Analysis of Feature Models Using Alloy: A Survey

Feature Models (FMs) are a mechanism to model variability among a family of closely related software products, i.e. a software product line (SPL). Analysis of FMs using formal methods can reveal defects in the specification such as inconsistencies that cause the product line to have no valid products. A popular framework used in research for FM analysis is Alloy, a light-weight formal modeling notation equipped with an efficient model finder. Several works in the literature have proposed different strategies to encode and analyze FMs using Alloy. However, there is little discussion on the relative merits of each proposal, making it difficult to select the most suitable encoding for a specific analysis need. In this paper, we describe and compare those strategies according to various criteria such as the expressivity of the FM notation or the efficiency of the analysis. This survey is the first comparative study of research targeted towards using Alloy for FM analysis. This review aims to identify all the best practices on the use of Alloy, as a part of a framework for the automated extraction and analysis of rich FMs from natural language requirement specifications.Comment: In Proceedings FMSPLE 2016, arXiv:1603.0857

Verifying UML/OCL operation contracts

In current model-driven development approaches, software models are the primary artifacts of the development process. Therefore, assessment of their correctness is a key issue to ensure the quality of the final application. Research on model consistency has focused mostly on the models' static aspects. Instead, this paper addresses the verification of their dynamic aspects, expressed as a set of operations defined by means of pre/postcondition contracts. This paper presents an automatic method based on Constraint Programming to verify UML models extended with OCL constraints and operation contracts. In our approach, both static and dynamic aspects are translated into a Constraint Satisfaction Problem. Then, compliance of the operations with respect to several correctness properties such as operation executability or determinism are formally verified

A UML/OCL framework for the analysis of fraph transformation rules

In this paper we present an approach for the analysis of graph transformation rules based on an intermediate OCL representation. We translate different rule semantics into OCL, together with the properties of interest (like rule applicability, conflicts or independence). The intermediate representation serves three purposes: (i) it allows the seamless integration of graph transformation rules with the MOF and OCL standards, and enables taking the meta-model and its OCL constraints (i.e. well-formedness rules) into account when verifying the correctness of the rules; (ii) it permits the interoperability of graph transformation concepts with a number of standards-based model-driven development tools; and (iii) it makes available a plethora of OCL tools to actually perform the rule analysis. This approach is especially useful to analyse the operational semantics of Domain Specific Visual Languages. We have automated these ideas by providing designers with tools for the graphical specification and analysis of graph transformation rules, including a backannotation mechanism that presents the analysis results in terms of the original language notation

Proyectos de los estudiantes para potenciar el aprendizaje móvil en la educación superior

Les institucions d’ensenyament afronten el repte d’oferir als estudiants eines per a l’aprenentatge mòbil (m-learning). No obstant això, l’evolució de les tecnologies fa que el desenvolupament i la millora contínua d’aquestes eines sigui una cosa molt costosa. Per exemple, és complicat avaluar les diferents alternatives tecnològiques disponibles i seleccionar la més apropiada segons el context. En aquest article, es proposa com a solució implicar els estudiants de titulacions tecnològiques en el desenvolupament d’eines d’m-learning. S’analitza com a cas d’estudi la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya i es presenten exemples d’eines desenvolupades per estudiants com a part del seu treball final de carrera. Aquests treballs permeten explorar diferents tecnologies i proporcionen informació útil per a guiar la inversió institucional en el desenvolupament d’eines d’m-learning. Així, doncs, aquest paradigma, proper al model del desenvolupament col·laboratiu en el programari lliure, permet assegurar la sostenibilitat de l’m-learning en institucions d’ensenyament.Educational institutions are facing the challenge of providing students with tools for mobile learning (m-learning). However, the evolution of technology makes the development and continuous improvement of these tools rather expensive. For example, it is difficult to assess the different technology options available and to choose which ones are best suited to a particular context. In this article, the proposed solution is to engage students on technology degree courses in the development of m-learning tools. The Open University of Catalonia (UOC) is analyzed as a case study, and several examples of tools developed by students as part of their final year projects are presented. These projects explore different technologies and provide useful information to guide institutional investment in the development of m-learning tools. Akin to the collaborative development model in the field of open source software, this paradigm therefore can ensure the sustainability of m-learning in educational institutions.Las instituciones educativas se enfrentan al reto de ofrecer a los estudiantes herramientas para aprendizaje móvil (m-learning). Sin embargo, la evolución de las tecnologías hace que el desarrollo y la mejora continua de estas herramientas sea algo muy costoso. Por ejemplo, resulta complicado evaluar las diferentes alternativas tecnológicas disponibles y seleccionar la más apropiada según el contexto. En este artículo, se propone como solución implicar a los estudiantes de titulaciones tecnológicas en el desarrollo de herramientas de m-learning. Se analiza como caso de estudio la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya y se presentan ejemplos de herramientas desarrolladas por estudiantes como parte de su trabajo final de carrera. Estos trabajos permiten explorar diferentes tecnologías y proporcionan información útil para guiar la inversión institucional en el desarrollo de herramientas de m-learning. Así pues, este paradigma, cercano al modelo del desarrollo colaborativo en el software libre, permite asegurar la sostenibilidad del m-learning en instituciones educativas

EMFtoCSP: A Tool for the Lightweight Verification of EMF Models

International audienceThe increasing popularity of MDE results in the creation of larger models and model transformations, hence converting the specification of MDE artefacts in an error-prone task. Therefore, mechanisms to ensure quality and absence of errors in models are needed to assure the reliability of the MDE-based development process. Formal methods have proven their worth in the verification of software and hardware systems. However, the adoption of formal methods as a valid alternative to ensure model correctness is compromised for the inner complexity of the problem. To circumvent this complexity, it is common to impose limitations such as reducing the type of constructs that can appear in the model, or turning the verification process from automatic into user assisted. Since we consider these limitations to be counterproductive for the adoption of formal methods, in this paper we present EMFtoCSP, a new tool for the fully automatic, decidable and expressive verification of EMF models that uses constraint logic programming as the underlying formalism

Publicidadentucoche

L'objectiu d'aquest projecte és crear una aplicació web que permeti gestionar la publicitat mòbil en vehicles particulars. Aquesta aplicació permetrà, a través d'un modern i intuïtiu disseny, que les persones que disposin de vehicle el puguin utilitzar com a finestra publicitària. D'altre banda les empreses que necessitin donar a conèixer el seu producte o servei podran utilitzar els vehicles registrats, per captar l'atenció de futurs clients.El objetivo de este proyecto es crear una aplicación web que permita gestionar la publicidad móvil en vehículos particulares. Esta aplicación permitirá, a través de un moderno e intuitivo diseño, que las personas que disponen de vehículo lo puedan utilizar como ventana publicitaria. Por otra parte, las empresas que necesiten dar a conocer su producto o servicio podrán utilizar los vehículos registrados para captar la atención de futuros clientes

Belief Uncertainty in Software Models

Preprint de : Loli Burgueño, Robert Clarisó, Jordi Cabot, Sébastien Gerard and Antonio Vallecillo. "Belief Uncertainty in Software Models." In Proc. of the 11th Workshop on Modelling in Software Engineering (MiSE'2019) at ICSE 2019, Montreal, Canada, May 26-27, 2019. ACMThis paper discusses the representation of Belief Uncertainty in software models. This kind of uncertainty refers to the situation in which the modeler, or any other belief agent, is uncertain about the behavior of the system, or the statements that the model expresses about it. In this work, we propose to assign a degree of belief to model statements (let they be constraints, or any other model expression), which is expressed by a probability (called credence, in statistical terms) that represents a quantification of such a subjective degree of belief. We discuss how it can be represented using current modeling notations, and how to operate with it in order to make informed decisions.PGC2018-094905-B-I00 TIN2016-75944-R CEA in the context of the Modelia initiative and the ECSEL RIA 2016 MegaM@Rt2 project by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 under grant No 737494. Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Entorno de soporte para el autoaprendizaje en el diseño de circuitos digitales

El diseño de circuitos digitales forma parte de las competencias básicas de los nuevos Grados en Ingeniería Informática e Ingeniería de Telecomunicaciones. Un obstáculo importante para el aprendizaje de dichas competencias es que las herramientas académicas existentes para el diseño de circuitos no permiten validar si un diseño se ajusta a la especificación de partida. En este artículo, se describe un entorno de autoaprendizaje para que los estudiantes puedan realizar ejercicios de diseño de circuitos y recibir un feedback continuo.SUMMARY: The design of digital circuits is a basic competence of the new Degrees in Computer Science and Engineering of Telecommunications. An important hindrance in the learning process of these skills is that the existing academic tools for the design of circuits do not allow the student to validate if his design satisfies the specification. In this article, we describe an online environment where the students can verify their designs with an automatic feedback.Peer Reviewe

Dealing with Belief Uncertainty in Domain Models.

There are numerous domains in which information systems need to deal with uncertain information. These uncertainties may originate from different reasons such as vagueness, imprecision, incompleteness or inconsistencies; and, in many cases, they cannot be neglected. In this paper, we are interested in representing and processing uncertain information in domain models, considering the stakeholders’ beliefs (opinions). We show how to associate beliefs to model elements, and how to propagate and operate with their associated uncertainty so that domain experts can individually reason about their models enriched with their personal opinions. In addition, we address the challenge of combining the opinions of different domain experts on the same model elements, with the goal to come up with informed collective decisions. We provide different strategies and a methodology to optimally merge individual opinions.This work is partially supported by Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech, the Spanish Government under projects LO-COSS (PID2020-114615RB-I00), CoSCA (PGC2018-094905-B-I00) and MBTI4A (P20-00067-FR); and TRANSACT, which has received funding from the ECSEL Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No 101007260. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Poland, Austria, Spain, Belgium, Denmark, and Norway

Una herramienta para la evaluación de debates en aulas virtuales

Muchas universidades ofrecen a los estudiantes canales de comunicación virtuales como los foros de debate o espacios de colaboración como los wikis o blogs que permiten la interacción entre estudiantes, la resolución de dudas, la realización de aprendizaje colaborativo o la deliberación sobre algún tema de interés. La participación de los estudiantes en estos espacios permite evaluar competencias como su capacidad comunicativa, de análisis y de síntesis. En este trabajo nos focalizamos en los debates y presentamos una herramienta para ayudar al personal docente a evaluarlos. La herramienta genera grafos de colaboración que permiten visualizar fácilmente el entorno discursivo del foro, incluyendo los actores principales y las interacciones más importantes. La herramienta está en proceso de validación y ha sido utilizada en una asignatura impartida virtualmente como apoyo en la evaluación.A number of universities offer to students virtual communication channels such as discussion forums or collaboration tools as wikis or blogs, which promote the interaction among students, problem resolution, collaborative learning or discussion of topics of interest. Student participation in these forums allows evaluating their skills, such as synthesis, analysis and communication. In this work we focus on discussion forums and present a tool to help lecturers evaluate them. The tool generates collaboration graphs to easily visualize the discussion, including the main contributors and the most important interactions. The tool is being validated and has been used in a virtual course with the aim of supporting the evaluation process