Extending a User Interface Prototyping Tool with Automatic MISRA C Code Generation

Abstract

We are concerned with systems, particularly safety-critical systems, that involve interaction between users and devices, such as the user interface of medical devices. We therefore developed a MISRA C code generator for formal models expressed in the PVSio-web prototyping toolkit. PVSio-web allows developers to rapidly generate realistic interactive prototypes for verifying usability and safety requirements in human-machine interfaces. The visual appearance of the prototypes is based on a picture of a physical device, and the behaviour of the prototype is defined by an executable formal model. Our approach transforms the PVSio-web prototyping tool into a model-based engineering toolkit that, starting from a formally verified user interface design model, will produce MISRA C code that can be compiled and linked into a final product. An initial validation of our tool is presented for the data entry system of an actual medical device.