Consistent Graphical Specification of Distributed Systems

The widely accepted possible benefits of formal methods on the one hand and their minor use compared to informal or graphical description techniques on the other hand have repeatedly lead to the claim that formal methods should be put to a more indirect or transparent use. We show how such an indirect approach can be incorporated in a CASE tool prototype by basing it upon formally defined hierarchical description techniques. We demonstrate the immediate benefits by introducing consistency notions gained from the formalization. Additionally, we show how the formalization can be used to apply automated property validation. Finally, we discuss some further techniques that could be based on the underlying formalization.