Model Driven Development (MDD)

Petri net is a mathematical modeling language used to describe a system graphically. It is a strong language that can be used to represent parallel or concurrent activities in a system. With a Petri net tool, users can view the overall system graphically and edit it with the editor. A Petri net tool can also be used to analyze the performance of the system, generate code, simulate the system and perform model checking on it. A review on twenty Petri net tools in this paper will give the readers an idea on what is a Petri net tool and the main functions of a Petri net tool. This paper can serve as an introduction of twenty Petri net tools to the reader. However, to date, there are many Petri net tools available to be downloaded online. This survey paper aims to compare twenty Petri net tools in different aspect. This is important as users will not have to read the reviews of Petri net tools online one by one. Just be having a look at the discussion provided, readers can determined the best recommended Petri net tools to be used based on their operating systems and the types of Petri net tool to be analyzed. The main purpose of this survey paper is to recommend Petri net tools based on the operating system and the types of Petri net to be analyzed.

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Model Driven Development Model interoperability Software development UML Petri NetsAmong the factors that contribute to the inherent complexity of the software development process is the gap between the design and the formal analysis domains. Software design is often considered a human oriented task while the analysis phase draws on formal representation and mathematical foundations. An example of this dichotomy is the use of UML for the software design phase and Petri Nets for the analysis; a separation of concerns that leads to the creation of heterogeneous models. Although UML is widely accepted as a language that can be used to model the structural and behavioural aspects of a system, its lack of mathematical foundations is seen as a serious impediment to rigorous analysis. Petri Nets on the other hand have a strong mathematical basis that are well suited for formal analysis; they lack however the appeal and the ease-of-use of UML. A pressing concern for software developers is how to bridge the gap between these domains and allow for model interoperability and the integration of different toolsets across them, and thus reduce the complexity of the software development process. The aim of this paper is to present a Model Driven Development (MDD) model transformation which supports a seamless transition between UML and Petri Nets. This is achieved by model interoperability from UML Sequence Diagrams to Petri Nets and supported by tool integration. The model transformation framework allows a software system to be designed in terms of UML Sequence Diagrams and subjected to formal analysis by taking advantage of the strong mathematical framework of Petri Nets. The behaviour of a Personal Area Network will be used to illustrate the proposed approach and to highlight model interoperability and tool integration through the design, the transformation and the analysis phases.

Abstract. The need for a design language that is rigorous but accessible and intuitive is often at odds with the formal and mathematical nature of languages used for analysis. UML and Petri Nets are a good example of this dichotomy. UML is a widely accepted modelling language capable of modelling the structural and behavioural aspects of a system. However UML lacks the mathematical foundation that is required for rigorous analysis. Petri Nets on the other hand have a strong mathematical base that is well suited for analysis of a system but lacks the appeal and ease-of-use of UML. Design in UML languages such as Sequence Diagrams and analysis in Petri Nets require on one hand some expertise in potentially two incompatible systems and their tools, and on the other a seamless transition from one system to the other. One way of addressing this impediment is to focus the software development mainly on the design language system and to facilitate the transition to the formal analysis by means of a combination of automation and tool support. The aim of this paper is to present a transformation system, which takes UML Sequence Diagrams augmented with time constraints and generates semantically equivalent Petri Nets that preserve the timing requirements. A case study on a small network is used in order to illustrate the proposed approach and in particular the design, the transformation and the analysis processes.