mangrove" or "SOA Modeling Framework").
The Eclipse SOA Tools Platform project contains tools for designing, building, configuring and deploying SOA applications. The current STP Intermediate Model component bridges different existing Eclipse STP editors (such as BPMN and SCA) through a common SOA metamodel defined using EMF. Users can transport SOA artifacts between editors by invoking transformations to and from the Intermediate Model instance. This ensures that elements such as services and processes are shared across the different perspectives of various SOA stakeholders, thus minimizing duplication and the risk for errors when building complex SOA systems.
The aim of this proposal is to extend the scope of the existing STP-IM component to better editor coverage while at the same time ensuring a seamless experience by reducing the need for manual transformations. In addition the proposal aims at providing functionality for connecting SOA editors to runtime projects and components in order to bridge the gap between SOA design and runtime.
The Mangrove - SOA Modeling Framework project will focus on integrating existing and upcoming Eclipse projects related to SOA editors, runtime and deployment tools. In addition, Mangrove will add support for integration with monitoring projects (in particular the upcoming eBAM proposed project) and repositories (in particular the upcoming repository project proposal). It takes the existing Intermediate Model component from STP and extends it to a project in its own right with extended responsibilities and scope. It primarily targets the existing Eclipse STP project and the upcoming Eclipse SOA TLP.
The proposal does not aim at providing a runtime project (Swordfish is the main runtime envisaged by the SOA TLP), or a runtime monitoring tool (the new eBAM proposal seems an excellent candidate for this), however it will transport information to and from such projects. Mangrove does not envisage the creation of live views of SOA systems but rather the enablement of efficient utilization of a large variety of tools and editors for building SOA systems.
The purpose of the SOA Modeling Framework proposal is to create a project that can serve as a central Eclipse SOA modeling container useful for a wide variety of existing and upcoming SOA editors, runtime and platforms. By employing a simple and easily extendable SOA metamodel as its core, Mangrove will provide a consistent, always-in-sync representation of common SOA artifacts in an Eclipse workspace. Additionally, by providing connectivity to runtime projects and SOA repositories, the Mangrove instance will be kept in sync with evolutions of these artifacts at runtime, updating properties such as QoS parameters in its model.
The following are a simplified list of the envisaged functionalities:
The following functional areas will comprise the SOA Modeling Framework. Each area is comprised of one or more Eclipse plug-ins and is an integral part of the proposed project.
The initial code contribution will be the currently existing STP Intermediate Model component.
We do not foresee any legal issue as the proposed project is actually an evolution of the already established EPL-based STP-Intermediate Model component and all further code contributions will be performed following the regular Eclipse legal process. The entire initial contribution is already in Galileo.
The following individuals are proposed as initial committers to the project:
The following Architecture Council members will mentor this project:
The following individuals, organisations, companies and projects have expressed interest in this project:
We will continue to integrate all mature contributions in the Eclipse release train, in sync with the container project, as is already the case with the STP Intermediate Model. We target Helios in 2010.
Milestones:
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 23-October-2009 | Initial draft created, in time for ESE09 |
| 04-November-2009 | Second draft following ESE09 and feedback from the SOA IWG |
| 20-November-2009 | Name chosen following contest within the Eclipse STP community |
| 03-December-2009 | Third draft following additional feedback from the Eclipse STP community |
| 10-December-2009 | Final draft sent to EMO for consideration |
| 18-December-2009 | Updated proposal to follow formatting rules defined by the EMO. Added mentors and project scheduling sections. |
| 07-January-2010 | Clarified the scope and the role of functional areas following suggestions from the Eclipse Foundation. |