Formalizing UML Class Diagrams

Abstract

Graphical notations have demonstrated usefulness when interacting with end users, making system validation easier. However, while they can be easily communicated, they lack precision, which consequently can be ambiguous and lead to misunderstanding. It is here where formal specifications can play an important role in overcoming this drawback. In this chapter, we use the RAISE Specification Language (RSL), which is the language of the formal method RAISE (i.e., Rigorous Approach to Industrial Software), as a syntactic and semantic reference for UML. We present the semantics for UML class diagrams by using RSL as a formal basis. An automated tool that implements the translation and the abstract syntax in RSL for the RSL-translatable class diagrams are also presented.