To provide the ability to specify CORBA physical components within a UML tool, the most appropriate approach is to create a UML profile that includes stereotypes, tagged values, and constraints that reflect the characteristics and requirements of CORBA components. Applying this profile to a UML model would extend the semantics of UML to support CORBA-specific concepts without modifying the UML metamodel itself.
This approach allows the modeler to leverage the existing UML tooling while incorporating the additional semantics required for CORBA components. This practice is supported by the extensibility mechanisms provided by UML, as described in the UML 2.x Superstructure Specification, which outlines how to create and apply profiles.