Electronic Communications of the EASST (European Association of Software Science and Technology)
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EMorF - A tool for model transformations
Get PDFIn this paper, we present EMorF - a model transformation tool for EMF. EMorF supports the specification and execution of in-place model transformations as well as model-to-model transformations. The graphical though formal specification is based on (triple-) graph grammars, which are executed by an interpreter system. Inthis paper, we focus on the provided tool support for the development and execution of model transformations
Incremental Pattern Matching for Regular Expressions
Get PDFGraph pattern matching lies at the heart of any graph transformation-based system. Incremental pattern matching is one approach proposed for reducingthe overall cost of pattern matching over successive transformations by preserving the matches that stay relevant after a rule application. An important issue in any matching scheme, is the ability to properly and consistently deal with various facilities that add to the expressiveness of a GT-tool’s rule language. One such feature is the support for regular path expressions, which would let two nodes to be consideredas a “match”, if a certain path of edges exists between them. In this paper, the incorporation of regular expression support into incremental pattern matching is discussed within the context of the GROOVE tool set. This includes laying down a formal foundation for incremental pattern matching for regular expressions which is then used to justify the extension proposed to add regular expression support to a well-known pattern matching algorithm
Coverage Criteria for Testing DMM Specifications
Get PDFBehavioral modeling languages are most useful if their behavior is specified formally such that it can e.g. be analyzed and executed automatically. Obviously, the quality of such behavior specifications is crucial. The rule-based semantics specification technique Dynamic Meta Modeling (DMM) honors this by using the approach of Test-driven Semantics Specification (TDSS), which makes sure that the specification at hand at least describes the correct behavior for a suite of test models. However, in its current state TDSS does not provide any means to measure the quality of such a test suite.In this paper, we describe how we have applied the idea of test coverage to TDSS. Similar to common approaches of defining test coverage criteria, we describe a data structure called invocation graph containing possible orders of applications of DMM rules. Then we define different coverage criteria based on that data structure, taking the rule applications caused by the test suite’s models into account. Our implementation of the described approach gives the language engineer using DMM a means to reason about the quality of the language’s test suite, and also provides hints on how to improve that quality by adding dedicated test models to the test suite
Delta Lenses over Inductive Types
Get PDFExisting bidirectional languages are either state-based or operation-based, depending on whether they represent updates as mere states or as sequences of edit operations.In-between both worlds are delta-based frameworks, where updates are represented using alignment relationships between states.In this paper, we formalize delta lenses over inductive types using dependent type theory and develop a point-free delta lens language with an explicit separation of shape and data.In contrast with the already known issue of data alignment, we identify the new problem of shape alignment and solve it by lifting standard recursion patterns such as folds and unfolds to delta lenses that use alignment to infer meaningful shape updates
Modelling- and Simulation-Based Design of Multi-tier Systems
Get PDFThis paper introduces a domain-specific language for modelling andsimulation-based design of multi-tier systems. Multi-tier systems are complexand very few general models have been developed. Rather, models are alwaysdedicated to a specific architecture. Our approach allows for rapidexperimentation with different multi-tier alternatives. Not only parameters,but also structure can be drastically varied. Using graph transformation,multi-tier systems models are translated into Queueing Petri Nets (QPNs) in asystematic way for analysis with the SimQPN simulator. We describe QPN, ourmulti-tier architecture visual language, as well as the transformation between them. A case study demonstrates the power of the approach for design-space exploration
How to reach a usable DSL? Moving toward a Systematic Evaluation
Get PDFDomain-Specific Languages (DSLs) are claimed to increase productivity,while reducing the required maintenance and programming expertise. In thiscontext, DSL usability by domain experts is a key factor for its successfuladoption.Evidence that support those improvement claims is mostly anecdotal. Oursystematic literature review showed that a usability evaluation was oftenskipped, relaxed, or at least omitted from papers reporting the development of DSLs. Thefew exceptions mostly take place at the end of the development process where fixing problems identified is too expensive.We argue that a systematic approach based on User Interface experimentalvalidation techniques should be used to assess the impact of the new DSLs. The rationale is that assessing important and specially tailored usability attributes for DSLs early in language construction will ultimately foster a higher productivity of the DSL users. This paper, besides discussing thequality criteria, proposes a development and evaluation process that can be usedto achieve usable DSLs in a better way
Inter-Modelling with Graphical Constraints: Foundations and Applications
Get PDFModel-Driven Engineering (MDE) promotes an active use of models in the different phases of the development, so that the construction of systems usually involves a number of models expressed in different languages and levels of abstraction; therefore, there is the constant need to compare, generate and update models and their relations. We call inter-modelling to the activity of building models that describe how modelling languages should be related. This includes many MDE activities like the specification of model-to-model transformations, the definition of model matching and traceability constraints, and the development of inter-model consistency mantainers. While most approaches build different operational programs to handle each activity separately, we propose using a high-level specification language called PaMoMo to specify inter-models in a declarative, graphical, bidirectional way. This specification can be compiled into operational mechanisms to solve different inter-modelling activities like transformation, model comparison and traceability support. Other usage scenarios for PaMoMo are the specification of transformation contracts and the automated testing of transformations
Modeling context with graph annotations
Get PDFOrganisational policies are often formed of declarational (defining constraints on functional services) and operational (realising functionalities via simple activities) aspects. However, when several perspectives are involved, constraints and operations can comprise different aspects, without identifying the origin of some details. We propose the use of annotations as a way to flexibly add and remove application conditions on rules, while maintaining an indication of their origin. We use graph transformations to model operations in some application domain, graph constraints to model conditions imposed by some external domain, and annotations to combine domains. We explore the problem of failure of transactions due to the additional constraints imposed by the contextual domain, and describe a way to redefine the success conditions for transactions employing the modified rules
Railway modelling in CSP||B: the double junction case study
Get PDFThis paper reports on recent work in verifying railway systems through CSP||B modelling and analysis. Our motivation is to develop a modelling and verification approach accessible to railway engineers: it is vital that they can validate the models and verification conditions, and - in the case of design errors - obtain comprehendable feedback. In this paper we run through a full production cycle on a real double junction case study, supplied by our industrial partner, who contributed at every stage. As our formalization is, by design, near to their way of thinking, they are comfortable with it and trust it. Without putting much effort on optimization for verification, the scale of the models analyzed is comparable with the work of other groups
A Visual Interpreter Semantics for Statecharts Based on Amalgamated Graph Transformation
Get PDFSeveral different approaches to define the formal operational semantics of statecharts have been proposed in the literature, including visual techniques based on graph transformation. These visual approaches either define a compiler semantics (translating a concrete statechart into a semantical domain) or they define an interpreter using complex control and helper structures. Existing visual semantics definitions make it difficult to apply the classical theory of graph transformations to analyze behavioral statechart properties due to the complex control structures.
In this paper, we define an interpreter semantics for statecharts based on amalgamated graph transformation where rule schemes are used to handle an arbitrary number of transitions in orthogonal states in parallel. We build on an extension of the existing theory of amalgamation from binary to multi-amalgamation including nested application conditions to control rule applications for automatic simulation. This is essential for the interpreter semantics of statecharts. The theory of amalgamation allows us to show termination of the interpreter semantics of well-behaved
statecharts, and especially for our running example, a producer-consumer system