Model Synchronization: Mappings, Tiles and Categories

The paper presents a novel algebraic framework for specification and
design of model synchronization tools. The basic premise is that
synchronization procedures, and hence algebraic operations modeling
them, are \emph{diagrammatic}: they take a configuration (diagram) of
models and mappings as their input and produce a diagram as the
output. Many important synchronization scenarios are based on diagram
operations of square shape. Composition of such operations amounts to
their \emph{tiling}, and complex synchronizers can thus be assembled
by tiling together simple synchronization blocks. This gives rise to
a visually suggestive yet precise notation for specifying
synchronization procedures and reasoning about them.