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An Automated Translation of UML Class Diagrams into a Formal Specification to Detect Inconsistencies

Authors:
Khadija El Miloudi
Younes El Amrani
Abdelaziz Ettouhami

Keywords: Z; UML; UML inconsistencies; Formal Specification; Software Model Checking;

Abstract:
In view of the informal semantic of UML, there is a high risk of introducing ambiguities and contradictions in the modelled software. A considerable amount of literature has been published on UML inconsistencies. These studies have demonstrated the absence of any rule in UML to prevent such inconsistencies from being introduced in UML designs. This article describes a systematic translation of UML Class Diagrams into a formal specification to uncover most of the UML inconsistencies published to date. Examples of inconsistent UML class diagrams presented in previous research studies were used to validate the approach. The formal model obtained from UML class diagrams helped to uncover inconsistencies without any further proof. In order to relieve the user from writing a much rigorous and precise formalism, a tool that automatically generates the formal model from the UML class diagram was developed.

Pages: 432 to 438

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2011

Publication date: October 23, 2011

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-4235

ISBN: 978-1-61208-165-6

Location: Barcelona, Spain

Dates: from October 23, 2011 to October 29, 2011