METAMODEL-BASED METADATA CHANGE MANAGEMENT

A framework is provided for management of models. Management of data models or other types of models includes model change comparison and change implementation. For example, in the context of data warehouse models, model components and their process interactions are captured in a form such that different versions of a model can be automatically compared and any changes between versions determined. The framework provides the capability of capturing a model definition down to the level of an individual object and the semantics and relationships of each object. A model is represented and stored as a set of (1) unique object identifiers, (2) object metadata signatures that represent the semantics of objects, and (3) object relationships. Such model information can be stored in a relational database, against which a query, such as an SQL (Structured Query Language) query, can be executed to determine whether two models differ.