Example-Based Validation of Domain-Specific Visual Languages
The definition of Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs) is a recurrent activity in Model-Driven Engineering. However, their construction is many times an ad-hoc process, partly due to the lack of tools enabling a proper engineering of DSLs and promoting domain experts to play an active role. The focus of this paper is on the validation of meta-models for visual DSLs. For this purpose, we propose a language and tool support for describing properties that instances of meta-models should (or should not) meet. Then, our system uses a model finder to produce example models, enriched with a graphical concrete syntax, that confirm or refute the assumptions of the meta-model developer. Our language complements metaBest, a framework for the validation and verification of meta-models that includes two other languages for unit testing and specification-based testing of meta-models. A salient feature of our approach is that it fosters interaction with domain experts by the use, processing and creation of informal drawings constructed in editors liked yED or Dia. We assess the usefulness of the approach in the validation of a DSL for house blueprints, with the participation of 26 4th year computer science students.
Tue 27 OctDisplayed time zone: Eastern Time (US & Canada) change
10:30 - 12:00 | Formal Modeling and Language ValidationSLE at Grand Station 2 Chair(s): Marco Brambilla Politecnico di Milano, Italy | ||
10:30 30mTalk | Reference Attribute Grammar Controlled Graph Rewriting: Motivation and Overview SLE Christoff Bürger Lund University, Sweden DOI | ||
11:00 30mTalk | Example-Based Validation of Domain-Specific Visual Languages SLE Jesús J. López-Fernández Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain, Esther Guerra Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain, Juan de Lara Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain DOI | ||
11:30 30mTalk | A Combined Formal Model for Relational Context-Dependent Roles SLE Thomas Kühn TU Dresden, Germany, Stephan Böhme TU Dresden, Germany, Sebastian Götz TU Dresden, Germany, Uwe Aßmann TU Dresden, Germany DOI |