Overview
ISO/IEC 15476-6:2006 - Information technology - CDIF semantic metamodel - Part 6: State/event models defines the State/Event subject area of the CDIF semantic metamodel. The standard specifies the meta-objects, meta-relationships and meta-attributes used to represent entities in state transition diagrams and state transition tables, ensuring that information exchanged between modelling tools via CDIF (Case Data Interchange Format) has an agreed, machine-processable meaning. It is part of the CDIF family that enables tool interoperability and metadata repository exchange.
Key topics and requirements
- State/Event subject area: Formalizes the meta-entities for states, transitions, conditions and actions used in state/event modeling.
- Meta-objects and meta-attributes: Defines the attributes required to describe states and transitions so exchanged artifacts retain semantics.
- Meta-relationships: Specifies relationships among states, transitions and other meta-entities to preserve structural meaning in transfers.
- Conformance model: Clear conformance testing rules for tools:
- Input conformance - how imported CDIF data must map into a product without loss of meaning.
- Output conformance - how a product must export its model elements back into CDIF.
- Round‑trip conformance - preservation of meaning and structure through import → edit → export cycles; includes morphing conformance cases.
- Specification scope: Provides formal meta-entity and meta-relationship definitions for implementers and evaluators rather than example encodings.
Practical applications
- Tool interoperability: Enables CASE and modeling tools to exchange state/event models reliably using the CDIF semantic metamodel.
- Importers and exporters: Reference for developers implementing CDIF import/export for state transition diagrams and tables.
- Metadata repositories and data exchange: Acts as a standard vocabulary for repositories that store state/event specifications for reuse or migration.
- Evaluation and selection: Helps organizations assess whether tools meet expected semantics-preservation criteria when migrating or integrating models.
Who should use this standard
- Tool vendors and integrators developing CDIF-compliant importers/exporters.
- Architects and engineers evaluating CDIF for model interchange.
- Repository maintainers and CASE tool users needing standard definitions for state/event transfer.
- Anyone implementing round‑trip model preservation for state transition data.
Related standards
- ISO/IEC 15474 (CDIF framework - Parts 1 & 2) - recommended reading for CDIF architecture and modelling approach.
- Other parts of ISO/IEC 15476 (Parts 1–5) for foundation, common, data definitions, data models and data flow models.
- Normative references cited: ISO/IEC 11411 (state transition representation) and ISO/IEC 13238-1 (data export/import framework).
Keywords: ISO/IEC 15476-6, CDIF semantic metamodel, State/event models, state transition diagrams, state transition tables, model interchange, importers and exporters, conformance, meta-entities.