Constraints in object-oriented analysis and design
Stefan Van Baelen, Johan Lewi, Eric Steegmans · Lirias · 1994
Many object-oriented analysis methods provide support for the specification of constraints to reflect rules of the problem domain in the analysis model. Constraints describe properties that must be true at each moment in time for the entire system, without determining how they are to be preserved. The specification of constraints is mostly done by using informal text, operational restrictions or integrating constraints in existing model concepts. Two new specification formalisms to specify constraints are presented in this text. The first formalism treats constraints as a distinct concept of the model, specifying constraints in a formal way by using first-order logic assertions. The second formalism incorporates existential dependency constraints in the model structure in order to highlight the logical problem domain structure in the analysis model structure.