=Paper=
{{Paper
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|storemode=property
|title=Introduction to WUCOR 2015
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1508/paper5.pdf
|volume=Vol-1508
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/models/TorreLGE15
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==Introduction to WUCOR 2015==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1508/paper5.pdf
Introduction to WUCOR (1st International Workshop
on UML Consistency Rules)
Damiano Torre (Primary Contact) Yvan Labiche
Carleton University Carleton University
Software Quality Engineering Laboratory Software Quality Engineering Laboratory
Ottawa, Canada Ottawa, Canada
University of Castilla-La Mancha labiche@sce.carleton.ca
ALARCOS Research Group
Ciudad Real, Spain
dctorre@sce.carleton.ca
Marcela Genero Maged Elaasar
University of Castilla-La Mancha Carleton University
ALARCOS Research Group Software Quality Engineering Laboratory
Ciudad Real, Spain Ottawa, Canada
marcela.genero@uclm.es melaasar@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION be inconsistent [8]. Such inconsistencies may be a source of
The Model Driven Architecture (MDA) [1] is an approach faults in the software system [9]. It is therefore paramount that
to the development of software systems that promotes the use they be detected, analyzed and fixed [10], which requires that
of transformations between successive models from consistency between the diagrams of a UML model be first
requirements to analysis, to design, to implementation, and to specified. One can find some UML diagram consistency
deployment [2]. Much attention has been paid to MDA by specifications in the UML standard itself, where they are often
academia and industry in recent years [3], which has resulted in referred to as well-formedness rules. As discussed in the
models gaining more importance in software development. The literature, one can reason about consistency according to
Unified Modeling Language (UML) [4] is the Object different dimensions: Horizontal vs. Vertical vs. Evolution
Management Group’s specification most frequently used and is Consistency, Syntactic vs. Semantic consistency, and
the de-facto standard modeling language for object-oriented Observation vs. Invocation consistency [11]. One can find
modeling and documentation [5]. It is the most commonly used consistency specification in the UML standard itself. One can
modeling language to implement the MDA although it should also imagine consistency specification that is specific to a
not be used in every single software development project [6]. domain (e.g., telecom, aerospace), to an organization, to a
The UML provides 14 diagram types [4] that can be used to project or a team. Even though there is a need for UML
describe a system from different perspectives (e.g., structure, diagram consistency, even though there exist different ways to
behavior) or abstraction levels (e.g., analysis, design), which reason about consistency rules, one can observe from the
helps deal with complexity and distribute responsibilities literature [11] that: 1) there is no well-accepted set, as
between stakeholders. Those diagrams help support many complete as possible, of consistency specification rules, or
software development activities, such as: transforming an simply rules, for UML diagrams (beyond the small set of well-
analysis model into a design model, transforming a design formedness rules in the standard specification); 2) many
model into an implementation, generating documentation, researchers have proposed, explicitly or implicitly, rules to
model-driven testing, model-driven validation and verification, detect inconsistencies, without any effort to validate those
performance estimation, and schedulability analysis. Since the rules; 3) the majority of the consistency rules target a small
various UML diagrams describe different perspectives of one, subset of the UML diagrams (mostly, class, sequence, and state
and only one, software under development, they strongly machine diagrams); 4) a non-negligible set of consistency rules
depend on each other and hence must be consistent. To be are provided over and over again by researchers (instead of, for
successful, any software development activity that consumes a instance, referring to an accepted list of such rules); 5) a non-
UML model made of diagrams, such as the ones mentioned negligible set of consistency rules presented by researchers are
earlier, requires that those diagrams be consistent. As UML is actually included in the UML standard itself; 6) the UML
not a formal notation, inconsistencies may arise in the UML standard is far from providing a comprehensive set of
specification of a complex software system when such consistency rules; 7) the vast majority of consistency rules are
specification requires multiple diagrams to describe different horizontal and syntactic (other dimensions are barely used in
perspectives of the software [7]. When UML diagrams portray those rules). These observations motivated WUCOR, during
contradicting or conflicting meaning, the diagrams are said to which we sought the opinion of experts about the consistency
rules researchers have been defining in the literature, and the
rules that may be missing. The goal of this workshop has been • Alexander Egyed, Johannes Kepler University, Austria
to gather community input and feedback on UML consistency • Kenn Hussey, Committerati Consulting, Canada
rules in general. WUCOR provided an opportunity for • Zbigniew Huzar, Wroclaw University of Technology,
researchers who have been working on UML consistency, or Poland
whose (research) activities require consistent diagrams, to • Robert Karban, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA
engage with each other in a highly interactive venue so that the • Florian Noyrit, CEA LIST, France
group could validate the rules that have been collected and
• Richard Paige, University of York, UK
pave the path for future initiatives. The objective of the
workshop has been to bring together any one, either from the • Gianna Reggio, Università di Genova, Italy
industry or academia, interested in consistency rules between • Nicolas Rouquette, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA
UML diagrams of a given model, and to provide a platform for • George Spanoudakis, City University London, UK
discussions, interactions and collaborations regarding this • Mehrdad Sabetzadeh, University of Luxembourg,
topic. One of the starting point for the discussion groups was Luxembourg
the set of 190 unique consistency rules we have coalesced in • Miroslaw Staron, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
our work [12]. We also asked for expert opinion about a subset
of those rules that are deemed paramount, and should therefore ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
always be enforced, and other rules that can be considered This work has been funded by the SIGMA-CC project
optional. The final program of the WUCOR is presented in (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and Fondo Europeo
TABLE I. de Desarrollo Regional FEDER, TIN2012-36904) .
TABLE I. SCHEDULE OF WUCOR REFERENCES
Time Duration Activity [1].Mukerji, J., Miller, J.: Overview and guide to OMG's
8:45am 5min Welcome to WUCOR architecture. Object Management Group (2003),
Bernhard Hoisl and Stefan Sobernig. http://www.omg.org/mda/
Consistency Rules for UML-based Domain- [2].Thomas, D.: MDA: Revenge of the modelers or UML
8:50am 25min
specific Language Models: A Literature utopia? IEEE Software 21, 15–17 (2004)
Review
[3].Lucas, F.J., Molina, F., Toval, A.: A systematic review of
Dan Chiorean, Vladiela Petrascu and Ioana
UML model consistency management. Information and
9:15am 25min Chiorean. Proposal for Improving the UML
Abstract Syntax Software Technology 51, 1631-1645 (2009)
1st Actvity about dimensions of UML [4].OMG: OMG Unified Modeling LanguageTM -
9:40am 40min Superstructure Version 2.5. Object Management Group
Consistency
10:20am 25min Coffe Break (2013)
2st Actvity about UML diagrams involved in [5].Pender, T.: UML Bible (2003)
10:45am 1hr [6].Petre, M.: UML in practice. Proceedings of the 35th
UML Consistency
11:45am 1hr15min Lunch Break International Conference on Software Engineering, pp. 722-
1:00pm 10min Introduction to UML Consistency Rules 731. (2013)
3rd Activity about UML consistency rules in [7].Ibrahim, N., Ibrahim, R., Saringat, M.Z., Mansor, D.,
1:10pm 1hr50min
Model-Driven Development Herawan, T.: Consistency rules between UML use case and
3:00pm 20min Coffe Break activity diagrams using logical approach. International
3:20pm 1hr25min Discussion and Presentation of Results Journal of Soft. Engin. and its Applicat. 5, 119-134 (2011)
4:45pm 15min Conclusion, Summary and Next Steps [8].Simmonds, J., Straeten, R.V., Jonkers, V., Mens, T.:
Maintaining Consistency between UML Models using
The WUCOR proceedings collect the two papers presented Description LogicZ. RSTI – LMO’04 10, 231-244 (2004)
at the workshop (shown in TABLE I). Those submitted papers [9].Muskens, J., Bril, R.J., Chaudron, M.R.V.: Generalizing
were peer-reviewed by three independent reviewers. The two Consistency Checking between Software Views.
accepted papers discuss 1) a review about UML-based Proceedings of the 5th Working IEEE/IFIP Conference on
Domain-specific Language Models, and 2) a proposal for Software Architecture, pp. 169-180. (2005)
Improving the UML Abstract Syntax; both papers were [10].Spanoudakis, G., Zisman, A.: Inconsistency management
considered very related to UML Consistency rules issues. in software engineering: Survey and open research issues.
We would like to thank the authors for submitting their In: Chang, S.K. (ed.) Handbook of Software Engineering
papers to WUCOR. We are also grateful to the members of the and Knowledge Engineering, pp. 329-380. (2001)
Program Committee and to the MODELS 2015 organizers for [11].Torre, D., Labiche, Y., Genero, M.: UML consistency
their support during the workshop organization. For more rules: a systematic mapping study. (EASE 2014). (2014)
information about WUCOR please visit the workshop website [12].Torre, D., Labiche, Y., Genero, M., Elaasar, M.: A
at https://wucor.wordpress.com. The Program Committee was systematic identification of consistency rules for UML
composed by : diagrams. Carleton University (2015),
• Steve Cook, Hidden Symmetry Ltd, UK http://goo.gl/TFMgnE