UML23 — Ambiguity in the names of the stereotypes in the standard profiles

Specification: UML Superstructure, v2.2

Section: Annex C, Standard Profiles

It is not clear what the names actually are of the stereotypes in the standard profiles of UML. The stereotypes are listed in Annex C as they would be applied (using guillemet notation). However, Subclause 18.3.8 has the style guideline: “The first letter of an applied stereotype should not be capitalized.” Due to the above style guideline, this leaves it ambiguous as to whether the actual stereotype model element is named “metaclass” or “Metaclass”. This affects XMI serialization of an application of the stereotype, because the XML element for the stereotype should use the actual stereotype model element name.

Indeed, as a classifier, the normal practice would be for its name to be capitalized but it would then still be allowable to display this on the diagram using a lower case letter, as in «metaclass». Unfortunately, there is no normative XMI for the standard profiles, so there is currently no way to resolve this based on the normative standard.

The resolution is to provide normative XMI for the standard profiles, and to fix up the document accordingly. In order to do this properly we need to resolve 13306 by shipping a normative version of the UML metamodel expressed in UML. Having done this we can resolve 14092 by shipping standard profiles that refer to this normative UML metamodel.
We change the convention so that references to stereotypes are shown with upper case letters, and change all the examples accordingly, fixing errors as we go.
We permit lower case references but remark that they are stylistically obsolete.