A Formal Semantics of UML Statecharts by Model Transition Systems
(2002)DOI: 10.1007/3-540-45832-8_28
Abstract
UML Statecharts are well-known visual means to capture the dynamic behavior of reactive systems in the object-oriented design methodology. Since the UML standard only contains an informal description on how to execute such statemachines mathematically precise semantic frameworks are required for an automated analysis. The current paper presents a formal semantics for UML statecharts based on a combination of metamodeling and graph transformation that is (i) simultaneously visual and precise, and (ii) clearly separates derived static concepts (like priorities, conflicts, etc.) from their dynamic interpretation thus scaling up well for different statechart variants (with, e.g., various priority strategies) and potential future changes in the standard.