Strategies for consistency checking based on unification

There is increasing interest in models of system development which use Mult iple Viewpoints. Each viewpoint offers a different perspective on the targe t system and system development involves parallel refinement of the multipl e views. Multiple viewpoints though, prompt the issue of consistency betwee n viewpoints. This paper describes an interpretation of consistency which i s general enough to meet the requirements of consistency for very general v iewpoints models. Furthermore, the paper investigates strategies for checki ng this consistency definition. Particular emphasis is placed on mechanisms to obtain global consistency (between an arbitrary number of viewpoints) f rom a series of binary consistency checks. The consistency checking strateg ies we develop are illustrated using the formal description technique LOTOS . (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.