KerML 1.1b1 RTF Avatar
  1. OMG Issue

KERML11 — Succession cross multiplicities too loose

  • Key: KERML11-23
  • Status: open  
  • Source: NIST ( Mr. Conrad Bock)
  • Summary:

    Clause 7.4.6.1 (Connectors Overview) says

    Successions are binary connectors requiring their source and target features to identify Occurrences that are ordered in time.

    and 8.4.4.6.3 (Successions) elaborates:

    HappensBefore (see 9.2.4.2.1 ) has two associationEnds, asserting that the Occurrence identified by its first associationEnd (earlierOccurrence) temporally precedes the one identified by its second (laterOccurrence), which then also applies to Succession connectorEnds that redefine the associationEnds of HappensBefore.

    but neither mention that occurrences identified by succession source/target features are not required to be temporally ordered unless succession end cross multiplicities properly restrict those inherited from HappensBefore's cross features, Occurrence::predecessors and predecessors, which are [0..*]. The clause continues with an example:

    succession first f1 then f2;
    

    is, with implied Relationships included, semantically equivalent to

    connector subsets Occurrences::happensBeforeLinks {
      end feature earlierOccurrence references f1
        redefines Occurrences::HappensBefore::earlierOccurrence;
      end feature laterOccurrence references f2
        redefines Occurrences::HappensBefore::laterOccurrence; }
    

    The example does not restrict inherited succession end cross multiplicities, meaning occurrences identified by the connected features f1 and f2 are not required to happen in any particular order.

  • Reported: KerML 1.0a1 — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 15:07 GMT
  • Updated: Thu, 9 Oct 2025 13:19 GMT