A Textual Syntax with Tool Support for the Goal-Oriented Requirement Language

Most goal-oriented modeling languages, including i*, Tropos, KAOS and the Goal-oriented Requirement Language (GRL), offer a graphical syntax, sometimes accompanied by a textual interchange format (e.g., in XML). Graphical representations of goal models excel at supporting discussions and at visualizing analysis results. However, creating/modifying goal models is often a tedious task with current graphical environments. Textual languages are often more efficient for creating/ modifying models, in particular large ones. This paper proposes a programming-like textual syntax for GRL supported by an advanced editor for the Eclipse platform. Such syntax and editor enable modelers to create GRL models with complex features (e.g., strategies and contribution overrides) in a way that is simpler than with the most popular GRL editor, namely jUCMNav. The paper also introduces a converter from the GRL textual syntax to jUCMNav, so that models can be visualized and analyzed.