Chapter 1. Introduction

This guide is for engineers, consultants, and others who want to create custom XML-based rules for Migration Toolkit for Applications (MTA) tools.

If you are new to MTA, it is recommended that you start with the Introduction to the Migration Toolkit for Applications for an overview of the Migration Toolkit for Applications features and system requirements. It is also recommended that you review the CLI Guide, which provides detailed instructions on how to install and execute the CLI.

If you would like to contribute to the MTA source code base or provide Java-based rule add-ons, see the Core Development Guide.

The Migration Toolkit for Applications (MTA) contains rule-based migration tools that analyze the APIs, technologies, and architectures used by the applications you plan to migrate. In fact, the MTA analysis process is implemented using MTA rules. MTA uses rules internally to extract files from archives, decompile files, scan and classify file types, analyze XML and other file content, analyze the application code, and build the reports.

MTA builds a data model based on the rule execution results and stores component data and relationships in a graph database, which can then be queried and updated as needed by the migration rules and for reporting purposes.

MTA rules use the following rule pattern:

when(condition)
  perform(action)
otherwise(action)

when(condition)
  perform(action)
otherwise(action)

MTA provides a comprehensive set of standard migration rules out-of-the-box. Because applications may contain custom libraries or components, MTA allows you to write your own rules to identify use of components or software that may not be covered by the existing ruleset.