Talk:Systems modeling language

Innovation?

The article says:

A notable innovation of SysML is support for requirements modeling.

But tools such as Vitech's CORE have supported system requirements modeling for years, so I fail to see how this is an "innovation" on SysML's part. --Allan McInnes (talk) 16:34, 14 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Not only CORE, but other modeling tools (e.g., Sparx Enterprise Architect) have previously supported visual requirements modeling. However, in the case of CORE, the modeling language is proprietary; in the case of EA, the requirements modeling support is a proprietary extension to UML. I propose that we replace the problematic sentence with something more accurate and less controversial: "A noteworthy improvement of SysML over UML is its support for requirements modeling." If no one objects to this recommendation over the next two weeks, I will make the modification. --Kobryn 17:56, 29 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, I think you'll find that someone has already modified the sentence in question to read

A notable innovation of SysML over the UML is support for requirements modeling.

But if you feel that "improvement" is a better choice of words than "innovation" then by all means make that change. --Allan McInnes (talk) 18:56, 29 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Merge of open source, non-trademarked SysML with OMG SysML(tm) is problematic

"It has been suggested that OMG SysML be merged into this article (SysML) or section."

It is not a good idea to merge open-source, non-trademarked SysML with OMG SysML (tm), since they are related, but significantly different. Otherwise, why would the OMG have made the effort to trademark "OMG SysML" if it didn't recognize the need to brand its own version of this open source specification?

Originally SysML was developed by an open source project, and has been publicly available for download, including an open source license for distribution and use (|SysML Legal Notices) for more than 2 years. Open source SysML was intentionally not trademarked, so that organizations that wished to establish trademarks (e.g., OMG) for specification variations would distinguish them using a distinctive name (e.g., "OMG SysML"). This apparently is what has occurred, so we should clarify the distinction between open-source, non-trademarked SysML and OMG SysML(tm), rather than blur it by merging the two. Consequently, the OMG SysML specific content that is mixed into the current SysML page should be moved into the OMG SysML page to further clarify the differences. --Kobryn 18:58, 29 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think it's necessary to have separate articles in order to make clear the differences between the trademarked and non-trademarked versions. I'd much rather see a single encyclopedic article that dicusses the the common parts of each version of SysML, and includes sections that describe whatever differences actually exist between the different versions (including other branded version that develop). If one of those sections grows large enough, it'd probably be worthwhile to spin it off into a separate article. Until then it seems more sensible to me to keep all of this information in one comprehensive article instead of having it spread across a bunch of stubs.

As an aside, SysML was developed in response to an RFP produced by the OMG Systems Engineering DSIG, and was influenced by earlier DSIG work on adapting the UML to systems engineering. So while it may be an independent "open source" project, it has always been closely aligned with OMG's requirements. --Allan McInnes (talk) 19:24, 29 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I am open to Allan's suggestion for one article, as long as we clarify that the open source, non-trademarked SysML preceded the OMG version by approximately 3 years, and we clearly summarize the technical differences between the two. BTW, the latter would be straightforward if OMG SysML abided with the open source regarding summarizing modifications: "All modified versions of this specification must include a prominent notice stating how and when the specification was modified." I cannot find such a "prominent notice" with OMG SysML (OMG doc# ptc/06-05-3). If that is the case, we will need to construct such a summary. --Kobryn 20:06, 29 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm all for clarifying the differences, and giving temporal precedence to the open source SysML. --Allan McInnes (talk) 20:14, 29 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I have merged what little content was in the OMG SysML article into a new section in this article, titled "OMG SysML". --Allan McInnes (talk) 21:11, 29 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]