Analysis of WIMP and Post WIMP Interactive Systems based on Formal Specification

Abstract

While designing interactive software, the use of a formal specification technique is of great help by providing non-ambiguous, complete and concise descriptions. The advantages of using such a formalism is widened if it is provided by formal analysis techniques that allow to prove properties about the design, thus giving an early verification to the designer before the application is actually implemented. This paper presents how models built using the Interactive Cooperative Objects formalism (ICOs) are amenable to formal verification. The emphasis is on the behavioral part of the description of the interactive systems and more precisely on the properties at the interaction technique level. However, the process and the associated tools can be generalized to the other parts of the interactive systems (including the non-interactive parts).