A Web Service for Calculation of Metrics in UML Class Diagrams

We have developed a Web service (named AnalysisWSService) with two methods that accept the input of UML class diagrams in XMI format and generate design metrics. Figure 2 shows the Web service installed in a Web server (right side). As an example of use, we have programmed a Web application that invokes the service methods (left side).

Figure 2: Context of the deployed Web service.

A total of 37 different metrics, shown in Table 1, are implemented in our application. These metrics are carefully explained in the article "A Survey of Metrics for UML Class Diagrams.")

Table 1. Object-oriented metrics implemented in the Web service.

A Web service can be created using any programming language. In our case, the Web service was developed in Java. Figure 3 shows the three Java classes of our Web service.

The class AnalysisWS.java includes the source code of the two Web methods offered by the Web service (see Listing Two):

• ProcessXMI: This Web method receives an XMI file as a byte array (that represent a class diagram encoded in XMI format), and returns a table (serialized as a string) with the calculation of 37 object-oriented metrics.
• GeneratesSVG: This method is responsible for converting an XMI file into a standard SVG picture that represent the graphical form of the class diagram.

Also shown in Figure 3, the Web service uses these classes to calculate the object-oriented metrics:

• ClassXMI: This class contains all the functionality for processing XMI files.
• ClassXMIMetrics: This class includes the functionality related to the evaluation of the object-oriented metrics. It contains an object (ClassXMIObject) necessary to explore the XMI file with the class diagram to be evaluated.

Figure 3: Java classes used in the Web service.

@WebService()
public class AnalysisWS 
{


    @WebMethod(operationName = "ProcessXMI")
    public String ProcessXMI(@WebParam(name = "xmiFile")
    byte[] xmiFile)
    {
        //Attributes needed for processing of xmi file
        String result = "ok";
        Document resultDoc = null;
        ClassXMI classXMI = null;        // This 2 specific classes have been developed
        ClassXMIMetrics metrics = null;  // for XMI file processing and metrics calculation 

        ... rest of the method “ProcessXMI” source code
    }

    @WebMethod(operationName = "GenerateSVG")
    public String GenerateSVG(@WebParam(name = "xmiFile")
    byte[] xmiFile)
    {
        String result = "ok";
        try {
            InputStream inStream = new ByteArrayInputStream(xmiFile);
            InputSource input = new InputSource();
            input.setByteStream(inStream);
            InputStream is = this.getClass().getResourceAsStream("/transformers/XMItoSVG.xsl");
            InputSource iss = new InputSource();
            iss.setByteStream(is);
            result = this.TransformXMItoSVG(input, iss);
        }
        catch(Exception ex) {
            result = ex.getMessage();
        }
        finally {
            return result;
        }
    }

     private String TransformXMItoSVG(InputSource input, InputSource xslt)
            throws TransformerException, TransformerConfigurationException, 
SAXException, IOException
     {... local function used by “GenerateSVG” Web method...}

Listing Two: Java source code of the Web service (AnalysisWS.java).

A programmer who wants to use a Web service need only know the description of its interface in WSDL format, which is shown in Listing Three.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<definitions 
 xmlns:wsu=
 "http://docs.oasis-open.org/wss/2004/01/oasis-200401-wss-wssecurity-utility- 1.0.xsd"  xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/soap/" xmlns:tns=http://webservices/
 xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/" 
 targetNamespace="http://webservices/" name="AnalysisWSService">
 <types>
  <xsd:schema>
   <xsd:import 
    namespace="http://webservices/" 
    schemaLocation="http://localhost:8080/AnalysisService/AnalysisWSService?xsd=1">   
   </xsd:import>
  </xsd:schema>
 </types>
 <message name="ProcessXMI">
  <part name="parameters" element="tns:ProcessXMI"></part>
 </message>
 <message name="ProcessXMIResponse">
  <part name="parameters" element="tns:ProcessXMIResponse"></part>
 </message>
 <message name="GenerateSVG">
  <part name="parameters" element="tns:GenerateSVG"></part>
 </message>
 <message name="GenerateSVGResponse">
  <part name="parameters" element="tns:GenerateSVGResponse"></part>
 </message>
 <portType name="AnalysisWS">
  <operation name="ProcessXMI">
   <input message="tns:ProcessXMI"></input>
   <output message="tns:ProcessXMIResponse"></output>
  </operation>
  <operation name="GenerateSVG">
   <input message="tns:GenerateSVG"></input>
   <output message="tns:GenerateSVGResponse"></output>
  </operation>
 </portType>
 <binding name="AnalysisWSPortBinding" type="tns:AnalysisWS">
  <soap:binding transport="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/http" style="document"></soap:binding>
  <operation name="ProcessXMI">
   <soap:operation soapAction=""></soap:operation>
   <input>
    <soap:body use="literal"></soap:body>
   </input>
   <output>
    <soap:body use="literal"></soap:body>
   </output>
  </operation>
  <operation name="GenerateSVG">
   <soap:operation soapAction=""></soap:operation>
   <input>
    <soap:body use="literal"></soap:body>
   </input>
   <output>
    <soap:body use="literal"></soap:body>
   </output>
  </operation>
 </binding>
 <service name="AnalysisWSService">
  <port name="AnalysisWSPort" binding="tns:AnalysisWSPortBinding">
   <soap:address location="http://localhost:8080/AnalysisService/AnalysisWSService"></soap:address>
  </port>
 </service>
</definitions>

Listing Three: WSDL Standard description of the Web service interface (AnalysisWSService.wsdl).