From Petri Nets to UML Model: A New Transformation Approach

UML is a semi-formal notation largely adopted in the industry as the standard language for software design and analysis. Its imprecise semantics prevents any verification task. However, a formal semantics can be given to UML diagrams, for instance, through their transformation to models with a formal semantics, such as Colored Petri Nets (CPN). Colored Petri nets are an efficient language for UML state machine formalization and analysis. In order to assist the UML modeler in understanding the report generated by the Petri net tool, we propose a method to construct UML diagrams from the returned report. A case study is given to illustrate the proposed approach.