Automatic visualization of abstract system specifications

Complexity of hardware/software systems is continuously increasing. Formal specification is a methodology to ensure better quality of system specifications and to allow automated verification with tools like model checkers. Many formal specification approaches are known - ranging from programming languages to graphical specification tools. Each approach has its specific benefits. Usually, for abstract system and software specifications either table based or graphical notations are used. This paper presents a concept that leverages the advantages of both approaches by combining them in a single front-end. Both the table based and the graphical representation may be used for editing the specification. An automatic synchronization mechanism ensures that both representations are kept consistent. The implementation of the concept uses the table based formal language ADeVA and the Graphviz graph layout programs.