LCL: A graphical meta-language for specification of language constraints

Abstract

The Object Constraint Language (OCL) is commonly used for constraints in meta-model-based language specifications. However, it may be advantageous to have a domain-specific constraint meta-language optimised for language specifications. A survey of OCL usage in language specifications has been performed, in order to gain an understanding of common constraint patterns. This is used as a starting point for defining a new meta-language for language constraints, Language Constraint Language (LCL), that has an intuitive graphical syntax.