An ASM Semantics of UML Derived from the Meta-model and Incorporating Actions

We present an approach towards a formal dynamic semantics for UML using ASM. We aim to remain as close as possible to the standard definition of UML and to cover the operational part of the language with particular attention to the behavior description based on actions. To remain close to the standard UML, we automatically translate the UML metamodel in ASM. This allows to take into account all the concepts and relationships contained in the standard, and to minimize the changes subsequent to the frequent updates of the standard. For the dynamic part, the particularity of our approach is that we focus on actions, as defined in our proposal to the OMG action semantics working group. We deal with concurrency, signal exchange, operation calls, general communication primitives, etc. We do not define the semantics of state machines, but we clearly define their place within the framework of our semantics. We also describe how the ASM domains and functions used in the semantics are built initially from a particular UML model.