Modeling and analysis of the behavior of information systems

Many widely used specification techniques for information systems are based on a hierarchy of information flow diagrams. A method is introduced which preserves the benefits of these techniques and adds the precision of the Petri net formalism. Information-flow diagram hierarchies are formalized by notions of net theory. The bottom-level nets of a hierarchy are treated as Petri nets. The behavior model of the information system is the Petri net derived by repeatedly replacing each part of a net by its associated refinement. As a prerequisite for such replacements, the data abstractions relation information flows of different level are specified by a semantic hierarchy data model. The nets in the hierarchy are appended by dynamic counterparts of the abstractions so that a consistent replacement becomes possible. The interface behavior of the nets in the hierarchy is analyzed, using the concept of behavior constraints as a formal measure of correct interface behavior. The behavior model can be derived in an iterative bottom-up way by first analyzing a net for fulfillment of its associated behavior constraint and afterward integrating it into the next-higher-level net