L. O'Sullivan

Carleton University

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Lionel Briand

University of Luxembourg

Gilbert Fayl

Business Roundtable

Ioannis Karatzas

Columbia College - South Carolina

Yves Dumont

UMR Botanique et Modélisation de l’Architecture des Plantes et des végétations

Yvan Labiche

Carleton University

L. Durieux

Cooperative Institutions

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

University of Luxembourg

University of Limerick

University of Ottawa

École de Technologie Supérieure

University of Sheffield

Ottawa University

University of Technology - Iraq

Dalian University of Technology

William & Mary

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Impact analysis and change management of UML models

Lionel Briand Yvan Labiche L. O'Sullivan

The use of Unified Modeling Language (UML) analysis/design models on large projects leads to a large number of interdependent UML diagrams. As software systems evolve, those diagrams undergo changes to, for instance, correct errors or address changes in the requirements. Those changes can in turn lead to subsequent changes to other elements in the UML diagrams. Impact analysis is then defined as the process of identifying the potential consequences (side-effects) of a change, and estimating what needs to be modified to accomplish a change. In this article, we propose a UML model-based approach to impact analysis that can be applied before any implementation of the changes, thus allowing an early decision-making and change planning process. We first verify that the UML diagrams are consistent (consistency check). Then changes between two different versions of a UML model are identified according to a change taxonomy, and model elements that are directly or indirectly impacted by those changes (i.e., may undergo changes) are determined using formally defined impact analysis rules (written with Object Constraint Language). A measure of distance between a changed element and potentially impacted elements is also proposed to prioritize the results of impact analysis according to their likelihood of occurrence. We also present a prototype tool that provides automated support for our impact analysis strategy, that we then apply on a case study to validate both the implementation and methodology.

Object Constraint Language

10.1109/icsm.2003.1235428

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Citations (182)

Evaluation of research and technological development programmes: a tool for policy design

Research Evaluation (1998)

Gilbert Fayl Yves Dumont L. Durieux Ioannis Karatzas L. O'Sullivan

In 1994, the European Commission introduced a new scheme for the evaluation of its multi-annual research and technological development (RTD) programmes. The scheme combines two activities both involving independent experts: for each RTD programme, a continuous monitoring and a five-year assessment. The monitoring provides a major input to the assessment, which itself combines an ex post evaluation of the previous programme, a midterm appraisal of the ongoing one, and recommendations for future orientation. The recent five-year assessment (which resulted in more than 25 reports and involved some 200 European experts) provided input to the preparation of the Fifth RTD Framework Programme of the European Community (1998–2002). The new scheme has shown its ability to provide early feedback from evaluation into policy formulation.

European commission

Monitoring and evaluation

European community

10.1093/rev/7.2.93

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Citations (9)