Reasoning about UML/OCL class diagrams using constraint logic programming and formula

Model Driven Engineering promotes the use of models as the main artifacts in software and system development. Verification and validation of models are key activities to ensure the quality of the system under development. This paper presents a framework to reason about the satisfiability of class mo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Information systems (Oxford) Vol. 81; pp. 152 - 177
Main Authors: Pérez, Beatriz, Porres, Ivan
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2019
Elsevier Science Ltd
Subjects:
Constraint logic programming
Constraints
Diagrams
Frame analysis
Information systems
Logic
Logic programming
Modelling
OCL
Program verification (computers)
Property
Reasoning
Software
Software development
Space technology
Systems development
UML
Verification
OCL
Constraint logic programming
UML
Reasoning
ISSN:0306-4379, 1873-6076
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Model Driven Engineering promotes the use of models as the main artifacts in software and system development. Verification and validation of models are key activities to ensure the quality of the system under development. This paper presents a framework to reason about the satisfiability of class models described using the Unified Modeling Language (UML). The proposed framework allows us to identify possible design flaws as early as possible in the software development cycle. More specifically, we focus on UML Class Diagrams annotated with Object Constraint Language (OCL) invariants, which are considered to be the main artifacts in Object-Oriented analysis and design for representing the static structure of a system. We use the Constraint Logic programming (CLP) paradigm to reason about UML Class Diagrams modeling foundations. In particular, we use Formula as a model-finding and design space exploration tool. We also present an experimental Eclipse plug-in, which implements our UML model to Formula translation proposal following a Model Driven Architecture (MDA) approach. The proposed framework can be used to reason, validate, and verify UML Class Diagram software designs by checking correctness properties and generating model instances using the model exploration tool Formula. •Reasoning about CD/OCL models based on CLP using the tool Formula as model-finder.•Translation of CD to Formula following a MOF-like proposal.•Identified an expressive fragment of OCL and provided its translation to Formula.•Provided an experimental MDA-based implementation of our CD-to-Formula proposal.•Model design reasoning by checking correctness properties and generating model instances automatically.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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content type line 14
ISSN:0306-4379
1873-6076
DOI:10.1016/j.is.2018.08.005