A computer-aided specification tool for concurrent engineering design

Formal methods, techniques and tools are currently an active research topic in different areas of computer science (knowledge representation, real-time systems, and algorithms). These formal techniques are intended to help users specify consistently their needs and to verify them. Only mathematical techniques are able to prove or to verify the consistency of the specifications for a given system or algorithm. However, there is an enormous difficulty to them put into use. It stems from the fact that they are accessible only by a minority of specialists. To solve this problem, we have to develop tools and methods that help users make the most out of formal approaches, without the apparent complexity of mathematical concepts. This paper presents CAST (Computer-Aided Specification Tool), a software dedicated to help designers specify the design processes in concurrent engineering environments. CAST is a graphic tool which allows users to specify design processes by automata. It provides an SCCS specification. This tool is developed for the SHOOD project, which aims at providing tools and methods for the integration of engineering design systems.