1. Software Process Modeling with UML and SPEM
Chris Armstrong Armstrong Process Group

2. Module Objectives
Introduce the Software Process Engineering Metamodel (SPEM) specification
Discuss fundamental process building blocks
Work product, process role, activity, guidances
Discipline, process component, work definition
Discuss the process adoption process
Discuss how to apply UML® diagrams for process modeling
Activity diagrams
Class diagrams

3. What Is SPEM?
Specification from the Object Management Group for how to describe software engineering processes
Described as a UML profile
Provide basis for capturing process models in SPEM-compliant tools
Create base process libraries and components in any tool
Customize organization- and project-specific processes
Current version is 1.0; version 2.0 underway

4. Process Model Hierarchy
M3: Meta- Object Facility
OMG “meta” metamodel; modeling language for modeling languages
M2: Process Metamodel
SPEM specification identifying elements required to describe processes
Specific process model for domain or vendor; includes out-of-the-box and customized versions
M1: Process Model
abstraction
Actual process enacted by a project
M0: Enacted
Process
# of elements

5. Relationship of SPEM to UML
SPEM is defined as a UML profile
Defines the subset of UML to use
Identifies special stereotypes to existing UML elements
Use packages for organizing process model
Most SPEM elements are described using UML classes
Process behavior described using
Activity diagrams (workflow diagrams)
Statechart diagrams (work product state models)
Process structure described using class diagrams

6. Core SPEM Elements Process roles responsible for work products
Each work product responsibility of single role
Process roles perform activities
Each activity only performed by single role
Work products used as inputs to activities and outputs from activities
“Somebody does something that changes something” 1
process role
responsible for 1
0..*
performs
input
work product
0..*
0..*
output
0..*
0..*
used by
activity
0..*
produced by

7. Process Structure work definition process performer work product1
work definition
process performer
parent
0..*
performer
0..*
0..*
0..*
0..*
produced by
subwork
used by
0..*
output
0..*
work product
input
0..*
responsible for 1
0..* 1
activity
step
process role
0..*
0..*
assistant

8. Work Product Anything produced, consumed, or modified by a process
Known as artifacts or deliverables in certain processes
Work products can be composed of other work products
Represent using UML aggregation or composition
Represent responsible role using association between role and work product
Work products can be of various “kinds”
Document, model, source code, executable
Work products may have an associated state model
Represented as UML class stereotyped as «work product»
Instances of work products shown as object flow states on activity diagrams

9. Work Product States
Key factor in modeling adaptive processes is to identify and describe the multiple states an individual work product goes through in its lifetime
Most useful when states represent how work product gets more and more complete
Provides objective criteria for determining “done-ness”
Traditional processes have work products with a single state
Work product is either completely done or not done at all
No intermediate stopping points for review and assessment
Draw UML statechart diagram to identify states and allowable transitions
Show work products as object flows with states on activity diagrams

10. Example Work Product States – Use Case
Identified (Level 1)
Identified with name
Described (Level 2)
Described with sentence or two
Basic flow steps identified; alternate flows identified by name
Outlined (Level 3)
Detailed (Level 4)
Basic and alternate flows detailed; special requirements

11. Work Definition Describes work performed in process
Main subclass is activity
Phase, iteration, and lifecycle are also subclasses of work definition
Can be composed of smaller work definitions
Recommend using work definitions to group related activities
Can be related to a use case – leads to useful results
Has input and output work products
Can have pre-conditions and goals (post-conditions)
Responsibility of specific process performer (usually a process role)
Represented as UML class stereotyped as «work definition»

12. Activity Main subclass of work definition
Discrete task, relatively short in duration, assignable to one individual playing role
Represented as operation (on a class) stereotyped as «activity»
Has input and output work products
Represented as parameters on activity operation
Recommend that activities should either create new work products or change state of existing work product
Otherwise, how do you know if the activity occurred?
Activities can be optionally decomposed into smaller, atomic steps

13. Process Role
Defines a role that one or many people may play on project
Software architect, project manager, developer
Known as role, worker, or agent in certain processes
Represented as UML actor stereotyped as «process role»
Often represented as class instead
Responsible for one or many work products
May modify other work products
Responsible for performing specific activities
May assist with other activities
Subclass of process performer
Superclass occasionally used for work definitions not assignable as activities to process roles

14. Guidances
Can be associated with any SPEM model element to provide more detailed information about the element to the practitioner
Most often associated with activities and work products
SPEM comes with a set of built-in guidance types
Checklist
Template
Example
Tool mentor
Guideline

15. Process Components and Packages
Process elements should be organized using packages
Package groupings of process elements suitable for reuse into process components
Packages stereotyped as «process component»
A discipline is a set of activities, work products, and roles related to one “theme”
A process is considered to be a “stand-alone” component
Show dependencies between components
package
process component
discipline
process

16. Process Lifecycle Subclass of work definition Lifecycle Phase
Really should be subclasses of something other than work definition, such as a time element (not in SPEM 1.0)
Lifecycle
Sequence of phases that achieve a specific goal
Governed by a process
Phase
Sequential chunks of time during process enactment
Iteration
Smaller chunk of time with minor milestone

17. Process Adoption Process
Like UML, SPEM only defines a language for how to describe software processes
It does not prescribe any particular process or method for assembling the model
Also does not provide guidance on model organization and tool support
In the Rapid Iterative Process (RIP), there is a separate process adoption discipline that addresses much of this
Also separate process enactment and process audit disciplines

18. SPEM UML diagrams Process component dependency diagram
Discipline workflow diagram
Work definition workflow diagram
Process role activity diagram
Process role work product diagram
Work product relationship diagram
Work product state diagram

19. Process Component Dependency Diagram
«discipline»
Object-Oriented Analysis Discipline
«import»
«import»
«discipline»
«discipline»
Architecture Discipline
Requirements Discipline

20. Discipline Workflow Diagram
Shows general ordering of high-level work definitions for single discipline
One discipline usually should between three and six work definitions
Show “major” input and output work products and states
work definition
decision with guard
output work product (in this case, same instance but in different state)
input work product

21. Work Definition Workflow Diagram
Analyze Use Case Behavior
Shows general ordering of activities that compose a more coarse-grained work definition
Usually more and finer-grained work products shown as inputs and outputs
One work definition workflow diagram per work definition
Coarse-grained input and output work products should be consistent with discipline workflow diagram
activity

22. Process Roles and Activities Diagram
Shows roles in discipline and which activities are responsibility of each role
System Analyst
Leader of all analysis activities for the project
Use Case Analyst
Develops the piece of the analysis model associated with one or many use cases

23. Process Roles and Work Products Diagram
Assisted Work
Products
analysis class
analysis event flow
assists with
assists with
responsible for
«UML transition»
responsible for
system analyst
entity state change
responsible for
analysis model
responsible for
«report»
analysis realization report
responsible for
responsible for
«UML state»
responsible for
entity state
responsible for
analysis
realization
«UML package»
«UML statechart diagram»
Responsible
analysis pattern
analysis package
entity event model
Work Products

24. Work Product Dependency Diagram
Shows work products in discipline and their relationships
Can be supplemented with additional diagrams to establish traceability between work products in different disciplines

25. Work Product State Diagram
Analysis Class
Create a statechart diagram to show the different states of a work product
Not all work products may have more than one state
Textually describe what it means for the work product to be at each state
Usually do not put additional notation on this diagram
Use activity diagrams to show how work product changes its state throughout the process
identified
described
outlined

26. Process Model Organization – Discipline
Process model organized into discipline packages
Each discipline has three sub-packages
Guidances
Roles
Work products
Single class diagram showing component dependencies
Single activity graph for workflow model

27. Process Model Organization – Workflow
Workflow activity graph has a single activity diagram for overall discipline
Create UML activity for each work definition and place on discipline workflow diagram
Describe details of work definition using a nested activity diagram that shows each SPEM activity for the work definition

28. Process Model Organization – Roles
Create a separate class for each role in the Roles package
Create a class diagram for role activities inside the class
Create a class diagram for role work products inside the class
Create operations on role class for SPEM activities
Can optionally define operation parameters (input/output work products)

29. Process Model Organization – Work Products
Create package for work product guidance diagrams
Create one or many class diagrams to show which guidances are related to which work products
Create package for work product dependency diagrams
Create one or many class diagrams to show relationships between work products
Create class for each work product
Optionally define state models

30. Process Model Organization – Guidances
Create sub-packages for each guidance type
Checklists
Examples
Guidelines
Templates
Create class diagram to show each guidance type
Create classes for each guidance

31. Process Adoption Discipline – Workflow
Start with aligning the process engineering environment with business objectives
Identify the key process elements (activities, work products, and workflows)
Refine the process model with input/output work product states, identify roles and assign activities and work products, identify guidances
Develop textual content of process model
Manage and organize process components
<<work definition>>
align process
environment
<<work definition>>
design process
<<work definition>>
refine process design
<<work definition>>
develop process
content
<<work definition>>
manage process
model

32. Design Process – Work Definition Workflow
organization : process
Identify the activities for the discipline to be designed
Group activities and identify work definitions
Model discipline workflow
Identify output work products
Model outlined work definition workflow
assessment
identify
discipline
: process
: discipline
library
[identified]
identify activities
: discipline workflow
discipline : process
diagram
assessment
[outlined]
identify work
definition
: work definition
: activity
[identified]
[identified]
assign activities to
work definitions
: work definition
[described]
: activity
: work
identify output
product
[described]
work products
[identified]
: work definition diagram
[outlined]
: discipline
model workflow
[identified]
: activity
: work definition
[identified]
[outlined]

33. Conclusions
SPEM 1.0 provided opportunity to demonstrate proof-of-concept
SPEM 2.0 will address shortcomings
UML suitable for process modeling
SPEM provides significant depth to define precise process models suitable for most development organizations
SPEM process modeling tools are important
Need to define tool usage guidelines
Must have a proven practical process for adoption

34. Thanks for your attention and participation!
Q&A
Thanks for your attention and participation!