In a model repository framework every client can manipulate the model instances and send its changes to a central repository, where the currently valid version of all model instances is maintained. Similar to SVN or CVS, clients keep a local copy of the model instances they need to work on and can therefore work disconnected (=> Offline Mode) from the repository. If the clients send their changes to the repository, conflicts may occur, which need to be detected and resolved by a user (=> Model Merging). The framework supplies user interfaces for commit, update and merge, which can be replaced if necessary. Since changing the Ecore model requires migration of existing instances of the model, the repository also supports the generation of migrators from the changes performed in the Ecore (=> Model Migration). To help developers in the development of applications based on a model repository, the framework supplies views to browse the repository, to view the history of model instances, to manage access control and to view and manipulate model instances on the client (=> Tooling). The goal of EMFStore is to allow for a very easy integration into existing applications with minimum effort.
