Workshop on Integrated Application of Formal Languages

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Where: Geneva
When: 13 September 2003

Workshop Programme & Presentations

Convening letter (TSB Circular 172)

Background

ITU-T Study Group 17 has established a Language Co-ordination Project with the following objectives:

To improve the engineering process of products by providing a framework and a set of languages that are smoothly integrated;
To allow easy integration with relevant languages developed and maintained outside ITU;
To improve Recommendations in the sense that they can be more easily implemented as products and that products can be more rigorously tested for conformance.

There is a need to present the ITU-T languages in a coordinated framework to enable users to understand where they can be used and for standardization bodies to coordinate and set priorities, and so that everyone can ascertain what is covered or not covered by the ITU-T languages. Therefore, there is a need to present all the languages/notations in a common framework as a coordinated language family; to adopt a common approach to presentation of the languages; to coordinate methods for use of the languages; and to adopt a common approach to promotion.

ITU-T Study Group 17 held a workshop on Framework and scope of formal languages 2 March 2002. The results are summarised in TD 0053 of the 27 February – 8 March Study Group 17 meeting. Neither the title nor the contents of the framework are approved results by Study Group 17, but they were used and discussed in the September workshop.
Previous workshops on Languages were:

Workshop on Philosophy and Applicability of Formal Languages. 15 September 2001.
Workshop on Framework and scope of formal languages. 2 March 2002.
Workshop on Use of Description Techniques. 23 November 2002.
Workshop on Language Advisory Board. 24 November 2002.

Purpose

The Workshop on Integrated Application of Formal Languages placed the ITU languages and related languages within the draft framework.
Although it is expected that the framework will be based on integration through UML, there is currently a lack of definitions and requirements on the framework, which may lead different authors to position the languages in ways that are not harmonised. The presentations addressed limitations of the framework and needs for improvement when each of the languages is used with the others and also featured (such as support for human interface design) that are poorly supported. The current use of each language with the others was presented, to highlight the limitations, overlaps and need for improvements: what needs harmonising, changing and adding. Hopefully, this will provide a future perspective on the development of the languages.