VitruviusOCL: A Declarative Language for Multi-Model Consistency Specification

Abstract

Large cyber-physical systems normally need to be described using multiple domain-specific modeling languages, so as to allow stakeholders to focus on their respective concerns. However, that multiplication of languages comes at the cost of fragmenting the overall system description, with the inherent consequences of the redundant representation of information and the higher likelihood of cross-model inconsistency. Unfortunately, in existing declarative constraint languages for multi-model environments, the explicit correspondence structures to link views across metamodel boundaries are not addressable as first-class primitives. Consequently, those languages also cannot express invariants that span these correspondence structures. We present VitruviusOCL, a declarative constraint language and toolchain for view-based modeling built on the formal foundation of OCL♯ [23] and the Virtual Single Underlying Model concept of the Vitruvius framework [11]. VitruviusOCL introduces the ~ operator as a first-class, axiomatic primitive for accessing the Vitruvius Correspondence Model, together with an explicit, metamodel-qualified navigation syntax for heterogeneous multi-model access, thereby enabling declarative, genuinely n-ary cross-metamodel constraints. VitruviusOCL is delivered as a full prototype. We evaluate VitruviusOCL in a qualitative feasibility study across two case studies representing diverse domains. We demonstrate that VitruviusOCL can express multi-model constraints and specify intended behavior during design space exploration prior to identifying a concrete repair action, thereby making it a valuable part of the engineering process.