Event-driven grammars: Relating abstract and concrete levels of visual languages

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10270-007-0051-2In this work we introduce event-driven grammars, a kind of graph grammars that are especially suited for visual modelling environments generated by meta-modelling. Rules in these grammars may be triggered by user actions (such as creating, editing or connecting elements) and in their turn may trigger other user-interface events. Their combination with triple graph transformation systems allows constructing and checking the consistency of the abstract syntax graph while the user is building the concrete syntax model, as well as managing the layout of the concrete syntax representation. As an example of these concepts, we show the definition of a modelling environment for UML sequence diagrams. A discussion is also presented of methodological aspects for the generation of environments for visual languages with multiple views, its connection with triple graph grammars, the formalization of the latter in the double pushout approach and its extension with an inheritance concept.This work has been partially sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science with projects MOSAIC (TSI2005-08225-C07-06) and MODUWEB (TIN 2006-09678)

Towards the uniform manipulation of visual and textual languages in AToM3

This is an electronic version of the paper presented at the III Jornadas de Programación y Lenguajes, held in Alicante on 2003This paper presents the approach taken in the multi-paradigm tool AToM3 for the integration of textual and visual languages in a uniform framework. The tool is used for the modelling, analysis and simulation of complex (physical or software) systems, where each system component may have to be described using a different formalism. The different visual or textual formalisms can be described in the form of meta-models using graphical, high-level notations such as Entity Relationship or UML class diagrams. From these descriptions, AToM3 is able to generate a customized modelling tool for the specified formalism. Models at any meta-level are stored as attributed, typed graphs and thus can be manipulated (simulated, transformed, optimized, etc.) by attributed graph grammars. In the case of a textual notation, from the meta-model description a front-end parser is semi-automatically generated that transforms the textual models into abstract syntax graphs (instances of the meta-model), and thus can be manipulated in a uniform way with the other visual notations. To illustrate these concepts, we present an example in which we define a meta-model for Computational Tree Logic and generate visual and textual parsers for the formalism.We would like to aknowledge the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (project TIC2002-01948) for partially supporting this work

Meta-modelling hybrid formalisms

Proceedigns of 2004 IEEE International Symposium on Computer Aided Control Systems DesignPersonal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works. S. Lacoste-Julien, H. Vangheluwe J. de Lara, and P. J. Mosterman, "Meta-modelling hybrid formalisms", 2004 IEEE International Symposium on Computer Aided Control Systems Design, Taipei, China, 2004, pp. 65-70This article demonstrates how meta-modelling can simplify the construction of domain-and formalism-specific modelling environments. Using AToM3 (a tool for multi-formalism and meta-modelling developed at McGill University), a model is constructed of a hybrid formalism, HS, that combines event scheduling constructs with ordinary differential equations. From this specification, an HS-specific visual modelling environment is synthesized. For the purpose of this demonstration, a simple hybrid model of a bouncing ball is modelled in this environment. It is envisioned that the future of modelling and simulation in general, and more specifically in hybrid dynamic systems design lies in domain-specific computer automated multi-paradigm modelling (CAMPaM) which combines multi-abstraction, multi-formalism, and meta-modelling. The small example presented in this article demonstrates the feasibility of this approac

Computer automated multi-paradigm modelling for analysis and design of traffic networks

Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works. H. Vangheluwe, and J. de Lara, "Computer automated multi-paradigm modelling for analysis and design of traffic networks", Proceedings of the 2004 Winter Simulation Conference, 2004, Volumen 1, Heidelberg, Germany, 2004Computer automated multiparadigm modelling (CAMPaM) is an enabler for domain-specific analysis and design. Traffic, a new untimed visual formalism for vehicle traffic networks, is introduced. The syntax of traffic models is meta-modelled in the entity-relationship diagrams formalism. From this, augmented with concrete syntax information, a visual modelling environment is synthesized using our CAMPaM tool AToM3, a tool for multiformalism and meta-modelling. The semantics of the traffic formalism is subsequently modelled by mapping traffic models onto Petri net models. As models' abstract syntax is graph-like, graph rewriting can be used to transform models. The advantages of a domain-specific formalism such as traffic as opposed to a generic formalism such as Petri nets are presented. We demonstrate how mapping onto Petri nets allows one to employ the vast array of Petri net analysis techniques. A coverability graph is generated and conservation analysis is automated by transforming this graph into an integer linear programming specificationJuan de Lara’s work has been partially sponsored by the Spanish Interdepartmental Commission of Science and Technology (CICYT), project number TIC2002-01948. Hans Vangheluwe gratefully acknowledges partial support for this work by a National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Individual Research Grant. The authors wish to thank Ms. Sokhom Pheng for her work on the Petri Net conservation analysis during her “Modelling and Simulation Based Design” project at McGill Universit

A framework for the verification of UML models. Examples using Petri Nets

This is an electronic version of the paper presented at the VIII Jornadas de Ingeniería del Software y Bases de Datos, held in Alicante on 2003This paper presents a framework for the verification of UML models. Our approach is to build meta-models for the different UML diagrams and translate them into formalisms (whose syntax is also specified with a meta-model) in which properties of interest can be proved. The translation (denotational semantics) as well as the formalisms operational semantics are formally described by means of graph grammars. We show the implementation of these concepts in the Multi-Paradigm tool AToM3 together with an example in which we translate a UML design (composed of Statecharts, Class and Sequence diagrams) into Petri nets for subsequent verification using model checkingPartially sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (TIC2002-01948

AToM3: A Tool for Multi-formalism and Meta-modelling

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45923-5_12Proceedings of 5th International Conference, FASE 2002 Held as Part of the Joint European Conferences on Theory and Practice of Software, ETAPS 2002 Grenoble, France, April 8–12, 2002This article introduces the combined use of multi-formalism modelling and meta-modelling to facilitate computer assisted modelling of complex systems. The approach allows one to model different parts of a system using different formalisms. Models can be automatically converted between formalisms thanks to information found in a Formalism Transformation Graph (FTG), proposed by the authors. To aid in the automatic generation of multi-formalism modelling tools, formalisms are modelled in their own right (at a meta-level) within an appropriate formalism. This has been implemented in the interactive tool AToM3. This tool is used to describe formalisms commonly used in the simulation of dynamical systems, as well as to generate custom tools to process (create, edit, transform, simulate, optimise, ...) models expressed in the corresponding formalism. AToM3 relies on graph rewriting techniques and graph grammars to perform the transformations between formalisms as well as for other tasks, such as code generation and operational semantics specification.This paper has been partially sponsored by the Spanish Interdepartmental Commission of Science and Technology (CICYT), project number TEL1999-0181. Prof.Vangheluwe gratefully acknowledges partial support for this work by a National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Individual Research Grant

Formal support for model driven development with graph transformation techniques

Also published online by CEUR Workshop Proceedings (CEUR-WS.org, ISSN 1613-0073) In this paper we give an overview of our approach for Model Driven Development (MDD), based on graph transformation techniques. In MDD, models are the primary assets in the development process. They are not only used for documentation, but also for analysis, simulation, code and test cases generation. Thus, model transformation becomes a central activity. As models can be formally described as attributed, typed graphs, we can use formal graph transformation techniques for their manipulation. In this paper, we give an overview of the different kinds of model transformation and suitable graph transformation techniques. Moreover, graph transformation can be combined with meta-modelling for further expressivity. Some of these techniques have been recently implemented in the Metamodelling tool AToM3. We use the tool to introduce an example in the component-based modelling and simulation area

Modelling and analysis of traffic networks based on graph transformation

This is an electronic version of the paper presented at the Symposium on Formal Methods for Automation and Safety in Railway and Automotive Systems, FORMS/FORMATS 2004 , held in Braunschweig on 2004We present the formal definition of a domain specific visual language (Traffic) for the area of traffic networks. The syntax has been specified by means of meta-modelling. For the semantics, two approaches have been followed. In the first one, graph transformation is used to specify an operational semantics. In the second one we include timing information and a denotational semantics is defined in terms of Timed Transition Petri Nets (TTPN). The transformation from the Traffic formalism into TTPN was also defined by graph transformation. Both approaches have been used for the analysis of Traffic models. The ideas have been implemented in the AToM3 tool and are illustrated with examples.Juan de Lara’s work has been partially sponsored by a grant from the E.U. SEGRAVIS research network (HPRN-CT-2002-00) and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (TIC2002-01948). Hans Vangheluwe gratefully acknowledges partial support for this work by a National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Individual Research Grant

Model transformation by graph transformation: A comparative study

This is an electronic version of the paper presented at the Model Transformation in Practice, held in Montego Bay on 2005Graph transformation has been widely used for expressing model transformations. Especially transformations of visual models can be naturally formulated by graph transformations, since graphs are well suited to describe the underlying structures of models. Based on a common sample model transformation, four different model transformation approaches are presented which all perform graph transformations. At first, a basic solution is presented and crucial points of model transformations are indicated. Subsequent solutions focus mainly on the indicated problems. Finally, a first comparison of the chosen approaches to model transformation is presented where the main ingredients of each approach are summarized

Supporting user-oriented analysis for multi-view domain-specific visual languages

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Information and Software Technology. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2008 Elsevier B.V.The integration of usable and flexible analysis support in modelling environments is a key success factor in Model-Driven Development. In this paradigm, models are the core asset from which code is automatically generated, and thus ensuring model correctness is a fundamental quality control activity. For this purpose, a common approach is to transform the system models into formal semantic domains for verification. However, if the analysis results are not shown in a proper way to the end-user (e.g. in terms of the original language) they may become useless. In this paper we present a novel DSVL called BaVeL that facilitates the flexible annotation of verification results obtained in semantic domains to different formats, including the context of the original language. BaVeL is used in combination with a consistency framework, providing support for all steps in a verification process: acquisition of additional input data, transformation of the system models into semantic domains, verification, and flexible annotation of analysis results. The approach has been validated analytically by the cognitive dimensions framework, and empirically by its implementation and application to several DSVLs. Here we present a case study of a notation in the area of Digital Libraries, where the analysis is performed by transformations into Petri nets and a process algebra.Spanish Ministry of Education and Science and MODUWEB