Reichel, Christian

ETH-Zentrum Christian Reichel Institut f. Informationssysteme CAB F 57 Universitätstrasse 6 8092 Zürich SWITZERLAND Phone: +41 44 632 82 89 E-Mail:

Research Fields

• service-oriented architectures (SOAs)
• Web service technologies
• XML-centered modelling approaches
• software factories, product-lines, feature modeling
• domain-specific languages (DSLs)

Current Research Projects

• OpenXL describes a new methodology to create software systems using SOAs and Web Service (WS) technologies. It provides a specification for a Service Language Layer (SLL), a reference implementation of an OpenXL virtual machine (VM) as well as several model-driven approaches to realize intra/inter-model transformation and out-of-the-box model generation. From a certain perspective, SLL can be seen as a high-level programming language and glue language for WS-based applications. SLL allows to develop new WS as well as to describe the workflow between WS. It is a XML-based programming Language (XL) which provides optimized constructs for WS development. For example, the send_(a)sync construct can be used to call other WS without making a dependency to a specific API (such as Apache AXIS, GLUE). Other constructs cover context handling, security, XML data manipulation, etc. The reference implementation of the OpenXL virtual machine allows the execution of any SLL service. Additionally, using specific SLL converters, BPEL services can be executed on the VM. Apart from that, the high-level SLL service description can be converted to various target technologies such as BPEL, Java, which supports the platform- and toolkit independent execution of WS. In order to get more information, please visit the OpenXL homepage.
• Flexible XML-based Languages (FXL) Project. The software of the future must be flexible in order to adapt to continuous change. The FXL project is an open-source research project that uses the universal basis of xApproach and other modeling approaches to provide consistent solutions for varying tasks in current software applications. By illustrating the use of FXL/xApproach principles in several contexts, e.g. industrial projects concerning Service-Oriented Architectures (SOAs) and Web Services, its wide applicability and relevance can be underscored. More information about the project and DSLs such as Service Language Layer (SLL) can be found on the FXL Project homepage.
• Adaptive Services Grid (ASG). The goal of Adaptive Services Grid (ASG) is to develop a proof-of-concept prototype of an open platform for adaptive services discovery, creation, composition, and enactment. To achieve its goal, ASG addresses dedicated scientific and technological issues making use of the knowledge and expertise of major European research institutions with significant contributions from the software, telecommunications, and telematics industry.
• Flexible Application using Service Technologies (FAST). The FAST framework addresses lifecycle, provisioning, & management of distributed applications with a 3-pronged approach: reusable XML Module Descriptors, flexible query XML Configuration Descriptors to aggregate modules, and a non-intrusive distributed infrastructure

Publications

• Ulrich Dinger, Donald Kossmann, Christian Reichel: OpenXL: An Adaptable Web-Service Middleware, Technical Report, ETH Zurich, Dec 2006
• Ulrich Dinger, Roy Oberhauser, Christian Reichel: SWS-ASE:Leveraging Web Service-based Software Engineering, ICSEA 2006, October 29 - November 1, 2006, "Best Papers" award
• Ulrich Dinger, Roy Oberhauser, Christian Reichel: A Semantic Web Services Approach Towards Automated Software Engineering, ICWS 2006, Work-in-Progress Track, Chicago, USA
• D. Kossmann, C. Reichel, SLL: Running My Web Services on Your WS Platforms, Proceedings of ICWS 2005, Industry Track, July 12-15, 2005, Orlando, Florida, USA.
  A shorter poster version appeared in WWW 2005.
• C. Reichel, R. Oberhauser, XML-based Programming Language Modeling: An Approach to Software Engineering, Proceedings of SEA 2004, MIT Cambridge, MA, USA, November 2004