Formal Semantics of OMG's Interaction Flow Modeling Language (IFML) for Mobile and Rich-Client Application Model Driven Development

Model Driven Engineering relies on the availability of software models and of development tools supporting the transition from models to code. The generation of code from models requires the unambiguous interpretation of the semantics of the modeling languages used to specify the application. This paper presents the formalization of the semantics of the Interaction Flow Modeling Language (IFML), a recent OMG MDA standard conceived for the specification of the front-end part of interactive applications. IFML constructs are mapped to equivalent structures of Place Chart Nets (PCN), which allows their precise interpretation. The defined semantic mapping is implemented in an online Model-driven development environment that enables the creation and inspection of PCNs from IFML, the analysis of the behavior of IFML specifications via PCN simulation, and the generation of code for mobile and web-based architectures.