Conceptual Modeling of Structure and Behavior with UML - The Top Level Object-Oriented Framework (TLOOF) Approach

In the last decade UML has emerged as the standard object-oriented conceptual modeling language. Since UML is a combination of previous languages, such as OOSE, OMT, Statecharts, etc., the creation of multi-views within UML was unavoidable. These views, which represent different aspects of system structure and behavior, overlap, raising consistency and integration problems. Moreover, the object-oriented nature of UML set the ground for several behavioral views in UML, each of which is a different alternative for representing behavior. In this paper I suggest a Top-Level Object-Oriented Framework (TLOOF) for UML models. This framework, which serves as the glue of use case, class, and interaction diagrams, enables changing the refinement level of a model without loosing the comprehension of the system as a whole and without creating contradictions among the mentioned structural and behavioral views. Furthermore, the suggested framework does not add new classifiers to the UML metamodel, hence, does not complicate UML.