From UML Models to Graph Transformation Systems

In this paper we present an approach that allows to validate properties of UML models. The approach is based on an integrated semantics for central parts of the UML. We formally cover UML use case, class, object, statechart, collaboration, and sequence diagrams. Additionally full OCL is supported in the common UML fashion. Our semantics is based on the translation of a UML model into a graph transformation system consisting of graph transformation rules and a working graph that represents the system state. By applying the rules on the working graph, the evolution of the modeled system is simulated.     

基于UML的医院信息系统建模

UML是一种面向对象的建模语言,能够将用户的业务需求映射为模型,可大大提高系统的开发效率和扩展性。运用UML用例图、时序图、协作图、状态图、活动图等表示方法,对医院信息系统HIS的需求和业务流程进行分析与设计,准确地表达系统的功能需求,有效解决了HIS的需求分析和业务建模问题,为下一步的总体设计奠定了良好的基础。     

Dynamic Meta Modeling with Time: Specifying the Semantics of Multimedia Sequence Diagrams

UML offers different diagram types to model behavior and dynamics of software systems. In some domains like embedded real-time systems or multimedia systems, it is necessary to include specifications of time since the correctness of these applications depends on the fulfillment of temporal requirements in addition to functional requirements. UML thus already incorporates language features to model time and temporal constraints. Such model elements must have an equivalent in the semantic domain. We have proposed Dynamic Meta Modeling (DMM) as a means for the specification of the formal operational semantics of UML models by applying graph transformation to the meta modeling of dynamic behavior. Within this paper, we extend this approach to also account for time by building on timed graph transformations. We apply these concepts to the domain of multimedia application modeling in which we adopt UML sequence diagrams. The DMM rules with time then specify an interpreter that can be used to analyze or test a model of multimedia sequence diagrams.     

Dynamic Meta Modeling with time: Specifying the semantics of multimedia sequence diagrams

The Unified Modeling Langugage (UML) offers different diagram types to model the behavior of software systems. In some domains like embedded real-time systems or multimedia systems, it is necessary to include specifications of time in behavioral models since the correctness of these applications depends on the fulfillment of temporal requirements in addition to functional requirements. UML thus already incorporates language features to model time and temporal constraints. Such model elements must have an equivalent in the semantic domain.We have proposed Dynamic Meta Modeling (DMM), an approach based on graph transformation, as a means for specifying operational semantics of dynamic UML diagrams. In this article, we extend this approach to also account for time by extending the semantic domain to timed graph transformation. This enables us to define the operational semantics of UML diagrams with time specifications. As an example, we provide semantics for special sequence diagrams from the domain of multimedia application modeling.     

从UML顺序图生成状态图的一个方法

UML (Unified Modeling Language) is a visual modeling language used for specifying,visualizing,constructing,and documenting the artifacts of software systems by various diagrams.It has been widely accepted as a standard modeling language in both academic and industrial areas.UML sequence diagrams are mostly used in specifying system requirements.By representing interactions,which are arranged in time sequence,between the objects in a system,sequence diagrams can construct scenarios indicating the system‘‘s functions.A UML statechart diagram is a graph shows the sequences of states that an object or an interaction goes through during its life in response to received stimuli,together with its responses and actions.It‘‘s useful in the design stage of system development.This essay discusses the computer-aided transformation from sequence diagrams to statechart diagrams,which can offer strong support for the transfering from requirement analysis to system design in the software development process.With OCL (Object Control Language) semantic constrain,a transform algorithm is provided in the paper.And the differences with the related works are also mentioned.     

Using formal metamodels to check consistency of functional views in information systems specification

UML notations require adaptation for applications such as Information Systems (IS). Thus we have defined IS-UML. The purpose of this article is twofold. First, we propose an extension to this language to deal with functional aspects of IS. We use two views to specify IS transactions: the first one is defined as a combination of behavioural UML diagrams (collaboration and state diagrams), and the second one is based on the definition of specific classes of an extended class diagram. The final objective of the article is to consider consistency issues between the various diagrams of an IS-UML specification. In common with other UML languages, we use a metamodel to define IS-UML. We use class diagrams to summarize the metamodel structure and a formal language, B, for the full metamodel. This allows us to formally express consistency checks and mapping rules between specific metamodel concepts.     

Automated transformations from UML behavior models to contracts

In model driven architecture （MDA）, system requirements are first captured by UML （unified mod- eling language） use cases with sequence diagrams to describe their intended use and implemented by classes of objected-oriented languages in the subsequent design stages. It is important that the dynamic behavior specified by the sequence diagrams is in full compliance with the implementation classes. This paper proposes an auto- matic approach and tool support for generating class contracts, which define a precondition and a postcondition for each operation of the class. The former serves as a guard to ensure invocations of the operations respect the semantics introduced by the sequence diagrams, and the latter places the system in a legal state to facilitate the succeeding operation calls. The contracts can be easily mapped to code of an object-oriented language such as Java. Thus, the approach helps to bridge the gap between the requirements and design stages of system development process. We use our model transformation tool to first generate a UML protocol state machine from the sequence diagrams, and then derive the contracts for a controller class. The transformations take into account the concurrency and critical constructs of the respective UML diagrams.     

UML模型和Java代码之间的一致性检测方法

针对代码与模型之间的不一致性问题,提出了一种基于UML模型和Java代码之间的一致性检测方法.首先,对UML类图和时序图进行形式化描述,并提出时序调用图(SD-CG)这一概念,在此基础上完成类的关联关系到关联属性的转换以及UML时序图到时序调用图SD-CG的转换;其次,通过方法调用图CG来表达类方法之间的调用关系,从而反映代码动态行为,由此通过对Java源代码的词法分析与语法分析,可获得类的信息及方法调用图CG;然后设计了UML模型与Java源代码间一致性检测算法,包括对类间静态信息以及时序调用图SD-CG与方法调用图CG间的一致性检测;最后,通过开发UML模型与Java源代码一致性检测工具,验证了所提出的方法是可行有效的.     

Synthesizing object life cycles from business process models

Unified modeling language (UML) activity diagrams can model the flow of stateful business objects among activities, implicitly specifying the life cycles of those objects. The actual object life cycles are typically expressed in UML state machines. The implicit life cycles in UML activity diagrams need to be discovered in order to derive the actual object life cycles or to check the consistency with an existing life cycle. This paper presents an automated approach for synthesizing a UML state machine modeling the life cycle of an object that occurs in different states in a UML activity diagram. The generated state machines can contain parallelism, loops, and cross-synchronization. The approach makes life cycles that have been modeled implicitly in activity diagrams explicit. The synthesis approach has been implemented using a graph transformation tool and has been applied in several case studies.     

UML2.0的新特性以及在选课系统中的应用

本文介绍了UML2.0规约的修订过程和一些新特性,并且以高校的选课系统为例子,描述了UML2.0中的活动图,用况图,类图,顺序图以及通讯图相对于UML1.0的改进。最后还对UML的未来发展做了客观的分析。     

An Initial Experimental Assessment of the Dynamic Modelling in UML

The goal of this empirical study is to compare the semantic comprehension of three different notations for representing the dynamic behaviour in unified modelling language (UML): (a) sequence diagrams, (b) collaboration diagrams, and (c) state diagrams. Eighteen students of Informatics analysed the three types of diagrams within three different application domains. We performed a 3 × 3 factorial experimental design with repeated measures. The metrics collected were total time and total score. The main conclusion of this study is that the comprehension of the dynamic modelling in object-oriented designs depends on the diagram type and on the complexity of the document. The software project design written in the UML notation is more comprehensible, when the dynamic behaviour is modelled in a sequence diagram. While if it is implemented using a collaboration diagram, the design turns out to be less comprehensible as the application domain, and consequently, the document is more complex.     

基于通信序列进程的UML序列图形式化方法

UML2.0序列图是一种描述对象之间动态协作和事件发展时间关系的视图,但是UML序列图缺乏精确的形式化语义,所以不利于对其所描述的系统进行形式化验证。为此,根据UML2.0语义文档及组合碎片包概念,基于通信序列进程(CSP)给出了UML序列图的基本元素和消息迹的形式化定义及生成规则,实现了UML序列图的形式化,为UML序列图在描述系统准确性和有效性方面提供了形式化的检验方法。最后通过ATM实例说明UML序列图这一过程的正确性。     

Visualizing Design Patterns in Their Applications and Compositions

Design patterns are generic design solutions that can be applied and composed in different applications where pattern-related information is generally implicit in the Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagrams of the applications. It is unclear in which pattern instances each modeling element, such as class, attribute, and operation, participates. It is hard for a designer to find the design patterns used in an application design. Consequently, the benefits of design patterns are compromised because designers cannot communicate with each other in terms of the design patterns they used and their design decisions and trade-offs. In this paper, we present a UML profile that defines new stereotypes, tagged values, and constraints for tracing design patterns in UML diagrams. These new stereotypes and tagged values are attached to a modeling element to explicitly represent the role the modeling element plays in a design pattern so that the user can identify the pattern in a UML diagram. Based on this profile, we also develop a Web service (tool) for explicitly visualizing design patterns in UML diagrams. With this service, users are able to visualize design patterns in their applications and compositions because pattern-related information can be dynamically displayed. A real-world case study and a comparative experiment with existing approaches are conducted to evaluate our approach.     

一种顺序图的形式化描述与推理过程

以统一建模语言(UML,Unified Modeling Language)规范为基础,给出UML顺序图的形式化定义和语法描述,并进一步分析了对象消息发送和接收之间的一致性问题.最后,通过对实例推理过程的分析,对UML顺序图的特性作进一步的解释.这为基于UML顺序图的模型转换和模型验证提供了必要的前提条件,可用于对软件...     

Specifying behavioral semantics of UML diagrams through graph transformations

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) has been widely accepted as a standard for modeling software systems from various perspectives. The intuitive notations of UML diagrams greatly improve the communication among developers. However, the lack of a formal semantics makes it difficult to automate analysis and verification. This paper offers a graphical yet formal approach to specifying the behavioral semantics of statechart diagrams using graph transformation techniques. It supports many advanced features of statecharts, such as composite states, firing priority, history, junction, and choice. In our approach, a graph grammar is derived automatically from a state machine to summarize the hierarchy of states. Based on the graph grammar, the execution of a set of non-conflict state transitions is interpreted by a sequence of graph transformations. This facilitates verifying a design model against system requirements. To demonstrate our approach, we present a case study on a toll-gate system.     

Integrating Model Information in UML Sequence Diagrams

In a UML model, different aspects of a system are covered by different types of diagrams. Nevertheless, it is important to provide means to check the consistency and completeness of the UML model. This problem is addressed in this paper by integrating the information specified in class and statechart diagrams into sequence diagrams. The representation as constraints attached to certain locations of the objects lifelines in the sequence diagram allows the identification of gaps and contradictory specifications. Furthermore, dependencies between the sequence diagrams can be investigated based on the previous analysis.     

A generic simulation model for evaluating concurrency control protocols in native XML database systems

In this paper we propose a generic simulation model, named XSM, with which researchers can construct standard platforms and evaluate their proposed concurrency control protocols for native XDBMSs. The system environment, the performance metrics, and the protocol rules of various types of XML protocols are all considered by the model. To facilitate the implementation of XSM, the state diagrams, the sequence diagrams, the component diagram, and the class diagram of XSM are depicted using UML 2.0 notations. We also show a simulation platform constructed from XSM to fairly and comprehensively evaluate the performance of various XML protocols.     

基于UML图和不同粒度切片的回归测试研究

针对面向对象软件回归测试的新特点,本文引入了基于UML图的不同粒度切片。首先,对描述类间关系的UML类图和描述状态变迁关系的UML状态图形式化定义。接着,对定义的图进行切片分析,其中类间测试提出一种基于UML类图的粗粒度切片工具;类内测试提出一种基于UML状态图细粒度切片的方法。最后,将其应用于销售订单系统,结果表明以上两种分析方法可以有效地提高回归测试效率。     

A formal approach based on UML and B for the specification and development of database applications

This article describes a formal approach to specify and develop database applications. This approach consists of two complementary phases. In the first phase, B specifications are automatically generated from UML class, state and collaboration diagrams describing the data and the transactions of the system we are developing. In the second phase, these specifications are successively refined until they become close enough to a relational implementation. The tool supporting this approach is implemented as an extension of the Rational Rose tool to develop and visualize graphical (UML) and formal (B) notations in a single environment.