Explicit traceability model for aligning a conception sequence diagram and a BPMN diagram

Abstract

In modern software engineering process methodologies, business process models (BPM) tend to occupy an increasingly important role in the development and ongoing management of information systems (IS). However, only few information systems are developed according to the business processes they support. This separation leads to differences between the economic model and the model of IS. Thus, this work aims to bridge the gap between business and software modeling. To achieve this goal, we introduce an explicit traceability methodology that extends a previous requirements traceability methodology to address alignment and the coevolution of the dynamic viewpoint of the software models and business process models (BPM). Indeed, we first define a unified trace metamodel that includes all Business Process and Model Notation (BPMN) and Unified Modeling Language (UML) elements (use cases, conception sequence diagrams) and traceability links between interconnected elements. Next, we instantiate the built-in metamodels in the form of new diagrams called BPMNTraceISM (BPMN Traces Information System Models). Finally, we define a set of bi-directional transformation models between the BPMN, UML, and the new BPMNTraceISM diagrams. To prove the feasibility of our traceability method, we implemented a full graphic editor to design and visualize BPMNTraceISM diagrams, and ATL (ATLAS Transformation Language) rules to support the bi-directional transformation models. We have also test traceability methods with a case study.