Specifying Cooperation Environment Requirements using Formal and Graphical Techniques

Abstract.. Using formal languages to specify system requirements guarantees the correctness of systems specifications. However, having correct specifications does not guarantee such specification matching user requirements. To guarantee such matching, users are required to validate formal specifications. This is a difficult task because, usually, users are unaware of notations. This work focus on this problem, in particular the validation of formal specifications of complex coordinated systems. To make the user’s validation easier, a new graphic technique to represent the dependencies in a coordinated environment is proposed. This graphic (and visual) technique increases users ’ understanding whilst lack of precisions is avoided. In fact, the proposed graphics correspond with visual representations of formal Maude specifications. Besides, taking advantage of the features of Maude, the system simulation is supported by the execution of Maude specifications. Thus, users are allowed to check whether the system produces the expected results. 1