Scenario testing using formal ontologies

Abstract

One of the challenges in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is to ensure that the requirements that drive the development of a software system are correct. However, establishing unambiguous and error-free requirements is not a trivial problem. As part of the requirements phase of the SDLC, a conceptual model can be created which describes the objects, relationships and operations that are of importance to business. Such a conceptual model is often expressed as a UML class diagram. Recent research concerned with the formal validation of such UML class diagrams has focused on transforming UML class diagrams to various formalisms such as description logics. Description logics are desirable since they have reasoning support which can be used to show that a UML class diagram is consistent/inconsistent. Yet, even when a UML class diagram is consistent, it still does not address the problem of ensuring that a UML class diagram represents business requirements accurately. To validate such diagrams business analysts use a technique called scenario testing. In this paper we present an approach for the formal validation of UML class diagrams based on scenario testing. We additionally provide preliminary feedback on the experiences gained from using our scenario testing approach on a real-world software project.