Paper Info
Title
Enhancing the communication value of UML models with graphical layers
Abstract
UML is defined as a visual modeling language for specifying, constructing, and documenting software intensive systems. In that context, UML diagrams play a central role in the whole software engineering process, starting from early analysis, through implementation, to maintenance. Recent surveys of UML use in industry showed that software practitioners use it on a regular basis, and particularly for communication and as a mental-assist tool. However, they also pointed out the following weaknesses: the lack of context, graphical layout problems, and the language's inadequacy as a facility for communication between technical teams and their clients. In this paper, we present a general approach that addresses these problems by enhancing the effectiveness of UML models as a communication vehicle. Our approach is based on expressing stakeholder-specific viewpoints through the use of secondary notations. This involves the use of auxiliary visual variables (e.g., color, position, size) that are not formally specified in UML. To that end, we extend the traditional concept of layer found in many graphical editors to UML diagram editors. FlipLayers is an implementation of our approach. It is in the form of a plugin for the Papyrus modeling environment. One scenario with several case studies is presented in the paper to demonstrate the benefits of our approach and also to illustrate how to express viewpoints with FlipLayers.
Year
DOI
Venue
2015
10.1109/MODELS.2015.7338236
2015 ACM/IEEE 18th International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems (MODELS)
Keywords
Field
DocType
UML models,communication values,graphical layers,visual modeling language,software intensive system documentation,software practitioners,mental-assist tool,graphical layout problems,language inadequacy,communication vehicle,auxiliary visual variables,graphical editors,UML diagram editors,FlipLayers,Papyrus modeling environment
Programming language,Systems engineering,UML tool,Computer science,Theoretical computer science,Communication diagram,Applications of UML,Systems Modeling Language,Object Constraint Language,Class diagram,UML state machine,Software engineering,EAST-ADL
Conference
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
2
0.39
5
Authors
4
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Yosser El Ahmar120.39
Sébastien Gérard253856.78
Cédric Dumoulin3446.53
Xavier Le Pallec42411.39