We're all used to red wavy underlines for spelling mistakes in Word, and similar approaches for showing syntax errors in-line in IDEs, but how best to show errors and warnings in models? Obviously, a modeling tool will greatly restrict the number of clear syntax errors you can make. Unlike in a text editor, where you can always type IMPROT instead of IMPORT, in a modeling tool there simply isn't an IMPROT button in the type palette for you to make that kind of error. Good modeling tools will also prevent other clear errors, e.g. preventing drawing a transition to a Start state, or adding more than one transition leaving a Start state. However, there will always be warnings and errors that you don't want to enforce strictly all the time, e.g. a rule that every State must be in at least one transition: strictly enforced, that would prevent you ever drawing your first State!

The Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering are running a survey to get feedback on several different ways of showing errors in models: separate error list pane, wavy underlines, error icons or coloring etc. Each way is illustrated with an example screenshot mock-up of the same model in a modeling tool (they use UML so the rules of the language will be familiar to everyone). You vote on how distracting, aesthetic, informative etc. each way is. As they say:

Hence, we would like to invite you and members of your organization to participate in the survey at http://www.online-poll.de/uc/vide-ma/. Answering the survey should take about 20-30 minutes. The survey will close on 1 October 2007.

We will draw five winners from all participants who finalized the survey; they will get an Amazon gift certificate (either amazon.com or from a local site) for $50.

Please pass information about this survey on to your colleagues and managers as well as other contacts who might be interested in this topic.

Many thanks in advance,
Joerg Rech and Axel Spriestersbach
--
Joerg Rech
Project Manager and Scientist
Speaker of the GI-Workgroup on Architecture and Design Patterns
Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering (IESE)
Tel.: +49 (0) 631/6800-2210 email: joerg.rech (at) iese.fraunhofer.de