Simulation-based analysis of UML statechart diagrams: methods and case studies

We present a comprehensive unified modeling language (UML) statechart diagram analysis framework. This framework allows one to progressively perform different analysis operations to analyze UML statechart diagrams at different levels of model complexity. The analysis operations supported by the framework are based on analyzing Petri net models converted from UML statechart diagrams using a previously proposed transformation approach. After introducing the general framework, the paper emphasizes two simulation-based analysis operations from the framework: direct MSC inspection, which provides a visual representation of system behavior described by statechart diagrams; and a pattern-based trace query technique, which can be used to define and query system properties. Two case-study examples are presented with different emphasis. The gas station example is a simple multi-object system used to demonstrate both the visual and query-based analysis operations. The early warning system example uses only one object, but features composite states and includes analysis specifically aimed at one composite state feature, history states.

Sol M. ShatzEmail:

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Jiexin Lian   is a Ph.D. candidate in computer science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research interests include software engineering and Petri net theory and applications. He received his B.S. in computer science from Tongji University, China. Zhaoxia Hu   received her B.S. degree in Physics from Beijing University, Beijing, China in 1990. She received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees, in computer science, from University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, in 2001 and 2005, respectively. She currently works for an investment research company (Morningstar, Inc.) as an application developer. Sol M. Shatz   received the B.S. degree in computer science from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees, also in computer science, from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, in 1981 and 1983, respectively. He is currently a Professor of Computer Science and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also serves as co-director of the Concurrent Software Systems Laboratory. His research is in the field of software engineering, with particular interest in formal methods for specification and analysis of concurrent and distributed software. He has served on the program and organizing committees of many conferences, including co-organizer of the Workshop on Software Engineering and Petri Nets held in Denmark, June 2000; program co-chair for the International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS), 2003; and General Chair for ICDCS 2007. He has given invited talks in the US, Japan, and China, and presented tutorials (both live and video) for the IEEE Computer Society. Dr. Shatz is a member of the Editorial Board for various technical journals, having served on the Editorial Board for IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering from 2001 to 2005. His research as been supported by grants from NSF and ARO, among other agencies and companies. He has received various teaching awards from the University of Illinois at Chicago as well as the College of Engineering’s Faculty Research Award in 2003.