FOOM: A Diagrammatic Illustration of Object-Z Speci cations

FOOM (Formal Object-OrientedMethodology) is an information systems acquisition/development method which assists in understanding and modelling organisational and inter-organisational systems. The method promotes highly appropriate and precise requirements speci cations for both interand intra-organisational information systems. In this paper, we describe, in outline, FOOM (which has been under development since 1989 and which was initially described in (Swatman & Swatman, 1992a)), then examine a semantic mapping from the formal notation (Object-Z (Duke et al., 1991)) which underlies FOOM to a semi-formal object-oriented notation which is an extension of that associated with the systematic OO systems development methodology MOSES (Henderson-Sellers & Edwards, 1994). The mapping contributes to resolving di culties both in creating and in validating precise requirement speci cations within the Information Systems domain. It also forms a basis for a prototype CASE (Computer-Aided Software Engineering) workbench to support FOOM which is currently under development.