Leila Ribeiro

Leila Ribeiro, Lucio Duarte, Rodrigo Machado et al.

Use Case (UC) quality impacts the overall quality and defect rate of a system, as they specify the expected behavior of an implementation. In a previous work, we have defined an approach for a step-by-step translation from UCs written in natural language to a formal description in terms of Graph Transformation (GT), where each step of the UC was translated to a transformation rule. This UC formalisation enables the detection of several specification problems even before an actual implementation is produced, thus reducing development costs. In this paper, we extend our approach to handle UC evolution by defining \emph{evolution rules}, which are described as higher-order rules, simultaneously changing the behaviour of a set of transformation rules. We also support the use of \emph{negative application conditions (NAC)} associated both to the transformation and evolution rules. Analysis of the interplay between the evolution rules and the rules describing UC steps shows the effects of an evolution and serves to identify potential impacts, even before the changes are actually carried out. Besides defining the theoretical foundations of UC evolution with NACs, we have implemented the evolution analysis technique in the Verigraph tool and used it to verify impacts in 3 different case studies. The results demonstrate the applicability and usefulness of our approach to help developers in the evolution process based on UCs.

Dominique Duval, Rachid Echahed, Frederic Prost et al.

Copying, or cloning, is a basic operation used in the specification of many applications in computer science. However, when dealing with complex structures, like graphs, cloning is not a straightforward operation since a copy of a single vertex may involve (implicitly)copying many edges. Therefore, most graph transformation approaches forbid the possibility of cloning. We tackle this problem by providing a framework for graph transformations with cloning. We use attributed graphs and allow rules to change attributes. These two features (cloning/changing attributes) together give rise to a powerful formal specification approach. In order to handle different kinds of graphs and attributes, we first define the notion of attributed structures in an abstract way. Then we generalise the sesqui-pushout approach of graph transformation in the proposed general framework and give appropriate conditions under which attributed structures can be transformed. Finally, we instantiate our general framework with different examples, showing that many structures can be handled and that the proposed framework allows one to specify complex operations in a natural way.

Nazareno Aguirre, Leila Ribeiro

Formal approaches to software development are techniques that aim at developing quality software by employing notations, analysis processes, etc., based on mathematical grounds. Although traditionally they aim at increasing software correctness, formal techniques have been applied to various other aspects of software quality. Moreover, while originally formal methods employed complex "heavyweight" mechanisms for analysis (often manual or semi automated), there has been progress towards embracing "lightweight", many times fully automated, analysis techniques, that broaden the adoption of formal methods in various software engineering contexts. The Latin American Workshop on Formal Methods brings together researchers working in formal methods, and related areas such as automated analysis. In particular, the workshop provides a venue for Latin American researchers working in these areas, to promote their interaction and collaboration. The workshop was held in August as a satellite event of CONCUR 2013. It took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina's capital and largest city, and one of the most interesting cultural places in South America.