Exploring The Semantics of UML Type Structures with Z

Abstract

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) builds upon some of the best objectoriented (00) modeling concepts available, and is intended to serve as a common 00 modeling notation. Given its intended role, it is important that the UML notation have a well-defined semantic base. In this paper we present some early results from our work on the systematic formalization of UML modeling constructs. The paper focuses on the formalization of UML Class Diagrams. The formal notation Z is used to express the semantics of Class Diagrams.

Formal Modelling of Java GUI Event Handling

“…Typically, since Unified Modeling Language (UML) [2] is well accepted by the software industries as graphical design notations, people have been studying the translations of UML descriptions into various formalisms. For example, in [11] it has been discussed the formalism of class diagrams in UML using Z [24]. In [17], operational semantics is provided to UML State Machine so that formal verification techniques can further apply.…”

“…Formalism of design documents has been an important and active research direction [11,17,22]. Typically, since Unified Modeling Language (UML) [2] is well accepted by the software industries as graphical design notations, people have been studying the translations of UML descriptions into various formalisms.…”

A toolkit for model manipulation

“…There are many other applications that do not transform an existing model but generate a derived text-based artifact. This is the case of generation of program code [26], tests cases [18], metrics [28], a specification in a formal language [11] or an input model for a verification tool [15] or a performance analysis tool [5]. There are other applications that do not even generate new artifacts.…”

Expressing UML Class Diagrams Properties with OCL

“…Work has been done on the basis of wellestablished traditional approaches to specification like Z and VDM: [SF97,FBLPS97] focuses on the UML type system, a general integration of Z with object-orientation is discussed in [Ebe97], and in [Lan96,BLM97] an object calculus enhancing the expressibility of object-oriented notations has been proposed. Other approaches treat in detail the UML predecessor OMT [BCV96,WRC97], and in particular class diagrams [BC95] in connection with Larch are discussed.…”