Exceptions in Object Modeling: Finding Exceptions from the Elements of the Static Object Model

Abstract

The problem of modeling exceptions has not been studied much: literature gives good advice, but lacks concepts about how to think up and model exceptions. We propose guidelines, based on static object model elements, on finding exceptions at modeling stage, and on organizing them. Along with this guide, we also present a thought about finding exceptions using constraints, and about composing exceptions. In order to represent the concepts needed above, we propose some additions to the UML metamodel. We conclude by showing how our proposals can solve some subtyping problems, and how they allow to catch exceptions at different levels of accuracy.

UML term, which may refer to an operation or to a method.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Christophe Dony, Roland Ducournau, and Thérèse Libourel for their comments and suggestions on previous versions of this paper.