How to Fix Inconsistencies in Design Models

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The proposed work aims at investigating how to fix inconsistencies in UML design models and how to handle undesired side effects of such fixes. This is a complex problem because not every change causes inconsistencies, not every inconsistency is undesirable, and not every undesirable inconsistency is fixable without causing new inconsistencies.To date, the research community focused on helping locate inconsistencies in software design models. However, the engineer eventually has to resolve inconsistencies and this proposed work will develop a principled approach for fixing such inconsistencies. Our goal is not only to identify choices for fixing inconsistencies but also to understand their undesirable side effects. This ripple effect is well-known and researched in other domains (i.e., programming languages, databases). UCL (Profs. Anthony Finkelstein, Wolfgang Emmerich and more recently Dr. Emmanuel Letier) has been at the forefront of this kind of research and the proposed work will further this by supporting a visiting academic, Dr. Alexander Egyed, who has recently contributed a different and very promising approach to handling inconsistencies in UML design models. The proposed work will combine our research contributions and leverage from our combined industrial connections in validating this work. It is an explicit goal of Dr. Egyed's stay at UCL to build a solid, principled foundation for 'living with inconsistencies' that will create longterm academic and industrial interest. Of course, this collaboration will also lead to joint publications.