Provider

"Provider" is a Microsoft.NET 2.0 concept. It can be thought of as a software component that can be installed onto a computer and then plugged into an application simply by changing the application's configuration file. Such a provider must make available the interface that the application expects - so that the application can utilise it. The application interacts with the Provider via the interface without knowing exactly what the provider is or even exactly what it is doing - it is the responsibility of the provider to behave as expected.

ViziGen uses providers to import modelling data in XMI format from external modelling tools.