Gimt: A tool for ontology and goal modeling in BDI multi-agent design

Designing and developing BDI multi-agent systems would be facilitated by rising up the level of abstraction to use and by a methodological approach for managing it. To this aim it is common the integration of goal oriented analysis techniques with the design and implementation phases. In this fashion, our experience is that the use of an ontology in the early stages of the process is a great support for subsequent phases: goal modeling, agent design and implementation. However, we are aware that building and maintaining an ontology has to be supported by appropriate tools. This paper proposes GIMT (Goal Identification and Modeling Tool) as a further step towards the creation of a complete methodological approach for developing multi-agent systems to be implemented in the JACAMO framework. GIMT is a CASE tool for supporting ontology building and goal modeling. Besides the advantages offered by an automatic tool, the other novelty of this research is in the mapping between metamodeling based on Model Driven Engineering (MDE) and Domain Specific Modeling Languages (DSMLs) with the Eclipse plug-in development environment.