SDL Profiles – Formal Semantics and Tool Support

PurposeThe authors use the extension mechanism provided by the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) to define roles, which allows roles to be fully aligned with the BPMN standard. The authors describe how a pattern can be defined in terms of roles and present the formal semantics of pattern realization and refinement to support systematic reuse of patterns in business process development.Design/methodology/approachIt is widely agreed that the use of business process patterns improves the efficiency and quality of business process development. However, few techniques are available to describe business process patterns at an appropriate level of abstraction to facilitate the reuse of patterns. To address this, this paper presents the role-based Business Process Model and Notation (R-BPMN), an extension of BPMN for abstract modeling of business process patterns based on a novel notion of role.FindingsThe authors apply R-BPMN in case studies for pattern realization and refinement and discuss tool support via an existing tool. The case studies demonstrate the practical benefits of R-BPMN in capturing pattern variability and facilitating pattern reuse.Practical implicationsThe findings imply a potential impact of R-BPMN on practical benefits when it is supported at the metamodel level in tool development.Originality/valueThis study addresses the need for abstract modeling of process patterns at the metamodel level, which facilitates the formalization of pattern variability and tool development to support various realizations of process patterns at the model level.

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RationalGRL: A framework for argumentation and goal modeling

Argument & Computation ◽

10.3233/aac-200527 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-55

Author(s):

Marc van Zee ◽

Floris Bex ◽

Sepideh Ghanavati

Keyword(s):

Development Process ◽

Practical Reasoning ◽

Formal Semantics ◽

Tool Support ◽

Goal Modeling ◽

Goal Model ◽

Requirements Modeling ◽

Computational Argumentation ◽

Goal Models ◽

New Framework

Goal-oriented requirements modeling approaches aim to capture the intentions of the stakeholders involved in the development of an information system as goals and tasks. The process of constructing such goal models usually involves discussions between a requirements engineer and a group of stakeholders. Not all the arguments in such discussions can be captured as goals or tasks: e.g., the discussion whether to accept or reject a certain goal and the rationale for acceptance or rejection cannot be captured in goal models. In this paper, we apply techniques from computational argumentation to a goal modeling approach by using a coding analysis in which stakeholders discuss requirements for a Traffic Simulator. We combine a simplified version of a traditional goal model, the Goal-oriented Requirements Language (GRL), with ideas from argumentation on schemes for practical reasoning into a new framework (RationalGRL). RationalGRL provides a formal semantics and tool support to capture the discussions and outcomes of the argumentation process that leads to a goal model. We also define the RationalGRL development process to create a RationalGRL model.

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CoFI: The Common Framework Initiative for Algebraic Specification and Development

BRICS Report Series ◽

10.7146/brics.v4i48.19269 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 4 (48) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Peter D. Mosses

Keyword(s):

Formal Semantics ◽

Reactive Systems ◽

Tool Support ◽

Algebraic Specification ◽

Specification Languages ◽

Object Based ◽

Common Framework ◽

Verification Tools ◽

The Common ◽

Programming Paradigms

An open collaborative effort has been initiated: to design a common framework for algebraic specification and development of software. The rationale behind this initiative is that the lack of such a common framework greatly hinders the dissemination and application of research results in algebraic specification. In particular, the proliferation of specification languages, some differing in only quite minor ways from each other, is a considerable obstacle for the use of algebraic methods in industrial contexts, making it difficult to exploit standard examples, case studies and training material. A common framework with widespread acceptance throughout the research community is urgently needed. The aim is to base the common framework as much as possible on a critical selection of features that have already been explored in various contexts. The common framework will provide a family of specification languages at different levels: a central, reasonably expressive language, called CASL, for specifying (requirements, design, and architecture of) conventional software; restrictions of CASL to simpler languages, for use primarily in connection with prototyping and verification tools; and extensions of CASL, oriented towards particular programming paradigms, such as reactive systems and object-based systems. It should also be possible to embed many existing algebraic specification languages in members of the CASL family. A tentative design for CASL has already been proposed. Task groups are studying its formal semantics, tool support, methodology, and other aspects, in preparation for the finalization of the design.

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