Bolognesi, Tommaso, Derrick, John (1998) Constraint-oriented style for object-oriented formal specification. IEE Proceedings: Software, 145 (2-3). pp. 61-69. ISSN 1462-5970. (doi:10.1049/ip-sen:19986907) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:21669)
The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided. | |
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1049/ip-sen:19986907 |
Abstract
We propose a specification style which combines the features and advantages of object-oriented and constraint-oriented system decomposition. A system description is decomposed into data-handling objects, which usually reflect objects and individual operations in the real system, and temporal-ordering constraints, which capture aspects of functionality as behavioural sequences, with a possibility to introduce also entities which blurr the distinction between these two extreme cases. Composition is achieved via synchronisation on shared operations: different objects/constraints insisting on an operation express different views on the enabling conditions and effects of that operation. Objects, constraints, and their composition can be formally specified in Object-Z, an object-oriented extension of the Z notation, with pure temporal ordering constraints equivalently expressed as transition graphs. However, expressing object/constraint compositions in Object-Z is cumbersome. We solve this problem by proposing a natural textual notation, called co-expression, which is a most direct description of an object/constraint interconnection graph, and we define a mapping from co-expressions to Object-Z. Thus, specifications in an object/constraint-oriented style can be conveniently written using transition graphs and interconnection diagrams mixed with Object-Z text, and then translated into this language.
Item Type: | Article |
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DOI/Identification number: | 10.1049/ip-sen:19986907 |
Uncontrolled keywords: | Object-oriented, Formal specification, constraint-oriented style, Object-Z |
Subjects: | Q Science > QA Mathematics (inc Computing science) > QA 76 Software, computer programming, |
Divisions: | Divisions > Division of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences > School of Computing |
Depositing User: | Mark Wheadon |
Date Deposited: | 22 Aug 2009 00:22 UTC |
Last Modified: | 16 Nov 2021 10:00 UTC |
Resource URI: | https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/21669 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes) |
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