JCSE, vol. 17, no. 2, pp.60-70, 2023

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5626/JCSE.2023.17.2.60

Using the Structure-Behavior Coalescence Method to Formalize the Action Flow Semantics of UML 2.0 Activity Diagrams

Steve W. Haga, Wei-Ming Ma, and William S. Chao
Department of Computer Science, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, R.O.C. Mathematics and Physics Group of General Education Center, Air Force Academy, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, R.O.C. The Association of Enterprise Architects Taiwan Chapter, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, R.O.C.

Abstract: The activity diagram (AD) is one of the UML 2.0 diagrams. Research has sought a precise semantic representation for the AD, partly because such representations can help to verify whether a specific AD is semantically consistent with other corresponding UML diagrams. In this study, we propose the Action Transition Graph (ATG) for semantic representation of the AD. The ATG represents the AD behavior as a finite state machine. One benefit of the ATG is that it is derived from process algebra equations, according to a precise procedure that will be formally presented. The grammar of the process algebra is also given, including an extension for representing parallel steps. This grammar allows the AD's behavior to be described by algebraic equations. Writing simple-text equations can help to simplify and structure the process of constructing ADs. In addition, these process algebra equations can be parsed by the grammar to obtain an overview diagram for ADs. The proposed overview diagram contains meaningful high-level information for the AD, and it is also shown to be directly relatable to both the underlying AD and the corresponding ATG that defines its semantic meaning.

Keyword: Activity diagram; Action transition graph; Structure-behavior coalescence; Process algebra

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