Understanding and Comparing Model-Based Specification Notations

Specifiers must be able to understand and compare the specification notations that they use. Traditional means for describing notations’ semantics (e.g., operational semantics, logic, natural language) do not help users to identify the essential differences among notations. In previous work, we presented a template-based approach to defining model-based notations, in which semantics that are common among notations (e.g., the concept of an enabled transition) are captured in the template and a notation’s distinct semantics (e.g., which states can enable transitions) are specified as parameters. In this paper, we demonstrate the template’s expressivity by using it to document the semantics of Petri Nets, SDL, and SCR. We also show how the template can be used to compare notation variants. We believe template definitions of notations ease a user’s effort in understanding and comparing model-based notations.