Model-Driven Development

Towards a Model-Driven IEC 61131-Based Development Process in Industrial Automation

by Kleanthis Thramboulidis

Model driven development: A comprehensive case study

by Rajiv Abraham

Data modeling or functional analysis: which comes first? an experimental comparison

by Peretz Shoval

Authors: P. Shoval, J. Kabeli
Journal: Communications of the AIS (2005), Vol. 16, Article 42.

The software analysis process consists of two main activities: data modeling and functional modeling. While... more The software analysis process consists of two main activities: data modeling and functional modeling. While traditional development methodologies usually emphasize functional modeling via dataflow diagrams (DFDs), object-oriented (OO) methodologies emphasize data modeling via class diagrams. UML includes techniques for both data and functional modeling which are used in different methodologies in different ways and orders. This article is concerned with the ordering of modeling activities in the analysis stage. The main issue we address is whether it is better to create a functional model first and then a data model, or vice versa. We conduct a comparative experiment in which the two opposing orders are examined. We use the FOOM methodology as a platform for the experiment as it enables the creation of both a data model (a class diagram) and a functional model (hierarchical OO-DFDs), which are synchronized. The results of the experiment show that an analysis process that begins with data modeling provides better specifications than one that begins with functional modeling.

Environment modeling with UML/MARTE to support black-box system testing for real-time embedded systems: methodology and industrial case studies

by Muhammad Zohaib Iqbal

A Model Assessment Tool for the Incident Command System: A Case Study of the San Antonio Fire Department

by Brian O'Neill

Managing multiple software product lines using merging techniques

by Mathieu Acher

Slicing Feature Models

by Mathieu Acher

Decomposing feature models: language, environment, and applications

by Mathieu Acher

Run time adaptation of video-surveillance systems: a software modeling approach

by Mathieu Acher

Exploring the Synergies Between Feature Models and Ontologies

by Mathieu Acher

Managing Multiple Feature Models: Foundations, Language, and Applications

by Mathieu Acher

PhD thesis

Software Product Line (SPL) engineering is a paradigm shift towards modeling and developing software system families... more Software Product Line (SPL) engineering is a paradigm shift towards modeling and developing software system families rather than individual systems. It focuses on the means of efficiently producing and maintaining multiple similar software products, exploiting what they have in common and managing what varies among them. This is analogous to what is practiced in the automotive industry, where the focus is on creating a single production line, out of which many customized but similar variations of a car model are produced. Feature models (FMs) are a fundamental formalism for specifying and reasoning about commonality and variability of SPLs. FMs are becoming increasingly complex, handled by several stakeholders or organizations, used to describe features at various levels of abstraction and related in a variety of ways. In different contexts and application domains, maintaining a single large FM is neither feasible nor desirable. Instead, multiple FMs are now used. In this thesis, we develop theoretical foundations and practical support for managing multiple FMs. We design and develop a set of composition and decomposition operators (aggregate, merge, slice) for supporting separation of concerns. The operators are formally defined, implemented with a fully automated algorithm and guarantee properties in terms of sets of configurations. We show how the composition and decomposition operators can be combined together or with other reasoning and editing operators to realize complex tasks. We propose a textual language, FAMILIAR (for FeAture Model scrIpt Language for manIpulation and Automatic Reasoning), which provides a practical solution for managing FMs on a large scale. An SPL practitioner can combine the different operators and manipulate a restricted set of concepts (FMs, features, configurations, etc.) using a concise notation and language facilities. FAMILIAR hides implementation details (e.g., solvers) and comes with a development environment. We report various applications of the operators and usages of FAMILIAR in different domains (medical imaging, video surveillance) and for different purposes (scientific workflow design, variability modeling from requirements to runtime, reverse engineering), showing the applicability of both the operators and the supporting language. Without the new capabilities brought by the operators and FAMILIAR, some analysis and reasoning operations would not be made possible in the different case studies. To conclude, we discuss different research perspectives in the medium term (regarding the operators, the language and validation elements) and in the long term (e.g., relationships between FMs and other models).

Reverse Engineering Architectural Feature Models

by Mathieu Acher

Reverse engineering the variability of an existing system is a challenging activity. The architect knowledge is... more Reverse engineering the variability of an existing system is a challenging activity. The architect knowledge is essential to identify variation points and explicit constraints between features, for instance in feature models (FMs), but the manual creation of FMs is both time-consuming and error-prone. On a large scale, it is very difficult for an architect to guarantee that the resulting FM ensures a safe composition of the architectural elements when some features are selected. In this paper, we present a comprehensive, tool supported process for reverse engineering architectural FMs. We develop automated techniques to extract and combine different variability descriptions of an architecture. Then, alignment and reasoning techniques are applied to integrate the architect knowledge and reinforce the extracted FM. We illustrate the reverse engineering process when applied to a representative software system, FraSCAti, and we report on our experience in this context.

Tackling high variability in video surveillance systems through a model transformation approach

by Mathieu Acher

Issues in managing variability of medical imaging grid services

by Mathieu Acher

Modeling Variability from Requirements to Runtime

by Mathieu Acher

Comparing approaches to implement feature model composition

by Mathieu Acher

Composing feature models

by Mathieu Acher

A domain-specific language for managing feature models

by Mathieu Acher

Managing feature models with familiar: a demonstration of the language and its tool support

by Mathieu Acher

Assessing the Kodkod Model Finder for Resolving Model Inconsistencies

by Tom Mens

Authors: Ragnhild Van Der Straeten, Jorge Pinna Puissant, Tom Mens
Proceedings of ECMFA 2011 - European Conference on Modeling Foundations and Applications

In model-driven software engineering (MDE), software is built through the incremental development, composition and... more In model-driven software engineering (MDE), software is built through the incremental development, composition and transformation of a variety of models. We are inevitably confronted with design models that contain a wide variety of inconsistencies. Interactive and automated support for detecting and resolving these inconsistencies is indispensable. We evaluate an approach to automate the generation of concrete models in which structural inconsistencies are resolved. We implemented this approach in the model finder Kodkod and assessed its suitability for model inconsistency resolution based on an objective set of criteria.