title: NAF - Part 4 - NATO Meta Model - Introduction
author: Bernard Szlachta (NobleProg Ltd)

NATO Architecture Framework Metamodel (NMM)

Meta Modelling Concepts。

Version。

NAF 3.0 uses its own Meta Model (based on MoDAF)
NAF 3.1 uses MoDAF 1.2.003 metamodel
NAF 4 uses MODEM (http://nafdocs.org/modem/)
- https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/63980/20130117_MODAF_MODEM.pdf

Depends whether your organization uses version 3.0 (not really good) or 3.1 (which only Chapter 5, NMM has been published), please use the following diagrams of follow the link below to learn about version 3.1 https://www.gov.uk/mod-architecture-framework

Especailly:

Also you can have a look at the newest meta-model 1.2.004 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/63979/20130117_MODAF_M3_version1_2_004.pdf

Download Sparx EA version。

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121026065214/http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/7F4D82D6-5D3A-4DB0-B409-770CDDDE9CA2/0/20090306M3_v1_2SparxU.zip

NMM Rationale。

NMM contains definitions of all architectural elements identified in NAF-chapters 3 and 4
Contains all allowable relationships between those elements
NMM provides the specification for XMI file interchange between NAF version 3 architecture tools
The NAF version 3 metamodel extends the UK MODAF Meta Model, which has been provided by kind permission of the UK Ministry of Defence. (in practise it is identical to MoDAF 1.2.003) http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/InformationManagement/MODAF/ModafMetaModel.htm
May also be used as a specification for configuring repositories
NMM defined as an extension to the UML 2.0 metamodel so that it may also act as a specification for UML profiles

NMM Assumptions and Tenets。

The metamodel is:

a single, contiguous model with meta elements that are intended to be used and reused across the NAF v3 views
an extension of the UML 2.0 Metamodel (via stereotypes)
an abstract syntax for a UML 2.0 profile
intended to cover all architectural elements that can appear in a NAF v3 product
presented in UML and published as a set of navigable web pages

The metamodel is not:

a set of unconnected models - the presentation method used here could lead some to believe that NAF v3 isn’t ‘joined-up’, which is not true
a full UML profile specification - there is no concrete syntax and UML is not mandated for NAF v3 products (see Chapter 4)
a conceptual data model or ontology - the intent is to capture the architectural meta elements and the relationships between them
- the semantic classification of the architectural meta elements is captured in NAV-2.

NMM Approach。

The metamodel is a key enabler to architectural coherency
The coherence of the architecture is achieved by defining which architectural meta elements can be used in which NAF subviews - architects create an element only once and reuse it from subview to subview
This reuse of elements and the metamodel relationships between meta elements encourages the architect to produce ‘joined up’ architectures
The metamodel is only one enabler to coherency. It only defines the architectural meta elements, with no consideration of the real-world objects they represent
Those real-world objects are defined at the more general level in the NAF domain ontology (refer to NAF-chapter 7) and extended by architects with domain-specific terms in NAV-2 (refer to NAF-chapter 4)

The metamodel is too large to be presented as a whole in this document, so is presented subview by subview
High-level summary diagrams are presented for each view (which hide some of the detail), and templates (or ‘cheat-sheets’) are shown where essential concepts span multiple subviews (e.g. capability deployment and delivery)

NMM Facts and Intention。

The representation of the metamodel is based on indicating the metamodel entities that are part of the views themselves
Views alone only provide consistency in terms of the type of information produced – i.e. humans can recognize that one View is a systems model, whilst another is a process model
The same information may be represented in more than one View, and there may be important relationships between the information in different Views that should be captured
This consistency between Views is provided by the NMM which identifies all the types of architectural meta elements represented across all the Views, and the relationships between those concepts
The NMM therefore provides semantic rigor for the Architectural Framework
Many of the benefits from using an architectural approach will ultimately come about from the ability to share, integrate, search and reuse architectural information across an enterprise
In order for the architectural information to be stored, managed and queried electronically, the NMM that underpins the Views needs to support the sharing of Architectural Products between tools and the implementation of an architectural repository that stores those Products and the metadata relating to those Products
The NMM is the information model for NAF version 3, defining the structure of the underlying architectural information that is presented in the Views
The goal is that NAF version 3 tools are ‘model-driven’ – i.e. the Views that are presented to the user are snapshots of underlying architectural data which is stored in the tool or in a repository

NMM Overview。

For version 4 please visit: http://nafdocs.org/meta-model/

NMM and NAF elements。

The following table presents the relationship between some of the key meta elements within the NMM in a different way, showing the relationship between ‘things’ at different levels within the Enterprise/Node/Capability Configuration hierarchy and the corresponding Activities, Entities, and Flows.
The term ‘enterprise’, in a NATO context, is commonly used by architects in the architecture domain
In the context of this table, it should be noted that Organisational Resources and Systems are essentially at the same level as Capability Configuration, which represents the coming together of Systems and Organisational Resources in order to manipulate Data and carry out functions.

Model Exchange。

The purpose of the NMM is to specify the data exchange format for NAF version 3 architectures
OMG XML Metadata Interchange (OMG’s XMI) specification (v2.1)
In order to make maximum reuse of the XMI interfaces that tool vendors may already have, the NMM is an extension of the UML 2.0 Metamodel
NMM defines an abstract syntax for a UML profile
Each meta element defined in the NMM specifies a UML stereotype
The NMM does not provide the concrete syntax (the visual representation of the stereotypes that would appear in a UML diagram) because UML is not a prescribed modelling approach for NAF version 3 products – only an abstract syntax is required in order to specify the XMI usage
The NMM is structured by view, and presented by subview

NNEC Architecture elements mapping to NMM

The list is to be used as a guideline since the mapping is, to a degree at least, dependent on the circumstances

NAF Elements to NMM mappings
NAF-Chapter 3 NNEC Architecture Concepts	NMM stereotypes
Actor	<<Node>>
Operational objective	<<EnterpriseGoal>>
Capability	<<Capability>>
Operational object	<<InformationElement>>
Information object	<<Entity>>
Process	<<OperationalActivity>>
Location	<<ActualLocation>>
Information requirement	<<Needline>>
Business rule	<<OperationalConstraint>>
Information product	<<DataElement>>
Information flow	<<InformationExchange>>
User	<<ServiceConsumer>>
Service	<<Service>>
Component	<<System>>
Component collaboration	<<ResourceInteraction>>