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On a Process Algebraic Representation of Sequence Diagrams

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Software Engineering and Formal Methods (SEFM 2014)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNPSE,volume 8938))

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Abstract

Sequence diagrams depict the interaction between entities as a sequence of messages arranged in a temporal order. However, they lack a formal execution semantics: the Unified Modeling Language (UML) specification opts to use natural language to describe fundamental concepts such as interaction operators that alter the behaviour of a fragment. Communicating Sequential Processes (CSP) is a process-algebraic formalism that is suited to modelling patterns of behavioural interaction. Moreover, the associated refinement checker, Failures-Divergence Refinement (FDR), gives rise to a practical approach that enables us to reason about these interactions in a formal setting. In this paper, we show how CSP and FDR have been used to provide a process-algebraic representation of sequence diagrams that is amenable to refinement-checking.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    www.sysml.org.

  2. 2.

    www.uml.org.

  3. 3.

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Jacobs, J., Simpson, A. (2015). On a Process Algebraic Representation of Sequence Diagrams. In: Canal, C., Idani, A. (eds) Software Engineering and Formal Methods. SEFM 2014. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 8938. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15201-1_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15201-1_5

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-15201-1

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