Towards UML-G: A UML profile for modelling groupware
Abstract
Groupware is explicitly designed to support the cooperation among group members. The implementation of cooperation-aware groupware is supported by several object-oriented toolkits and frameworks, but there is no unified way to model applications built on top of these. We propose UML- G as an extensible UML profile for modelling groupware and want the community to contribute to it. We identify groupware specific modelling needs related to shared data modelling. Since these needs are not addressed by standard UML, we define UML-G's shared data modelling part. Usage scenarios demonstrate how UML-G can be used to assist groupware modelling. UML-G supports explicit modelling of groupware related needs. Moreover, a shared understanding between developers is backed, which abstracts from the implementation. In addition, CASE tool support for UML-G strengthens its practical relevance.
