Development of ETL Processes Using the Domain-Specific Modeling Approach
ETL process development is the most complex and expensive phase of data warehouse development so research is focused on its conceptualization and automation. A new solution (model-driven ETL approach – M-ETL-A), based on domain-specific modeling, is proposed for the formal specification of ETL processes and their implementation. Several domain-specific languages (DSLs) are introduced, each defining concepts relevant for a specific aspect of an ETL process (primarily, languages for specifying the data flow and the control flow). A specific platform (ETL-PL) technologically supports the modeling (using the DSLs) and automated transformation of models into the executable code of a specific application framework. ETL-PL development environment comprises tools for ETL process modeling (tools for defining the abstract and concrete DSL syntax and for creating models in accordance with the DSLs). ETL-PL execution environment consists of services responsible for the automatic generation of executable code from models and execution of the generated code.