Using formal metamodels to check consistency of functional views in information systems specification

UML notations require adaptation for applications such as Information Systems (IS). Thus we have defined IS-UML. The purpose of this article is twofold. First, we propose an extension to this language to deal with functional aspects of IS. We use two views to specify IS transactions: the first one is defined as a combination of behavioural UML diagrams (collaboration and state diagrams), and the second one is based on the definition of specific classes of an extended class diagram. The final objective of the article is to consider consistency issues between the various diagrams of an IS-UML specification. In common with other UML languages, we use a metamodel to define IS-UML. We use class diagrams to summarize the metamodel structure and a formal language, B, for the full metamodel. This allows us to formally express consistency checks and mapping rules between specific metamodel concepts. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Integrating UML and B Specification Techniques

Colloque avec actes et comité de lecture. internationale.International audienceAn appropriate approach for integrating UML and B specification techniques allows us to map UML specifications into B specifications. Therefore, we can formally analyze an UML specification via the corresponding B formal specification. This point is significant because B support tools are available. We can also use UML specifications as a tool for building B specifications. Thus, an approach for a practical and rigorous software development, which is based on object and B from the requirements elicitation to the executable code, is proposed. In this paper, we address the problem of modeling UML behavioral diagrams in B, which is up to now an open issue. For this purpose, an approach for modeling in B class operations is proposed. We show a way to apply this approach for integrating collaboration diagrams into B specifications

New Approach for Modeling State-Chart Diagrams in B

Rapport interne.An appropriate approach for integrating UML and B specification techniques allows us to map UML specifications into B specifications. Therefore, we can formally analyze an UML specification via the corresponding B formal specification. This point is significant because B support tools are available. We can also use UML specifications as a tool for building B specifications. Thus, an approach for a practical and rigorous software development, which is based on object and B from the requirements elicitation to the executable code, is proposed. In this paper, we address the problem of modeling UML state-chart diagrams in B, which has not been, so far, completely treated. We distinguish between event-based and activity-based parts of state-chart diagrams. We propose creating, for each part, a B specification. Because activities relate to class operations, we can use our previous work on modeling class operation for modeling the activity-based part. Hence, we consider here only the event-based part. A new approach for modeling events is proposed. The asynchronous communication amongst state-chart diagrams is also considered

Un processus formel d'intégration de politiques de contrôle d'accès dans les systèmes d'information

Security is a key aspect in information systems (IS) development. One cannot build a bank IS without security in mind. In medical IS, security is one of the most important features of the software. Access control is one of many security aspects of an IS. It defines permitted or forbidden execution of system's actions by an user. Between the conception of an access control policy and its effective deployment on an IS, several steps can introduce unacceptable errors. Using formal methods may be an answer to reduce errors during the modeling of access control policies. Using the process algebra EB[superscript 3], one can formally model IS. Its extension, EB[superscript 3]SEC, was created in order to model access control policies. The ASTD notation combines Harel's Statecharts and EB[superscript 3] operators into a graphical and formal notation that can be used in order to model IS. However, both methods lack tools allowing a designer to prove or verify security properties in order to validate an access control policy. Furthermore, the implementation of an access control policy must correspond to its abstract specification. This thesis defines translation rules from EB[superscript 3] to ASTD, from ASTD to Event-B and from ASTD to B. It also introduces a formal architecture expressed using the B notation in order to enforce a policy over an IS. This modeling of access control policies in B can be used in order to prove properties, thanks to the B prover, but also to verify properties using ProB, a model checker for B. Finally, a refinement strategy for the access control policy into an implementation is proposed. B refinements are proved, this ensures that the implementation corresponds to the initial model of the access control policy

Modélisation en UML/OCL des langages de programmation et de leurs propriétés et processus IDM

Cette étude est axée sur l'activité de génération de composants logiciels se situant en phase terminale des processus de développement de logiciels dirigés par les modèles. Dans une première partie, nous présentons les travaux de recherche déjà existants sur les modèles et les transformations de modèles, ainsi que sur la modélisation en UML/OCL des langages de programmation limitée, la plupart du temps, aux aspects syntaxiques. Dans une deuxième partie, nous montrons comment nous modélisons en UML/OCL, les propriétés comportementales et axiomatiques des langages de programmation de style impératif. La modélisation des propriétés comportementales et axiomatiques d'un langage, en UML/OCL enrichi d'un langage d'actions, nous amène à montrer comment on peut, à l'aide de triplets de Hoare, vérifier que des segments de modèles de programmes sont corrects. Les assertions déduites des triplets de Hoare par application des propriétés axiomatiques du langage sont transmises à un Atelier B en vue d'étudier leurs éventuelles validités. Dans une troisième partie, nous montrons comment on peut injecter au niveau du Méta-Modèle UML des propriétés comportementales et axiomatiques spécifiques à un domaine d'applications particulier. Nous nous sommes limités au fragment du Méta-Modèle UML définissant les diagrammes d'activité se situant donc en amont des modèles de codes, avant la génération proprement dite des codes. La cohérence entre les modèles et les codes peut se vérifier à l'aide de propriétés comportementales et axiomatiques en comparant les modèles issues des exigences et les modèles des codes. Ces travaux de recherche ont été financés dans le cadre de l'ANR.Our work focuses on the software component generation phase that takes place at the last phase of a model driven development process. Our work is related to either the modelware or the grammarware because the model driven process can be considered as a successive of model transformations whereas the code generation is a specific transformation from the model to a language grammar. In the first part, we resume some relative works in the domain of the models and of the models transformation; we also present the language modeling in UML which is generally restricted by the syntax modeling. In the second part, we show how we model in UML/OCL the behavioral and axiomatic properties of imperative programming languages. The modeling of the behavioral properties helps to execute the code models if we dispose a right execution environment. In the other hand, the modeling of the axiomatic properties helps to demonstrate the correctness of the code model. In fact, the assertions obtained from the modeling of the axiomatic properties of the language will be transferred to a B atelier in order to have further validation. In the third part, we show how we inject into the UML metamodel the considered domain behavioral and axiomatic properties. We focus on the activity diagram metamodel of the UML which defines the behavior part of a UML model. The coherence between the models and the codes can be then verified in comparing the behavioral and axiomatic properties of the models issued from the requirements and that of the codes. Our work is financed by the ANR research projects