Consistency checking of UML class and sequence diagrams

Abstract

In object-oriented software modeling using the Unified Modeling Language, different aspects of a system are represented by various types of diagrams. UML diagrams represent two different views of a system model. They are static and dynamic views. In this paper we study the dynamic view of Class Diagrams and static view of Sequence Diagrams for checking consistency among them. We assume that the system is specified as a set of Class diagrams and the Sequence Diagrams are drawn using Enterprise Architect. With large and more complex UML models in the software development industry there is a serious issue on inconsistency of such diagrams. In design, evolution presents three issues: Consistency amongst design representations, traceability of a design change in code in order to maintain consistency and versioning of design entities along with versioning of code. As first step we translate UML class and Sequence diagrams into XMI (XML Metadata Interchange) format. We propose an algorithm to check the consistency among these two diagrams. Furthermore show how identify errors and inconsistencies using automated tool.