A domain specific aspect language for run-time inspection

When inspecting a running system, be it for debugging or moitoring purposes, developers are often faced with an abstraction gap: the run-time structure is not represented in terms of high-level programming abstractions, but in terms of low-level run-time constructs. To present developers with an understandable view on the system, a transformation can be performed to restore the programming abstractions. In the current state of the art, two types of transformations exist: state-based transformations (model transformation) and event-based transformation (complex event processing). These two types of transformations can bridge the same abstraction gap, but deliver a different quality of service. There are domain specific languages for these two kinds of transformations, but they can not be composed into a single overarching transformation automatically. While such unified transformations can deliver a superior quality of service, there is no language to express them. Therefor we are currently working on a unified model, that considers both types of transformation as aspects contributing to a unified transformation. This papers sketches our approach to unifying these two types of declarative languages.status: publishe