Towards a Semantically Useful Definition of Conformance with a Reference Model

By: Marco Konersmann, Bernhard Rumpe, Max Stachon, Sebastian Stüber, Valdes Voufo

Abstract

In software engineering, reference models are used as guidance for implementing potential solutions to recurring problems, such as reference architecture models or reference data models. Despite their broad use in practice, there is no clear definition for what it means for a concrete model to conform to a reference model, hindering the development of automated tools for conformance checking. This paper provides a semantically useful definition of conformance of concrete models to reference models. It presents concepts and tools for automated conformance checks for class diagrams, feature diagrams, and state charts, developed based on this definition. The paper discusses the commonalities and differences of the presented automated conformance checks and general design considerations for developing reference model conformance checkers in the context of model-driven engineering. Key findings include that reference models should use the same language as their concrete models, conformance checks require conformance mappings between reference and concrete model elements, and conformance rules must be based on formally defined language semantics.

Keywords

Reference Models, Conformance, Model-Driven Engineering, Semantic Refinement, UML

Cite as:

Marco Konersmann, Bernhard Rumpe, Max Stachon, Sebastian Stüber, Valdes Voufo, “Towards a Semantically Useful Definition of Conformance with a Reference Model”, Journal of Object Technology, Volume 23, no. 3 (July 2024), pp. 1-14, doi:10.5381/jot.2024.23.3.a5.