These rules should
naturally be recognized by the language too. The types of rules you can specify
depend on the DSM tool and metamodeling language applied. We discuss the rules
here independently of any tool, but the types of rules that occur most often in modeling
languages deal with the following:
. Naming conventions, e.g., a value must start with a capital letter or must not
include certain characters
. Uniqueness, e.g., there can??™t be another element with the same property value
. Mandatory properties forcing an element to have a value
. Default values
. Occurrence: a concept can only have a certain number of instances in a model
. Binding rules stating which kinds of elements can be connected together
. Connectivity rules stating how many times an object may have a certain kind of
connection
. Reuse rules stating that a modeler can choose a certain value or refer to another
model element
. N-ary relationship rules stating how many objects a single relationship can
connect
. Integrating models, such as sharing the same value with another element,
possibly in another model, and possibly made with another language
. Model structuring rules, such as hierarchies or references to libraries
You may identify these rules from the same sources you identi?¬?ed the domain
concepts. However, detailed language rules often can??™t be detected from existing
material, and the fastest way is to check them directly with the domain experts.
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