SyVOLT: Full Model Transformation Verification Using Contracts

2011

Abstract The Trans-DV framework proposes a set of languages for specifying model transformations with attached verification properties. The languages are based on a corpus of transformation patterns, which support automatically generating a formal specification using templates that are amenable to simulation and analysis.

Automated Software Engineering, 2013

Model-Driven Engineering promotes the use of models to conduct the different phases of the software development. In this way, models are transformed between different languages and notations until code is generated for the final application. Hence, the construction of correct Model-to-Model (M2M) transformations becomes a crucial aspect in this approach. Even though many languages and tools have been proposed to build and execute M2M transformations, there is scarce support to specify correctness requirements for such transformations in an implementation-independent way, i.e., irrespective of the actual transformation language used. In this paper we fill this gap by proposing a declarative language for the specification of visual contracts, enabling the verification of transformations defined with any transformation language. The verification is performed by compiling the contracts into QVT to detect disconformities of transformation results with respect to the contracts. As a proof of concept, we also report on a graphical modeling environment for the specification of contracts, and on its use for the verification of transformations in several case studies.

Electronic Communications of the Easst, 2010

A model-driven engineering process relies on a set of transformations which are usually sequentially executed, starting from an abstract level to produce code or a detailed implementation specification. These transformations may be entirely automated or may require manual intervention by designers. In this paper, we propose a method to verify that a transformation result is correct with respect to the transformation specification. This method both includes automated transformations and manual interventions. For that, we focus on transformation contracts written in OCL. This leads to making the proposed method independent of modeling and transformation tools. These contracts are partially or fully generated through a dedicated tool.

Science of Computer Programming, 2013

Model-driven development is a generative software development process with increasing relevance both in industry and academia. Model transformations are the generative components in a model-driven development process. As such, their analysis is an important task. We have been developing a technique to specify, validate and implement model transformations. Our technique is based on the concept of transformation contracts, a specification that relates two modeling languages and declares properties that must be fulfilled in such a relation. Since a transformation contract is a model, the verification and validation of a transformation contract use the same techniques that are used to verify and validate any given model. This paper describes our technique, discusses consistency of model transformations and reports on its application to a non-trivial model transformation from access control models to Java security.

Formal Aspects of Computing, 2014

A model transformation verification task may involve a number of different transformations, from one or more of a wide range of different model transformation languages, each transformation may have a particular transformation style, and there are a number of different verification properties which can be verified for each language and style of transformation. Transformations may operate upon many different modelling languages. This diversity of languages and properties indicates the need for a suitably generic framework for model transformation verification, independent of particular model transformation languages, and able to provide support for systematic procedures for verification across a range of languages, and for a range of properties. In this paper we describe the elements of such a framework, and apply this framework to some example transformation verification problems. The paper is novel in covering a wide range of different verification techniques for a wide range of MT...

With the increasing use of automatic transformations of models, the correctness of these transformations becomes an increasingly important issue. Especially for model transformation generally defined using abstract description techniques like graph transformations or declarative relational specifications, however, establishing the soundness of those transformations by test-based approaches is not straight-forward. We show how formal verification of soundness conditions over such declarative relational style transformations can be performed using an interactive theorem prover. The relational style allows a direct translation of transformations as well as associated soundness conditions into corresponding axioms and theorems. Using the Isabelle theorem prover, the approach is demonstrated for a refactoring transformation and a connectedness soundness condition.

Abstract: Verification of models and model processing programs are fundamental issues and are inevitable in model-based software development in order to apply them in realworld solutions. Verification concerns the analysis of non-functional and functional properties as well. Model transformation developers are interested in offline methods for the verification process.

Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science, 2008

In model-based software development, a complete design and analysis process involves designing the system using the design language, converting it into the analysis language, and performing the verification and analysis on the analysis model. Graph transformation is increasingly being used to automate this conversion. In such a scenario, it is very important that the conversion preserves the semantics of the design model. This paper discusses an approach to verify this semantic equivalence for each transformation. We will show how to check whether a particular transformation resulted in an output model that preserves the semantics of the input model with respect to a particular property.

2017

Model driven engineering is a new paradigm in software engineering in which software is automatically generated from the model via applying transformations. Model transformations, which are defined using transformation languages, play the major role in model driven approaches. During the last decade, different transformation languages have been introduced to the model driven community. Epsilon Transformation Language (ETL) is one of the most widely used ones across the community. Since the correctness of a transformation has direct impact on generating the final product, verification of a model transformation is an important issue. In this paper, we aim to propose an approach to verify the correctness of ETL transformations. Our proposal is to use DSLTrans, which is a graph transformation language, as well as the SyVOLT tool, which provides symbolic execution of DSLTrans transformations. To achieve our goal, first we transform the ETL transformation to DSLTrans, then, using the SyVOLT tool, we verify the transformation. To evaluate our approach, a case study is performed and the results suggest its capability to detect errors that previously were not easily identifiable.

2012

In this paper we present some of the key issues involved in model transformation specification and testing, discuss and classify some of the existing approaches, and introduce the concept of Tract, a generalization of model transformation contracts. We show how Tracts can be used for model transformation specification and black-box testing, and the kinds of analyses they allow. Some representative examples are used to illustrate this approach.