On the Assessment of Generative AI in Requirements Analysis and Modeling Tasks with UML:An Exploratory Study

Generative AI is rapidly employed by software developers to generate code or other software artifacts.However,the analysis and assessment of generative AI with respect to requirements analysis and modeling tasks,especially with UML,has received little attention.This paper investigates the capabilities of generative AI to aid in the creation of three types of UML models:UML use case models,class diagrams,and sequence diagrams.For this purpose,we designed an AI-aided UML modeling task in our course on software requirements modeling.50 undergraduates who majored in Software Engineering at Wuhan University completed the modeling task and the corresponding online survey.Our findings show that generative AI can help create these three types of UML models,but its performance is limited to identifying essential modeling elements of these UML models.

ChatModeler:基于大语言模型的人机协作迭代式需求获取和建模方法

需求获取和建模是需求工程中的关键步骤,影响后续系统设计与实现.传统的需求获取和建模方法通常由需求提供者、需求分析师等多类干系人共同协作、反复迭代完成,需要耗费大量的人力.如何减轻需求提供者与需求分析师的负担、提高获取和建模的效率有着重要意义.现有工作中有的使用知识库来提供更多知识,以辅助获取或者建模,有的利用自然语言处理等技术对获取或者建模过程进行自动化,但是它们并没有减轻需求提供者的负担.利用大语言模型(large language models,LLMs)的生成能力,提供了一种人机协作的迭代式需求获取和建模框架ChatModeler.具体来说,根据真实世界中需求团队的分工及协作关系,将部分需求提供者、需求分析师等角色的工作由大语言模型承担,而需求提供者只需要进行确认.为大语言模型扮演的各种角色进行了提示词设计,该提示词会随需求的元模型而变化.ChatModeler在7个需求案例上与3种需求模型的自动建模方法进行了14组对比实验,证明了ChatModeler在降低需求提供者的负担和生成高质量需求模型2个方面上的优越性.

An executable framework for modeling and validating cooperative capability requirements in emergency response system

As the scale of current systems become larger and larger and their complexity is increasing gradually,research on executable models in the design phase becomes significantly important as it is helpful to simulate the execution process and capture defects of a system in advance.Meanwhile,the capability of a system becomes so important that stakeholders tend to emphasize their capability requirements when developing a system.To deal with the lack of official specifications and the fundamental theory basis for capability requirement,we propose a cooperative capability requirements(CCR)meta-model as a theory basis for researchers to refer to in this research domain,in which we provide detailed definition of the CCR concepts,associations and rules.Moreover,we also propose an executable framework,which may enable modelers to simulate the execution process of a system in advance and do well in filling the inconsistency and semantic gaps between stakeholders’requirements and their models.The primary working mechanism of the framework is to transform the Alf activity meta-model into the communicating sequential process(CSP)process meta-model based on some mapping rules,after which the internal communication mechanism between process nodes is designed to smooth the execution of behaviors in a CSP system.Moreover,a validation method is utilized to check the correctness and consistency of the models,and a self-fixing mechanism is used to fix the errors and warnings captured during the validation process automatically.Finally,a validation report is generated and fed back to the modelers for system optimization.

Lightweight Behavior-Based Language for Requirements Modeling

Whether or not a software system satisfies the anticipated user requirements is ultimately determined by the behaviors of the software. So it is necessary and valuable to research requirements modeling language and technique from the perspective of behavior. This paper presents a lightweight behavior based requirements modeling language BDL with formal syntax and semantics, and a general-purpose requirements description model BRM synthesizing the concepts of viewpoint and scenario. BRM is good for modeling large and complex system due to its structure is very clear. In addition, the modeling process is demonstrated through the case study On-Line Campus Management System. By lightweight formal style, BDL & BRM can effectively bridge the gap between practicability and rigorousness of formal requirements modeling language and technique.

Model-Driven Derivation of Domain Functional Requirements from Use Cases

Domain analysis is essential to core assets development in software product line engineering. Most existing approaches, however, depend on domain experts’ experience to analyze the commonality and variability of systems in a domain, which remains a manual and intensive process. This paper addresses the issue by proposing a model-driven approach to automating the domain requirements derivation process. The paper focuses on the match between the use cases of existing individual products and the domain functional requirements of a product line. By introducing a set of linguistic description dimensions to differentiate the sub-variations in a use case, the use case template is extended to model variability. To this end, a transformation process is formulated to sustain and deduce the information in use cases, and to match it to domain functional requirements. This paper also presents a prototype which implements the derivation as a model transformation described in a graphical model transformation language MOLA. This approach complements existing domain analysis techniques with less manual operation cost and more efficiency by automating the domain functional requirements development.

Towards a Formalized Ontology-Based Requirements Model

The goal of this paper is to take a further step towards an ontological approach for representing requirements information. The motivation for ontologies was discussed. The definitions of ontology and requirements ontology were given. Then, it presented a collection of informal terms, including four subject areas. It also discussed the formalization process of ontology. The underlying meta-ontology was determined, and the formalized requirements ontology was analyzed. This formal ontology is built to serve as a basis for requirements model. Finally, the implementation of software system was given.

A New Maturity Model for Requirements Engineering Process: An Overview

It is widely acknowledged that Requirements Engineering (RE) has an important implication for the overall success of software or system development projects. As more and more organizations consider RE as the principal problem areas in the projects, improving RE process therefore appears critical for future business success. Moreover, nowadays there are evidences that support improving RE process maturity can contributes to improved business performance. There exist generic Software Process Improvement (SPI) standards, specialised RE process improvement models as well as guidance and advices on RE. However, they suffer from various issues that limit their adoption by organizations that are interested to assess and improve their RE process capability. Therefore, the research presented in this paper proposes a new RE process improvement model. The model is built by adapting and expanding the structure of the continuous representation of the formal maturity framework Capability Maturity Model Integration for Development (CMMI-DEV) developed by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) through three rounds of development and validation stages, which involved RE and CMMI expert panel in the software industry. This paper aims to provide an overview on what, why and how we build the maturity model for RE. The intention is to provide a foundation for future development in the area of RE process improvement.

A Review of the Impact of Requirements on Software Project Development Using a Control Theoretic Model

Software projects have a low success rate in terms of reliability, meeting due dates and working within assigned budgets with only 16% of projects being considered fully successful while Capers Jones has estimated that such projects only have a success rate of 65%. Many of these failures can be attributed to changes in requirements as the project progresses. This paper reviews several System Dynamics models from the literature and analyses the model of Andersson and Karlsson, showing that this model is uncontrollable and unobservable. This leads to a number of is-sues that need to be addressed in requirements acquisition.

A Knowledge Management Framework in Software Requirements Engineering Based on the SECI Model

Software requirements engineering deals with: elicitation, specification, and validation of software requirements. Furthermore there is a need to facilitate collaboration amongst stakeholders and analysts. Fewer efforts were deployed to support them in performing their job on a day to day basis. To solve this problem we use knowledge management for software requirements engineering. This paper proposes a knowledge management framework, based on the SECI model of knowledge creation, aimed at exploiting tacit and explicit knowledge related to software requirements within a given software project. The core part of the proposed framework is a set of four sub systems “Socializer”;“Externalizer”;“Combiner”;and “Internalizer”, attached to a couple of domain ontologies and a set of knowledge assets. Indeed we aim to facilitate a semantic based interpretation of knowledge assets related to software requirements by restricting their interpretation through the application domain and software requirements ontologies. We anticipate that this framework would be very helpful for stakeholders as well as analysts to exchange and manage their knowledge within a given software project. We show in the case study, through a virtual payroll project using the two-step approach: domain level requirements plus design level requirements, how the key elicitation SRE techniques are used during the first phase of domain requirements elicitation through the four subsystems of our framework.

A Requirements Analysis Model Based on QFD

The enterprise resource planning (ERP) system has emerged to offer an integrated IT solution and more and more enterprises are increasing by adopting this system and regarding it as an important innovation. However, there is already evidence of high failure risks in ERP project implementation, one major reason is poor analysis of the requirements for system implementation. In this paper, the importance of requirements analysis for ERP project implementation is highlighted, and a requirements analysis model by applying quality function deployment (QFD) is presented, which will support to conduct requirements analysis for ERP project.

Specifying Requirements of Real-Time System with Rules and Templates

This paper presents a model specifying requirements of real-time systems. Different from existing researches, this model mainly uses rules and templates to represent hierarchical FSMs (Finite State Machine). In this model, one rule corresponds to one state transition of FSM and one template corresponds to one FSM. Rules and information with respect to a FSM can be written in a template. So templates include not only state diagrams, but also information that can not be described by FSM, such as performance requirements. The specification using this model consists of a collection of templates and it is easy for users to understand and to review. After introduced the related researches and principles of the model, this paper specifies requirements of a real-time system with this model, and discusses characters of this model in the end.

A Method for Service-Oriented Personalized Requirements Analysis

The development of Web service has changed the process of software production, and requirements engineering becomes the key issue of service-oriented software engineering. Meantime, it reduces the degree of difficulty of software production, which facilitates end-users to customize software according to their personalized requirements. The paper proposes a method for service-oriented personalized requirements analysis, which is based on domain goal model and process model. The method can inform users of potential errors in requirements by detecting the correctness of requirements, which is driven by users’ personalized operations on goal models, and customize personalized processes to satisfy users’ requirements by reusing domain processes. The personalized processes are the basis for Web service discovery and composition.

Does the EVA valuation model explain the market value of equity better under changing required return than constant required return?

Through the Economic-Value-Added(EVA)valuation model,the expected market value of equity can be determined by adding the book value of equity with the present value of expected EVAs under the assumption of constant required return and constant return on equity.The equation of EVA valuation model has taken its shape under the assumption of constant required return and constant return on equity.However,a large body of empirical evidence indicates that required rate of return never remain constant.The EVA-valuation model formulated under constant required return cannot be implemented under the scenario of changing required return.In this study,we explored whether the EVA valuation model could be implemented under changing required return by making any changes in the model and found that it could be implemented under the scenario of changing required return by replacing the book value of the equity of the existing model with the present value of required earnings or normal market earnings.We further examined whether the explanatory ability of the EVA valuation model under the assumption of changing required return is better than that of the valuation model under the assumption of constant required return.Relative information content analyses were conducted by considering sample of the intrinsic value of equities determined by valuation models and the market value of equities of 69 large-cap,88 mid-cap,and 79 small-cap companies.The results showed that the EVA-based valuation model with changing normal market return outperformed the EVA-based valuation model with constant required return.

基于SysML和Modelica的载人月球探测航天器总体设计与仿真验证

针对载人月球探测任务飞行模式复杂、航天器状态多、技术指标要求高的问题,基于SysML和Modelica建模语言对载人月球探测航天器进行总体设计和仿真验证研究,结合航天器型号流程提出一套基于模型的载人月球探测航天器总体方案设计流程。首先基于SysML语言从工程总体需求出发,逐项分解出系统级需求;其次根据工程总体提供的载人月球探测飞行模式开展系统行为分析,同步设计应急救生方案;再次通过系统行为分解航天器功能模块及分系统,赋予物质、能量和信息描述;最后基于SysML模型搭建Modelica仿真体系,对航天器系统的总体参数进行仿真验证,同时经仿真确认后将功能、性能参数进行条目化分解,形成系统总体对分系统的需求。以载人月球探测航天器系统为例验证了设计流程有效性,为其它航天器MBSE应用提供参考。

Developing Dependability Requirements Engineering for Secure and Safe Information Systems with Knowledge Acquisition for Automated Specification

Our dependability on software in every aspect of our lives has exceeded the level that was expected in the past. We have now reached a point where we are currently stuck with technology, and it made life much easier than before. The rapid increase of technology adoption in the different aspects of life has made technology affordable and has led to an even stronger adoption in the society. As technology advances, almost every kind of technology is now connected to the network like infrastructure, automobiles, airplanes, chemical factories, power stations, and many other systems that are business and mission critical. Because of our high dependency on technology in most, if not all, aspects of life, a system failure is considered to be very critical and might result in harming the surrounding environment or put human life at risk. We apply our conceptual framework to integration between security and safety by creating a SaS (Safety and Security) domain model. Furthermore, it demonstrates that it is possible to use goal-oriented KAOS (Knowledge Acquisition in automated Specification) language in threat and hazard analysis to cover both safety and security domains making their outputs, or artifacts, well-structured and comprehensive, which results in dependability due to the comprehensiveness of the analysis. The conceptual framework can thereby act as an interface for active interactions in risk and hazard management in terms of universal coverage, finding solutions for differences and contradictions which can be overcome by integrating the safety and security domains and using a unified system analysis technique (KAOS) that will result in analysis centrality. For validation we chose the Systems-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes (STAMP) approach and its modelling language, namely System-Theoretic Process Analysis for safety (STPA), on the safety side and System-Theoretic Process Analysis for Security (STPA-sec) on the security side in order to be the base of the experiment in comparison to what was done in SaS. The concepts of SaS domain model were applied on STAMP approach using the same example @RemoteSurgery.

Intelligent Agent Based Mapping of Software Requirement Specification to Design Model

Automatically mapping a requirement specification to design model in Software Engineering is an open complex problem. Existing methods use a complex manual process that use the knowledge from the requirement specification/modeling and the design, and try to find a good match between them. The key task done by designers is to convert a natural language based requirement specification (or corresponding UML based representation) into a predominantly computer language based design model—thus the process is very complex as there is a very large gap between our natural language and computer language. Moreover, this is not just a simple language conversion, but rather a complex knowledge conversion that can lead to meaningful design implementation. In this paper, we describe an automated method to map Requirement Model to Design Model and thus automate/partially automate the Structured Design (SD) process. We believe, this is the first logical step in mapping a more complex requirement specification to design model. We call it IRTDM (Intelligent Agent based requirement model to design model mapping). The main theme of IRTDM is to use some AI (Artificial Intelligence) based algorithms, semantic representation using Ontology or Predicate Logic, design structures using some well known design framework and Machine Learning algorithms for learning over time. Semantics help convert natural language based requirement specification (and associated UML representation) into high level design model followed by mapping to design structures. AI method can also be used to convert high level design structures into lower level design which then can be refined further by some manual and/or semi automated process. We emphasize that automation is one of the key ways to minimize the software cost, and is very important for all, especially, for the “Design for the Bottom 90% People” or BOP (Base of the Pyramid People).

An Approach to Generation of Process-Oriented Requirements Specification

In service-oriented computing, process model may serve as a link to connect users’ requirements with Web Services. In this paper, we propose an approach and related key techniques to generate process-oriented requirements specification from user’s goal. For this purpose, a requirements description language named SORL will be provided to capture users’ requirements. Then, a unified requirements meta-modeling frame RPGS will be used to construct reusable domain assets, which is the basis of generating requirements specifications. Finally, a set of rules are defined to extract process control structures from users’ requirements described with SORL, so that we can convert requirements description into process-oriented requirements specification smoothly.

Quality Requirements for Multimedia Interactive Informative Systems

Multimedia Interactive Informative Systems (MIIS) are software applications resulting from the convergence of multiples technologies such as audiovisual, computing and communication. They aim to transmit information to a large, diverse and dispersed public. As with other mass media, the fulfillment of MIIS goals depends largely on the quality of communication between the system and end users. Therefore, those systems should be developed in order to ensure that this quality requirement is satisfied. If MIIS are constructed according to usual software engineering practices, the analysis discipline of the development process includes requirements identification and specification;however, these techniques are focused on functional requirements, and they do not give much importance to non-functional requirements. In this paper, we propose a development process based on the production of videogames which has two different phases: preproduction and production. The first phase, corresponding to requirements identification, derives into the concept of system. In order to translate this concept into a specification, we propose the use of new communicational attributes and a MIIS metamodel. The establishment of MIIS non-functional specification is the result of analyzing class diagrams through quality attributes. In order to evaluate if the specifications are responding to communicational attributes, a functional prototype is built and evaluated with end users. The proposed methodology is applied to a real case study.

Verification of Quality Requirement Method Based on the SQuaRE System Quality Model

For a purpose of suitable system product development and acquisition successfully, it is extremely important to specify the quality requirement for target system during system design phase, and developing or selecting a most suitable product finally from among the alternative candidate products. However, the quality requirements analysis is a very difficult matter because it is non-formulaic and demands much of product customer’s technical perceptiveness. Traditionally, analysis of quality requirements of a product has been conducted through questionnaires or interviews with customers based on survey investigator’s personal experience. This kind of lack of structure and incompleteness in the traditional approach introduced missing requirements and errors in prioritizing requirements to implement in the requirement analysis of a product. On the other hand, we have been working on developing the techniques (SQuaRE) for quality requirements and evaluation for system and software product for a long time in ISO/IECJTC1/SC7WG 6. For the purpose of specify the quality requirement of system product, the method of quantitative quality requirement definitions based on ISO/IEC9126 [1] quality model that includes six characteristics is widely recognized. However, independency among each quality characteristic is not sure and the suitability of method by using these six quality characteristics for quality requirement is not certified statistically. In this paper, we propose the concept of quality requirements definition method based on the SQuaRE quality models define in ISO/IEC25030 [2,3]. Also, this paper proposes the result of verification about effectiveness of quantitative quality requirement definition approach from the view point of six quality characteristics described in ISO/IEC9126.