On the Synchronization of ODP Textual and Graphical Specifications

There are both advantages and disadvantages of using visual and textual notations for expressing large system specifications. Each kind of notation seems to be more apt for expressing and managing some aspects, and there is no clear winner. A solution can be the use of both styles, with synchronization mechanisms that always keep them in synch. In this paper we present an initial proposal for the use of both textual and graphical specifications of ODP systems, and their automated synchronization. The proposal is supported by a tool that has been developed to synchronize the models developed by the Magic Draw plug in for ODP and a textual version of a subset of the ODP viewpoint languages.