Chapter 1 OPCAT – An Object-Process CASE Tool for OPM-Based Conceptual Modelling

OPCAT is an advanced, commericially-available Object-Process Methodology (OPM)-based software platform for conceptual modelling of complex systems in virtually any domain. OPCAT is used to teach OPM in leading institutions of higher education and is applied in a variety of industrial and scientific domains, from banking through defense to molecular biology. OPCAT 3 is a product that supports stand-alone OPM-based system development, evolution, lifecycle engineering, and lifecycle management. OPCAT implements the bimodal graphics-andtext expression of the OPM model along with many unique model-based capabilities, including requirements engineering, information layers management, model repository, simulation and validation of the model, and automatic document generation and management. This paper briefly introduces OPM and the basic features of OPCAT 3 by following a running example that is constructed step-by-step, so the interested reader and user can practice it while reading the paper. Along the way, principles of OPM and how they are implemented in OPCAT are explained. 1.