14th International Conference on Management of Data
COMAD 2008, December 17-19, 2008
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India
Modeling Uncertain and Imprecise
Information in Process
Modeling with UML
Jing XIAO
LATTIS, INSA-Toulouse, France
[email protected]
Table of contents
1. Context and problem
2. Objectives
3. What types of uncertainty and imprecision
are in product development processes ?
4. How to use UML to model uncertainty and
imprecision ?
5. Conclusions and Perspectives
1. Context and problem
 Product
Development (PD) processes
 Processes modeling with Unified Modeling
Language (UML)
 Exchanged
information is often incomplete,
vague and not entirely determined at the
beginning of the project and during its
evolution.
2. Objectives

Identify uncertainty and imprecision related to
product development (PD) process.

Meta-modeling of identified uncertainty and
imprecision.

Integrate uncertainty and imprecision
representation in UML-based project with a new
UML profile “Uncertainty-of” and “Imprecision-of”.
3. What types of uncertainty and
imprecision are in product
development processes ?
 Role
uncertainty and imprecision.
 Activity uncertainty and imprecision.
 Deliverable uncertainty and imprecision.
 Iteration uncertainty and imprecision.
4. How to use UML to model
uncertainty and imprecision ?
4.1 UML extension mechanisms.
4.2 The modeling workflow.
4.3 Validation of the modeling workflow.
4.1 UML extension mechanisms
Extension mechanisms are the means for
extending UML at the meta-model level to
support a new technology. Three concepts
are used :
 Stereotypes
 Tagged
values
 Constraints
4.2 The modeling workflow
4.3 Validation of the modeling
workflow
4.3.1 Meta-model of “uncertainty-of”
4.3.2 New UML profile and its application
4.3.1 Meta-model of “uncertaintyof” (partial)
4.3.2 New UML profile and its
application

We created the new profile - “uncertainty-of”
profile - semi-automatically with a new prototype
tool named Meta-Model To UML Profile (MM2UP)
based on an Eclipse platform, proposed by one of
the authors Vincent Aranega.
4.3.2 New UML profile and its
application

Partial list of stereotypes of the new profile
4.3.2 New UML profile and its
application
 Application
of this profile
5. Conclusions and Perspectives
We have :

identified four types of uncertainty and imprecision related to PD
processes;

proposed a new Unified Modeling Language (UML) profile to integrate
description of imperfect information.
We will :

refine our meta-models’ textual descriptions for the naming rules,
legality rules and semantics;

propose a framework for uncertainty and imprecision management in
product design process, planning and evolution.
Thank You!