Abstract
Inheritance is one of the key issues of object-orientation. The inheritance mechanism allows for the definition of a subclass which inherits the features of a specific superclass. This means that methods and attributes defined for the superclass are also available for objects of the subclass. Existing methods for object-oriented modeling and design abstract from the dynamic behavior of objects when defining inheritance. Nevertheless, it would be useful to have a mechanism which allows for the inheritance of dynamic behavior. This paper describes a Petri-net-based approach to the formal specification and verification of this type of inheritance. We use Petri nets to specify the dynamics of an object class. The Petri-net formalism allows for a graphical representation of the life cycle of objects which belong to a specific object class. Four possible inheritance relations are defined. These inheritance relations can be verified automatically. Moreover, four powerful transformation rules which preserve specific inheritance relations are given. To illustrate the relevance of these results, the application to workflow management is demonstrated.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
W.M.P. van der Aalst. A Class of Petri Nets for Modeling and Analyzing Business Processes. Computing Science Report 95/26, Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Mathematics and Computing Science, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 1995.
W.M.P. van der Aalst. Petri-Net-based Workflow Management Software. In A. Sheth, editor, Proceedings of the NFS Workshop on Workflow and Process Automation in Information Systems, pages 114–118, Athens, Georgia, USA, May 1996.
J.C.M. Baeten and W.P. Weijland. Process Algebra, volume 18 of Cambridge Tracts in Theoretical Computer Science. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1990.
T. Basten. Branching Bisimilarity is an Equivalence indeed! Information Processing Letters, 58(3):141–147, May 1996.
T. Basten and W.M.P. van der Aalst. A Process-Algebraic Approach to Life-Cycle Inheritance: Inheritance=Encapsulation+Abstraction. Computing Science Report 96/05, Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Mathematics and Computing Science, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, March 1996.
G. Booch. Object-Oriented Analysis and Design: With Applications. Benjamin/Cummings, Redwood City, CA, USA, 1994.
J. Desel and J. Esparza. Free Choice Petri Nets, volume 40 of Cambridge Tracts in Theoretical Computer Science. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1995.
C.A. Ellis and G.J. Nutt. Modelling and Enactment of Workflow Systems. In M. Ajmone Marsan, editor, Application and Theory of Petri Nets 1993, 14th. International Conference, Proceedings, Volume 691 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 1–16, Chicago, USA, June 1993. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 1993.
R.J. van Glabbeek. What is Branching Time Semantics and Why to Use It? In Bulletin of the EATCS, number 53, pages 191–198. European Association for Theoretical Computer Science, June 1994.
R.J. van Glabbeek and W.P. Weijland. Branching Time and Abstraction in Bisimulation Semantics. Journal of the ACM, 43(3):555–600, 1996.
K.M. van Hee. Information Systems Engineering: A Formal Approach. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1994.
K. Jensen. Coloured Petri Nets. Basic Concepts, Analysis Methods and Practical Use, volume 1, Basic Concepts. EATCS monographs on Theoretical Computer Science. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 1992.
T.M. Koulopoulos. The Workflow Imperative. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, USA, 1995.
C.A. Lakos. Pragmatic Inheritance Issues for Object Petri Nets. In TOOLS Pacific 1995, Proceedings, pages 309–321, Melbourne, Australia, 1995. Prentice-Hall.
W. Reisig. Petri Nets: An Introduction, volume 4 of EATCS monographs on Theoretical Computer Science. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 1985.
J. Rumbaugh, M. Blaha, W. Premerlani, F. Eddy, and W. Lorensen. Object-Oriented Modeling and Design. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA, 1991.
P. Wegner and S.B. Zdonik. Inheritance as an Incremental Modification Mechanism or What like is and isn't like. In S. Gjessing and K. Nygaard, editors, ECOOP '88, European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming, Proceedings, Volume 322 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 55–77, Oslo, Norway, August 1988. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 1988.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1997 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
van der Aalst, W.M.P., Basten, T. (1997). Life-cycle inheritance. In: Azéma, P., Balbo, G. (eds) Application and Theory of Petri Nets 1997. ICATPN 1997. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1248. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-63139-9_30
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-63139-9_30
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-63139-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-69187-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive