Scenarios and state machines: models, algorithms, and tools

Abstract

In a wide range of application areas, system behavior is modeled using variations of scenarios and state machines. In telecommunications, ITU standards SDL (Specification and Description Language) and MSC (Message Sequence Charts) are used for formal specifications and descriptions. Also, for behavioral modeling of object-oriented software systems, UML interaction diagrams (sequence or collaboration diagrams) and statechart diagrams are commonly used. Use cases can be conveniently refined using interaction diagrams, which in turn aid in recognizing class operations and associations and in building statechart specifications of object behaviour. The aim of this workshop is to build a shared understanding on the relation between scenarios and state machines and to gain insight on techniques and tools that may leverage from combining these approaches to behaviour modeling. In this workshop, we will discuss the usage of scenario-based approaches in software engineering. An emphasis area is the relation between scenarios and state-machines. Areas of interest of this one-day workshop include, but are not limited to the following three main discussion topics: 1) Models and notations (requirements for different application areas, shortcomings in current notations, new suggestions for models or notations, categorizations); 2) Algorithms (e.g., synthesizing state machines from scenarios, implied scenarios, generating scenarios from state machines, consistency checks); 3) Tools (tool support for the issues above, different application areas). Moreover, we will identify the limitations and shortcomings of current approaches and outline possible directions for future research in the domain. A related workshop (scenario-based roundtrip eng.) was organized at OOPSLA 2000.