Modelling and Validation with VipTool

This paper describes concepts and features of a new version of the VipTool. As for the original VipTool, the main issue of this software package is to generate, analyze and visualize process nets, representing the partial order behavior of business process models given by Petri nets. Whereas the original VipTool was implemented in the scripting language Python, the new VipTool is a completely new and modular implementation in Java that allows to add arbitrary extensions in a more flexible way. In this new version, several drawbacks that had appeared previously where eliminated. Moreover, the new VipTool contains additional features such as a more comfortable editor as well as eps- and XML-interfaces. The main improvement is a better support of step-wise validation of models and specifications and, alternatingly, partial verification (testing) of specification implementations. This paper also presents a small case study explaining how the VipTool supports these design steps.