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Many information systems hold data of considerable value, and are subject to complex constraints and business rules. In these systems, update operations are often carefully described, to the extent that it is possible to derive a formal specification of their applicability and effect. Where an update is performed by means of a workflow, as a combination of operations, then it may be advantageous to calculate properties of that workflow from the specifications of the operations involved. This paper introduces a formal notation for the description and analysis of workflows, similar to the well-known languages of guarded commands or generalised substitutions. This notation is given a behavioural semantics corresponding to a sequential, transformational view of the information system. This semantics can then be used to determine the suitability of proposed guards-constraints upon the enactment of workflows-and to establish whether one workflow will interfere with the progress of another.

Please cite this article in press as: J. Davies et al., Formal model-driven engineering of critical information systems, Sci. Comput. Program. (2015), http://dx. Highlights• Model-driven tools can reduce the cost of development and verification.• Information systems can be produced automatically from object oriented designs.• A formal, model-driven approach is proposed for use in safety critical systems.• A framework is provided for the correctness of model transformations. AbstractModel-driven engineering is the generation of software artefacts from abstract models. This is achieved through transformations that encode domain knowledge and implementation strategies. The same transformations can be used to produce quite different systems, or to produce successive versions of the same system. A model-driven approach can thus reduce the cost of development. It can also reduce the cost of verification: if the transformations are shown or assumed to be correct, each new system or version can be verified in terms of its model, rather than its implementation. This paper introduces an approach to model-driven engineering that is particularly suited to the development of critical information systems. The language of the models, and the language of the transformations, are amenable to formal analysis. The transformation strategy, and the associated development methodology, are designed to preserve systems integrity and availability.