CD2Alloy: Class Diagrams Analysis Using Alloy Revisited

TL;DR

CD2Alloy introduces a deep embedding approach for translating UML class diagrams into Alloy, enabling advanced multi-diagram analysis and supporting more features than previous shallow embedding methods.

Contribution

It presents a novel deep embedding translation of UML class diagrams into Alloy, allowing for complex analysis across multiple diagrams and extended language feature support.

Findings

Supports analysis of multiple class diagrams simultaneously

Enables checking consistency and conformance for extended UML features

Implemented as an Eclipse plugin for practical use

Abstract

We present CD2Alloy, a novel, powerful translation of UML class diagrams (CDs) to Alloy. Unlike existing translations, which are based on a shallow embedding strategy, and are thus limited to checking consistency and generating conforming object models of a single CD, and support a limited set of CD language features, CD2Alloy uses a deeper embedding strategy. Rather than mapping each CD construct to a semantically equivalent Alloy construct, CD2Alloy defines (some) CD constructs as new concepts within Alloy. This enables solving several analysis problems that involve more than one CD and could not be solved by earlier works, and supporting an extended list of CD language features. The ideas are implemented in a prototype Eclipse plug-in. The work advances the state-of-the-art in CD analysis, and can also be viewed as an interesting case study for the different possible translations of one modeling language to another, their strengths and weaknesses.