Generating Use Case Models from Arabic User Requirements in a Semiautomated Approach Using a Natural Language Processing Tool

Abstract

Automated software engineering has attracted a large amount of research efforts. The use of object-oriented methods for software systems development has made it necessary to develop approaches that automate the construction of different Unified Modeling Language (UML) models in a semiautomated approach from textual user requirements. UML use case models represent an essential artifact that provides a perspective of the system under analysis or development. The development of such use case models is very crucial in an object-oriented development method. The main principles used in obtaining these models are described. A natural language processing tool is used to parse different statements of the user requirements written in Arabic to obtain lists of nouns, noun phrases, verbs, verb phrases, etc., that aid in finding potential actors and use cases. A set of steps that represent our approach for constructing a use case model are presented. Finally, the proposed approach is validated using an experiment involving a group of graduate students who are familiar with use case modeling.