Software models are the core development artifact in model-based engineering (MBE). The MBE paradigm promotes the use of software models to describe structure and behavior of the system under development and proposes the automatic generation of executable code from the models. Thus, defects in the models most likely propagate to executable code. To detect defects already at the modeling level, many approaches propose to use formal verification techniques to ensure the correctness of these models. These approaches are the subject of this survey. We review the state of the art of formal verification techniques for software models and provide a feature-based classification that allows us to categorize and compare the different approaches.

A feature-based classification of formal verification techniques for software models

UML 2 sequence  diagrams  are  a  well-known graphical  language and  are  widely used  to  specify the  dynamic  behaviors  of transaction-oriented systems.   However, sequence diagrams are expressed in a semi-formal modeling language and need a well-defined formal semantic base for their notations. This formalization enables analysis and verification tasks.   Many efforts have been made to transform sequence diagrams into formal representations including Petri Nets.  Petri Nets are a mathematical tool allowing formal specification of the system dynamics and they are commonly used in Model Checking.   In this paper, we present a transformation approach that consists of a source metamodel for UML 2 sequence diagrams, a target metamodel for Petri Nets and transformation rules.  This approach has been implemented using Atlas Transformation Language (ATL).  A Cellular Phone System is considered, as a case study. Keywords UML 2, Sequence diagrams, Petri Nets, Model checking, Model transformation, Metamodeling, Transformation rules, ATL

Design of ATL Rules for Transforming UML 2 Sequence Diagrams into Petri Nets

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Bringing Model Checking Closer To Practical Software Engineering

Ad hoc wireless networking offers mobile computer users the prospect of trading with others in their vicinity anywhere anytime. This thesis explores the potential for developing such trading applications. A notable difficulty in designing their security services is being unable to use trusted parties. No one can be guaranteed present in each ad hoc wireless network session. A side benefit is that their costs don’t have to be paid for. A reference model is defined for ad hoc m-commerce and a threat model is formulated of its security vulnerabilities. They are used to elicit security objectives and requirements for such trading systems. Possible countermeasures to address the threats are critically analysed and used to design security services to mitigate them. They include a self-organised P2P identity support scheme using PGP certificates; a distributed reputation system backed by sanctions; a group membership service based on membership vouchers, quorate decisions by some group members and partial membership lists; and a security warning scheme. Security analysis of the schemes shows that they can mitigate the threats to an adequate degree to meet the trading system’s security objectives and requirements if users take due care when trading within it. Formal verification of the system shows that it satisfies certain safety properties.

A trading model and security regime for mobile e-commerce via ad hoc wireless networking

Information system drives every aspect of human endeavor, and it is a major stakeholder in human existence. Systems with poor modeling suffer a lot from poor implementation down to poor performance due to lack of critical subjection and testing. Software modeling is, therefore, of paramount importance in order to achieve a reliable system. There has been a lot of works done in software modeling, and eventually, the Universal Modeling Language was formulated to create a standard for software modeling. Although there have been some development or modeling tools that can be used to model a software system and the design then converted to software codes that can then be perfected, none of these tools has considered security and integrated as a single tool. Therefore, this paper focuses on building an integrated system (all-encompassing system) for building UMLsec-based modeled systems that will convert UML diagrams to code. The system integrates Eclipse Mars incorporated with Papyrus modeling plug-ins and Eclipse Kepler with Java EE incorporated with CARiSMA plug-ins. These four tools were integrated together by an executable application built with NetBeans. The system was tested by modeling an e-government system from the class diagram to analysis and code generation.

From Modeling to Code Generation: An Enhanced and Integrated Approach

Formal verification of UML diagram is the act of proving or disproving the correctness of intended algorithms underlying a system with respect to a certain formal specification or property, using formal methods of mathematics. The most widely used techniques for system or software verification are: simulation and testing, deductive verification and Model checking. Model checking is a formal verification technique, in which an abstract model of a system is testing automatically to verify whether this model meets a given specification. SPIN Model checker is a popular open-source software tool used for the formal verification of distributed software systems. This article proposes a method for converting UML sequence diagrams with imbricate combined fragment automatically to PROMELA code to simulate the execution and to verify properties written in Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) with SPIN Model checker.

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Automatic generation of PROMELA code from sequence diagram with imbricate combined fragments

A main challenge in software development process is to bring error detection to first phases of the software life cycle. The Verification and Validation (V&V) of UML diagrams is of interest in a number of applications such as detecting flaws at the design phase for software security, where it is crucial to detect security flaws before they can be exploited. In this paper, we propose an approach using a transformation tool to create a PROMELA code based model from UML interactions expressed in sequence diagram to use in SPIN model checker to simulate the execution and to verify properties written in Linear Temporal Logic (LTL). Graph transformation is used as an approach of model transformation to propose a graph grammar for the translation using AToM3 tool.

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Nadia Younsi

Papers

Automatic generation of PROMELA code from sequence diagram with imbricate combined fragments

From UML 2.0 Sequence Diagrams to PROMELA code by Graph Transformation using AToM3.