MDE-driven OCL Specification Patterns

Detailed and unequivocal model specifications are a prerequisite for attaining the automated software development goal as promoted by the Model Driven Engineering (MDE) paradigm. The use of assertions, as promoted by the Design by Contract approach, assists in creating such model specifications. However, writing from scratch a large amount of assertions can be tedious, time-consuming, and error-prone. Consequently, a number of constraint patterns have been identified in the literature, and corresponding OCL specifications have been proposed. Automating their use in tools should speed the writing task and increase its correctness. Yet, no attention has been paid to the influence of such specifications in the area of error detection and diagnosis. We approach this topic by proposing new OCL specification patterns for some of the existing constraint patterns. Our proposal should increase the efficiency of testing and debugging processes performed for models and applications. Relevant examples and tool-support are used in order to explain and validate our approach.