Specification of a gas station using a formalism integrating formal datatypes within state diagrams

In this paper, we propose a generic approach for integrating data types expressed using formal specification languages within state diagrams. Our main motivations are (i) to be able to model dynamic aspects of complex systems with graphical user-friendly languages, and (ii) to be able to specify in a formal way and at a high abstraction level the data types pertaining to the static aspects of such systems. The dynamic aspects may be expressed using state diagrams (such as UML or SDL) and the static aspects may be expressed using either algebraic specifications or state oriented specifications (such as Z or B). Our approach introduces a flexible use of data types. It also may take into account different semantics for the state diagrams. We herein focus on a case study to demonstrate the pragmatism of our approach.