A style-based architecture modelling approach for UML 2 component diagrams

There has been a variety of work arguing that the UML 1.x was not adequate as an Architectural Description Language (ADL). UML 2.x has made a large step towards supporting modelling software architectures, e.g. through the introduction of modelling constructs for composite structures. But many modelling constructs from ADLs can still not be mapped to the UML in a straightforward way. Important examples are typed connectors and architectural styles. We propose a mapping of of the MidArch modelling approach, which is similar to the well-known ADL Acme, to the UML 2.x and the OCL. The mapping is based on mapping the style/family construct to UML Profiles and the system/configuration construct to UML Component Diagrams. Architectural constraints are directly mapped to OCL constraints. In addition, OCL constraints are used to specialize the architecture modelling constructs of UML 2.x, and thus adapt the UML 2.x to the MidArch modelling approach. We describe a case study applying our approach and discuss our experiences.

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