Action-Based Visualization

Abstract

Many commonly used systems, for example event-based systems, can be considered action systems. Traditionally, action systems have only been visualized behaviorally using state diagrams, which requires translating the system into a state machine and discarding structural information. We introduce an action-based diagram and associated formalism that depict both the behavior and the structure of the system as actions, objects, and participations. The diagrams are useful for visualizing action systems in a native format and can provide an action-oriented viewpoint for other systems as well.