A formal operational semantics for SOFL

Author

Ho-Stuart, Chris ; Liu, Shaoying

Author_Institution

Sch. of Comput. Sci., Queensland Univ. of Technol., Brisbane, Qld., Australia

fYear

1997

fDate

2-5 Dec 1997

Firstpage

52

Lastpage

61

Abstract

SOFL (Structured-Object-Based-Formal Language) is a formal language and method for practical systems development. As a language, it integrates data flow diagrams, VDM-SL, and Petri nets to provide a graphical and textual formal notation for specification construction. Previous publications introducing SOFL are based on its informal semantics. We provide a formal operational semantics which gives a firm foundation for consistent understanding and application of SOFL in practical systems development. Development of the semantics, and application of SOFL to practical systems, have led to some changes in the original definitions. This formal semantics will serve as a firm foundation for building an effective support environment for SOFL

Keywords

Petri nets; data flow graphs; diagrams; formal specification; object-oriented languages; specification languages; Petri nets; SOFL; Structured-Object-Based-Formal Language; VDM-SL; data flow diagrams; dataflow graph; formal operational semantics; graphical formal notation; specification; systems development; textual formal notation; Australia; Computer industry; Construction industry; Flow graphs; Formal languages; High level languages; Information analysis; Information science; Modular construction; Petri nets;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Software Engineering Conference, 1997. Asia Pacific ... and International Computer Science Conference 1997. APSEC '97 and ICSC '97. Proceedings

Print_ISBN

0-8186-8271-X

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/APSEC.1997.640161

Filename

640161