Abstract
The specification language TROLL light is intended to be used for conceptual modeling of information systems. It is designed to describe the Universe of Discourse (UoD) as a system of concurrently existing and interacting objects, i.e., an object community.
The first part of the present paper introduces the various language concepts offered by TROLL light. TROLL light objects have observable properties modeled by attributes, and the behavior of objects is described by events. Possible object observations may be restricted by constraints, whereas event occurrences may be restricted to specified life-cycles. TROLL light objects are organized in an object hierarchy established by sub-object relationships. Communication among objects is supported by event calling.
The second part of our paper outlines a simplified computational model for TROLL light. After introducing signatures for collections of object descriptions (or templates as they are called in TROLL light) we explain how single states of an object community are constructed. By parallel occurrence of a finite set of events the states of object communities change. The object community itself is regarded as a graph where the nodes are the object community states reachable from an initial state and the edges represent transitions between states.
Work reported here has been partially supported by the CEC under Grant No. 6112 (COMPASS) and BMFT under Grant No. 01 IS 203 D (KorSo).
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
E. Astesiano and G. Reggio. Algebraic Specification of Concurrency. In M. Bidoit and C. Choppy, editors, Recent Trends in Data Type Specification — Proc. 8th Workshop on Specification of Abstract Data Types, pages 1–39. Springer, Berlin, LNCS 655, 1993.
G. v. Bochmann, M. Barbeau, M. Erradi, L. Lecomte, P. Mondain-Monval, and N. Williams. Mondel: An Object-Oriented Specification Language. Département d'Informatique et de Recherche Opérationnelle, Publication 748, Université de Montréal, 1990.
M. Broy, C. Facchi, R. Grosu, R. Hettler, H. Hussmann, D. Nazareth, F. Regensburger, and K. StØlen. The Requirement and Design Specification Language SPECTRUM — An Informal Introduction (Version 0.3). Technical Report TUM-I9140, Technische Universität München, 1992.
D. Bjorner, C.A.R. Hoare, and H. Langmaack, editors. VDM'90: VDM and Z — Formal Methods in Software Development. Springer, LNCS 428, 1990.
M. Bidoit, H.-J. Kreowski, P. Lescanne, F. Orejas, and D. Sannella, editors. The Compass Working Group: Algebraic System Specification and Development. Springer, Berlin, LNCS 501, 1991.
R. Breu. Algebraic Specification Techniques in Object Oriented Programming Environments. Springer, LNCS 562, 1991.
S. Conrad, M. Gogolla, and R. Herzig. TROLL light: A Core Language for Specifying Objects. Informatik-Bericht 92–02, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 1992.
J.-F. Costa, A. Sernadas, and C. Sernadas. OBL-89 Users Manual (Version 2.3). Internal report, INESC, Lisbon, 1989.
O.-J. Dahl and O. Owe. Formal Development with ABEL. Technical Report 159, University of Oslo, 1991.
H. Ehrig, W. Fey, and H. Hansen. ACT ONE: An Algebraic Specification Language with Two Levels of Semantics. Technical Report 83-03, Technische Universität Berlin, 1983.
H.-D. Ehrich, M. Gogolla, and U.W. Lipeck. Algebraische Spezifikation abstrakter Datentypen — Eine Einführung in die Theorie. Teubner, Stuttgart, 1989.
H.-D. Ehrich, J.A. Goguen, and A. Sernadas. A Categorial Theory of Objects as Observed Processes. In J.W. de Bakker, W.P. de Roever, and G. Rozenberg, editors, Foundations of Object-Oriented Languages (Proc. REX/FOOL Workshop, Noordwijkerhood (NL)), pages 203–228. Springer, LNCS 489, 1990.
H. Ehrig and B. Mahr. Fundamentals of Algebraic Specification 1: Equations and Initial Semantics. Springer, Berlin, 1985.
H. Ehrig and B. Mahr. Fundamentals of Algebraic Specification 2: Modules and Constraints. Springer, Berlin, 1990.
H. Ehrig, F. Parisi-Presicce, P. Boehm, C. Rieckhoff, C. Dimitrovici, and M. Gro\e-Rhode. Combining Data Type and Recursive Process Specifications Using Projection Algebras. Theoretical Computer Science, 71:347–380, 1990.
P. Gabriel. The Object-Based Specification Language II: Concepts, Syntax, and Semantics. In M. Bidoit and C. Choppy, editors, Recent Trends in Data Type Specification — Proc. 8th Workshop on Specification of Abstract Data Types, pages 254–270, Berlin, 1993. Springer, LNCS 655.
M.-C. Gaudel. A First Introduction to PLUSS. Technical Report, Université de Paris-Sud, Orsay, 1984.
J.A. Goguen and T. Winkler. Introducing OBJ3. Research Report SRICSL-88-9, SRI International, 1988.
R. Hull and R. King. Semantic Database Modelling: Survey, Applications, and Research Issues. ACM Computing Surveys, 19(3):201–260, 1987.
C.A.R. Hoare. Communicating Sequential Processes. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs (NJ), 1985.
C.B. Jones. Systematic Software Developing Using VDM. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs (NJ), 1986.
R. Jungclaus, G. Saake, T. Hartmann, and C. Sernadas. Object-Oriented Specification of Information Systems: The TROLL Language. Informatik-Bericht 91-04, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 1991.
R. Jungclaus, G. Saake, and C. Sernadas. Formal Specification of Object Systems. In S. Abramsky and T. Maibaum, editors, Proc. TAPSOFT'91, Brighton, pages 60–82. Springer, Berlin, LNCS 494, 1991.
G. Kappel and M. Schrefl. Object/Behavior Diagrams. In Proc. 7th Int. Conf. on Data Engineering, Kobe (Japan), pages 530–539, 1991.
J. Meseguer. A Logical Theory of Concurrent Objects and its Realization in the Maude Language. In G. Agha, P. Wegener, and A. Yonezawa, editors, Research Directions in Object-Based Concurrency. MIT Press, 1992. To appear.
J. Meseguer. Conditional Rewriting as a Unified Model of Concurrency. Theoretical Computer Science, 96(1):73–156, 1992.
R. Milner. A Calculus of Communicating Systems. Springer, Berlin, 1980.
G. Reggio. Entities: An Institution for Dynamic Systems. In H. Ehrig, K.P. Jantke, F. Orejas, and H. Reichel, editors, Recent Trends in Data Type Specification, pages 246–265. Springer, LNCS 534, 1990.
W. Reisig. Petri Nets: An Introduction. Springer, Berlin, 1985.
A. Sernadas and H.-D. Ehrich. What is an Object, after all? In R.A. Meersman, W. Kent, and S. Khosla, editors, Object-Oriented Databases: Analysis, Design & Construction (DS-4), Proc. IFIP WG 2.6 Working Conference, Windermere (UK) 1990, pages 39–70. North-Holland, 1991.
C. Sernadas, P. Gouveia, J. Gouveia, A. Sernadas, and P. Resende. The Reification Dimension in Object-Oriented Database Design. In D. Harper and M.C. Norrie, editors, Proc. Int. Workshop on Specification of Database Systems, pages 275–299. Springer, 1991.
S. Shlaer and S.J. Mellor. Object Life Cycles: Modeling the World in States. Yourdon Press computing series, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs (NJ), 1992.
C. Sernadas, P. Resende, P. Gouveia, and A. Sernadas. In-the-large Object-Oriented Design of Information Systems. In F. Van Assche, B. Moulin, and C. Rolland, editors, Proc. Object-Oriented Approach in Information Systems, pages 209–232. North Holland, 1991.
A. Sernadas, C. Sernadas, and H.-D. Ehrich. Object-Oriented Specification of Databases: An Algebraic Approach. In P.M. Stocker and W. Kent, editors, Proc. 13th Int. Conf. on Very Large Data Bases (VLDB), pages 107–116. Morgan-Kaufmann, Palo Alto, 1987.
A. Sernadas, C. Sernadas, P. Gouveia, P. Resende, and J. Gouveia. OBLOG — Object-Oriented Logic: An Informal Introduction. Technical report, INESC, Lisbon, 1991.
D.T. Sannella and A. Tarlecki. Extended ML: An Institution-Independent Framework for Formal Program Development. In Proc. Workshop on Category Theory and Computer Programming, pages 364–389. Springer, LNCS 240, 1986.
N. Viachantonis, R. Herzig, M. Gogolla, G. Denker, S. Conrad, and H.-D. Ehrich. Towards Reliable Information Systems: The KORSO Approach. In C. Rolland, editor, Proc. 5th Int. Conf. Advanced Information Systems Engineering. Springer, LNCS Series, 1993. To appear.
R. Wieringa. Equational Specification of Dynamic Objects. In R.A. Meersman, W. Kent, and S. Khosla, editors, Object-Oriented Databases: Analysis, Design & Construction (DS-4), Proc. IFIP WG 2.6 Working Conference, Windermere (UK) 1990, pages 415–438. North-Holland, 1991.
M. Wirsing. Algebraic Specification. In J. Van Leeuwen, editor, Handbook of Theoretical Computer Science, Vol. B, pages 677–788. Elsevier, North-Holland, 1990.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1993 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Gogolla, M., Conrad, S., Herzig, R. (1993). Sketching concepts and computational model of TROLL light. In: Miola, A. (eds) Design and Implementation of Symbolic Computation Systems. DISCO 1993. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 722. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0013165
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0013165
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-57235-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-47985-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive