Scenario construction tool based on extended UML metamodel

Abstract

Scenario based notations are becoming more and more popular as means for user requirements elicitation. They can be used in more formal specifications as part of detailed use case templates or in agile processes to capture informal user stories. Despite their significance in software engineering, scenarios seem not to be properly supported by appropriate tools. This paper describes a scenario construction tool that offers clear separation of the actual story from notions used therein. The tool is constructed as an extension to visual notation of UML's use cases. It is based on an extended UML metamodel in the area of activities and classifiers. This formal basis makes the tool capable of supplying the existing UML tools with an additional layer of requirements models based on scenarios and notions. This layer makes it possible to transform requirements directly into design-level models. The tool offers such transformation capabilities based on a simple model mapping. This transformation supports human efforts to keep the system's design consistent with the user's needs expressed through scenarios. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.