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Process maps provide a high-level overview of an organization’s business processes. While used for many years in different shapes and forms, there is little shared understanding of the concept and its relationship to business process architecture. In this paper, we position the concept of process map within the domain of architecture description. By ‘architecting’ the concept of business process map, we identify and clarify diverging views of this concept as found in the literature and set requirements for describing process maps. A meta-model for a process mapping language is produced as a result. The proposed meta-model allows investigating the suitability of EA modelling languages as a basis for defining a domain-specific language for process mapping along with the creation of a better understanding of business process architecture in relation to enterprise architecture, which can be beneficial for both BPM and EA professionals.

International audience; Although the literature is full of research on the transition of industry towards Product-Service Systems (PSS), the question of how to effectively support PSS engineering is poorly addressed. The compelling need for decision support throughout the various stages of the engineering process is particularly challenging due to the inherent complexity of PSS. In this sense, visualisation and modelling at large have been put forth as promising means for supporting PSS engineering. This paper proposes a method for specifying a modelling language for PSS engineering, putting together PSS domain-specific knowledge and modelling concepts inherited from conceptual modelling and model-based engineering. It relies on a recursive transformation process of the underlying PSS meta-model using knowledge from case studies and the literature. The method has proven to be a practical means for gradual enrichment of the modelling language leading to successful experimentations in the industrial context.

Embedded devices are crucial enablers of the Internet of Things and become increasingly common in our daily life. They store, manipulate and transmit sensitive information and, therefore, must be protected against security threats. Due to the security and also resource constraint concerns, designing secure networked embedded systems is a difficult task. Model‐based development (MBD) is promoted to address complexity and ease the design of software intensive systems. We leverage MBD and domain‐specific modelling to characterise common issues related to security and embedded systems that are specific to a given application domain. Security‐specific knowledge relevant for a certain application domain is represented in the form of an adapted information security ontology. Further, the elements of the ontology are associated with security building blocks modelled with the MBD method SPACE. The selection of relevant security building blocks is based on (i) assets automatically elicited from the functional models, (ii) domain security knowledge captured by the security expert and (iii) the platform adopted by the embedded system engineer. A tool is developed to support the steps supporting this methodology and help to bridge between the security and embedded systems domains. We illustrate our approach with a case study from the smart metering domain. © 2013 The Authors. Security and Communication Networks published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) promotes an active use of models in all phases of software development. In this paradigm, the design and usage of Domain-Specific Languages (DSL) for modelling in a certain application area is frequent. While in MDE, modelling has been traditionally supported by desktop computers, in this position paper we analyse useful scenarios for modelling using mobile devices, like smartphones or tablets. Moreover, we present a working architecture and a prototype tool, called DSL-comet, which enable collaborative mobile modelling and integrate seamlessly desktop and mobile graphical modelling environments., Work supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity (TIN2014-52129-R), the R&D programme of the Madrid Region (S2013/ICE-3006), and the EU commission (FP7-ICT-2013-10, #611125).

This paper describes a process for testing model transformations. The process is based on systematic analysis of the transformation rules and the related metamodels. These are used to identify the relevant parts of the metamodel to test the transformation, to define coverage criteria, and to define test oracles (checks) as invariants on what the transformation output should hold in relation to the input model. Tests are then created (generated) to produce suitable input models to fulfill the coverage criteria, and to check that the invariants hold in the transformation outputs for the different types of inputs generated. A case study of testing a transformation from the EAST-ADL specification for the automotive industry is presented.

This paper describes a process for testing model transformations. The process is based on systematic analysis of the transformation rules and the related metamodels. These are used to identify the relevant parts of the metamodel to test the transformation, to define coverage criteria, and to define test oracles (checks) as invariants on what the transformation output should hold in relation to the input model. Tests are then created (generated) to produce suitable input models to fulfill the coverage criteria, and to check that the invariants hold in the transformation outputs for the different types of inputs generated. A case study of testing a transformation from the EAST-ADL specification for the automotive industry is presented.

In modern aircraft, electronics and control systems are designed based on the Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) system architecture. While this has numerous advantages (reduction of weight, reduced power and fuel consumption, reduction of development cost and certification effort), the IMA platform also adds an additional layer of complexity. Due to the safety-critical nature of many avionics functions careful and accurate verification and testing are imperative. This thesis describes results achieved from research on model-based testing of IMA systems, in part obtained during the European research project SCARLETT. It presents a complete framework which enables IMA domain experts to design and run model-based tests on bare module, configured module, and application level in a standardised test environment. The first part of this thesis provides background information on the relevant topics: the IMA concept, domain-specific languages, model-based testing, and the TTCN-3 standard. The second part introduces the IMA Test Modelling Language (ITML) framework and its components. It describes a tailored TTCN-3 test environment with appropriate adapters and codecs. Based on MetaEdit and its meta-metamodel GOPPRR, it defines the three variants of the domain-specific language ITML, each with its abstract and concrete syntax as well as static and dynamic semantics. The process of test procedure generation from ITML models is explained in detail. Furthermore, the design and implementation of a universal Test Agent is shown. A dedicated communication protocol for controlling the agent is defined as well. The third part provides an evaluation of the framework. It shows usage scenarios in the SCARLETT project, gives a comparison to related tools and approaches, and explains the advantages of using the ITML framework for an IMA domain expert. The final part presents several example ITML models. It also provides reference material like XML schemata, framework source code, and model validators.

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10270-012-0242-3, Graph transformation is being increasingly used to express the semantics of domain-specific visual languages since its graphical nature makes rules intuitive. However, many application domains require an explicit handling of time to accurately represent the behaviour of a real system and to obtain useful simulation metrics to measure throughputs, utilization times and average delays. Inspired by the vast knowledge and experience accumulated by the discrete event simulation community, we propose a novel way of adding explicit time to graph transformation rules. In particular, we take the event scheduling discrete simulation world view and provide rules with the ability to schedule the occurrence of other rules in the future. Hence, our work combines standard, efficient techniques for discrete event simulation (based on the handling of a future event set) and the intuitive, visual nature of graph transformation. Moreover, we show how our formalism can be used to give semantics to other timed approaches and provide an implementation on top of the rewriting logic system Maude., Work partially sponsored by the Spanish Ministry, under project “Go Lite” (TIN2011-24139) as well as by the R&D programme of the Community of Madrid, project “e-Madrid” (S2009/TIC-1650). We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers, which helped in improving previous versions of the paper.

This document describes the research results that were obtained from the development of safety-critical software under the principles of open source. Different model-based designs and architectures within the railway control system application domain, including re-usable formalisms for verification & validation, were investigated. The reduction of possible security threats caused by platform or supplier specific adaptations of modelled open-core software was analysed, and a possible solution by the usage of hardware virtualisation, instead of traditional memory management, was elaborated. At core of this work, the development of a graphical domain-specific language for modelling parts of the European Train Control System (ETCS) is presented, which is based on specialised data, control flow formalisms, and language elements derived from the specification document. For a more precise and therefore more appropriate syntax definition for safety-critical systems, the already existing GOPRR meta meta model was extended to the newly developed GOPPRR meta meta model. GOPPRR includes methods for defining constraints by the object constraint language, which supports the definition of static semantics to ensure correct model instances. Parts of the ETCS specification related to the train on-board unit were modelled in a new meta model. To transform the developed model of the ETCS specification into an executable application, a domain framework, according to the new meta model and the corresponding code generator, were designed and implemented, which have implicitly an integrated support for the verification & validation process. To proof the correctness of the modelled specification, the resulting application was executed in a simulative environment to obtain simulation traces. The correspondence of traces to the expected data from the specification document supported the used methods and strategies in this dissertation as proof of concept.

We present a model-based testing approach to support automated test generation with domain-specific concepts. This includes a language expert who is an expert at building test models and domain experts who are experts in the domain of the system under test. First, we provide a framework to support the language expert in building test models using a full (Java) programming language with the help of simple but powerful modeling elements of the framework. Second, based on the model built with this framework, the toolset automatically forms a domain-specific modeling language that can be used to further constrain and guide test generation from these models by a domain expert. This makes it possible to generate a large set of test cases covering the full model, chosen (constrained) parts of the model, or manually define specific test cases on top of the model while using concepts familiar to the domain experts., Comment: In Proceedings MBT 2012, arXiv:1202.5826

Automated execution of manually defined regression tests is a very widely used and well-known area. While test execution can be more easily automated, test case creation and maintenance are still mainly manual efforts and practically the biggest cost factors in software testing. We view writing test cases as basically a programming activity and believe it can thus benefit from extended application of generic programming tools and techniques. In this paper, we describe our work in applying domain-specific modelling (DSM) to the domain of test case creation. DSM is a variability handling method typically applied in software development. It is widely used and powerful method best applied when there are several kinds of variations. DSM is typically tailored to make own optimized modelling solution inside a company, after which it can be applied effectively and without requiring specific programming skills. In this paper we describe how we have applied DSM to describe variability in software behaviour in terms of test cases, and its application in a case study. The results show a reduction in the cost of over test automation.

Part 5: Enterprise Architecture; International audience; To cope with the challenges in IT service management, methods are required that purposefully reduce the complexity inherent to enterprises – with regard to both business and IT –, facilitate communication among groups of stakeholders and support the management of IT services along their life cycle. In this paper we investigate the potentials of an enterprise modelling approach to IT service management and reflect upon design alternatives for corresponding modelling constructs. We present research in progress that is intended as foundation for discussion with and discursive evaluation by peers and domain experts.

Automated execution of manually defined regression tests is a very widely used and well-known area. While test execution can be more easily automated, test case creation and maintenance are still mainly manual efforts and practically the biggest cost factors in software testing. We view writing test cases as basically a programming activity and believe it can thus benefit from extended application of generic programming tools and techniques. In this paper, we describe our work in applying domain-specific modelling (DSM) to the domain of test case creation. DSM is a variability handling method typically applied in software development. It is widely used and powerful method best applied when there are several kinds of variations. DSM is typically tailored to make own optimized modelling solution inside a company, after which it can be applied effectively and without requiring specific programming skills. In this paper we describe how we have applied DSM to describe variability in software behaviour in terms of test cases, and its application in a case study. The results show a reduction in the cost of over test automation.

Model-Based Testing is a test automation technique that generates test cases based on a model of the system under test. Domain-specific modelling is a modelling approach where the developed system is modelled in terms of domain-specific concepts and these models are automatically transformed to other forms such as application code. In this paper, we will discuss the adoption and integration of domain-specific modelling with model-based testing tools. Since model-based testing tools utilise various modelling notations that typically diverge from a specific domain-model, we will discuss how domain specific models can be automatically transformed to become suitable models for a chosen model-based testing tool. Furthermore, by doing this in terms of a domain-specific meta-model, we will allow one to switch between various model-based testing tools.

There is an ever-increasing need to rapidly deliver products, whilst, at the same time, also delivering products of high quality. To improve the quality of products and increase productivity within software development processes, all phases of the development process must fit together well. While defining requirements for the system, it must be ensured that the correct requirements are defined as well as ensure that they can be translated into a design fulfilling the requirements. The earlier the correct requirements are found, the easier and cheaper it will be to design good products. Finally, the design must be verified against the correct requirements. To realize this, requirements traceability is of extreme importance for development processes. The non-functional requirements (NFR) are particularly important and difficult. In this paper, we will report on an integrated tooling solution for a Domain-Specific Modelling approach that enables and guides towards defining accurate and non-conflicting requirements. Additionally, the solution enables a full bidirectional traceability from the requirements to models to the implementation, and offers an up-to-date overall view of the state of the requirements within the product.

The topic of the thesis are domain-specific languages (DSL) and their use in software development. The target audience are developers interested in learning more about this progressive area of software development. It starts with a necessary theoretical introduction to programming languages. Then, a classification of DSLs is given and software development methodologies based on DSLs are described, notably Language Oriented Programming and Intentional Programming. Another important piece in construction of domain-specific langauges -- the language workbench is also described. In the next chapter, several important tools for DSL creation are presented, described and compared. Each of the tools represents a different possible approach to designing DSLs -- textual, projectional or graphical. The last chapter of the thesis contains a practical example of a DSL implementation in the Meta Programming System by Jet- Brains and Xtext from Eclipse. A domain-specific language for the description of questionnaires is designed from scratch and a code generator for that language is created. A comparison of the DSL based technique to traditional software development techniques is given and the tools used are compared.