(Note that this is a release of a research prototype. There is no warranty of any kind.)
USE is a system for the specification of information systems. It is based on a subset of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) [1]. A USE specification contains a textual description of a model using features found in UML class diagrams (classes, associations, etc.). Expressions written in the Object Constraint Language (OCL) are used to specify additional integrity constraints on the model. A model can be animated to validate the specification against non-formal requirements. System states (snapshots of a running system) can be created and manipulated during an animation. For each snapshot the OCL constraints are automatically checked. Information about a system state is given by graphical views. OCL expressions can be entered and evaluated to query detailed information about a system state.
The USE specification language is based on UML and OCL. Due to the semi-formal definition of OCL there are some language constructs whose interpretation is ambiguous or unclear [2]. In [3] and [4] we have presented a formalization of OCL which attempts to provide a solution for most of the problems. The USE approach to validation is described in [5] and [6].
To install USE, read the instructions in the INSTALL file.
After successful installation, the following command can be used to invoke USE on an example specification. Change the current directory to the top level directory of the distribution and enter the following (the exact commands may depend on your platform):
cd examples
../bin/use -v Documentation/Demo/Demo.useThe last command will compile and check the file Demo.use in the examples directory. It contains a USE specification for a simple model of a company. The -v switch is used to increase verbosity of output. The main interface to the tool is a command line interface where you enter commands at a prompt. The output should therefore be similar to the following.
loading properties from: C:\Dev\USE\use-6.0.0\etc\use.properties
USE version X.X.X, Copyright (C) 1999-2024 University of Bremen & University of Applied Sciences Hamburg
Plugin path: [C:\Dev\USE\use-6.0.0\lib\plugins]
Plugin filename(s) [AssociationExtend.jar,ModelValidatorPlugin-5.2.0-r1.jar,ObjectToClassPlugin-2.0.jar,OCLComplexityPlugin5.1.0.jar,use-filmstrip.jar]
compiling specification...
Model Company (3 classes, 3 associations, 4 invariants, 0 operations, 0 pre-/postconditions, 0 state machines)
Enter `help' for a list of available commands.
Enter `plugins' for a list of available plugin commands.
use>
At this point you can enter commands at the prompt (try `help' for a list of available commands). You can enter OCL-like expressions by starting the input with a question mark. The expression will be evaluated and its result will be shown, e.g.:
use> ? Set{1,2,3}->select(e | e > 1)
-> Set{2,3} : Set(Integer)
The file test/queries.cmd contains a large number of examples for valid expressions.
Commands can also be read from a separate file with the "read" command. Look at the files Demo*.cmd in the same directory. For example, starting with Demo0.cmd, an object is created and the new system state will be visualized in the system state window.
use> open Demo0.cmd
Demo0.cmd> !create d0:Department;
For more information about the graphical user interface please refer to the quick tour.
Documentation is available in the manual directory. It contains a quick tour demonstrating the central features of USE. The tool is heavily based on ideas published in [3], [4] and [6]. See the references at the end of the file.
Some information about issues related to OCL can be found in the file README.OCL.
Note, that the documentation was automatically translated from LaTex to Markdown and has still many issues. Feel free to submit changes to the documentation.
Comments and bug reports are welcome and should be addressed on GitHub.
The project's web site is https://github.com/useocl/use/
The parser for USE specifications is implemented with the ANTLR parser generator which is in the public domain. We have included the source code of ANTLR in this distribution, so that the USE parser can be easily regenerated. We would like to thank Terence Parr and the other developers of ANTLR for making this great tool freely available.
USE is released under the GNU public license, see the file COPYING for details. The distribution contains the following libraries from external parties. Source code for these libraries is available from the web.
Bug reports can submitted on GitHub
When submitting bug reports, use the available bug template and always include:
- a complete description of the problem encountered
- the output of `use -V'
- the operating system and version
- the architecture.
If possible, include:
- a stack trace, if an exception occurred
These steps will help diagnose the problem.
The following people made very helpful contributions to the USE project. A big "thank you" to all of you.
- Hanna Bauerdick
- Joern Bohling
- Jens Brüning
- Fabian Büttner
- Duc-Hanh Dang
- Heino Gärtner
- Daniel Gent
- Martin Gogolla
- Fabian Gutsche
- Lars Hamann
- Frank Hilken
- Andreas Kästner
- Ralf Kollmann
- Mirco Kuhlmann
- Arne Lindow
- Oliver Radfelder
- Mark Richters
- Antje Werner
- Paul Ziemann
There are many other people who provided comments and input on USE. Although we cannot list them all by name here, their feedback was very helpful and is highly appreciated.
[1] OMG Unified Modeling Language Specification, Version 2.5.1, December 2017. Object Management Group, Inc., Framingham, Mass., Internet: http://www.omg.org/spec/UML, 2021.
[2] Martin Gogolla and Mark Richters. On constraints and queries in UML. In Martin Schader and Axel Korthaus, editors, The Unified Modeling Language -- Technical Aspects and Applications, pages 109--121. Physica-Verlag, Heidelberg, 1998.
[3] Mark Richters and Martin Gogolla. On formalizing the UML object constraint language OCL. In Tok Wang Ling, Sudha Ram, and Mong Li Lee, editors, Proc. 17th Int. Conf. Conceptual Modeling (ER'98), pages 449--464. Springer, Berlin, LNCS 1507, 1998.
[4] Mark Richters and Martin Gogolla. A metamodel for OCL. In Robert France and Bernhard Rumpe, editors, Proceedings of the Second International Conference on the Unified Modeling Language: UML'99, LNCS 1723. Springer, 1999.
[5] Mark Richters and Martin Gogolla. Validating UML models and OCL constraints. Accepted paper for the Third International Conference on the Unified Modeling Language, UML'2000, York.
[6] Mark Richters. A Precise Approach to Validating UML Models and OCL Constraints. Phd thesis. Universitaet Bremen. Logos Verlag, Berlin, BISS Monographs, No. 14. 2002.