metadata construct not parsed — VerificationMethodKind annotations fail with 'expected a body member'

[mzargham]

Summary

The metadata construct in SysML v2 (used for VerificationMethodKind annotations on verification cases) fails to parse in OpenSysML v0.9.0.

Reproduction

import opensysml
conn = opensysml.connect(version='v0.9.0')
src = '''
package MetaTest {
    private import VerificationCases::*;
    part def Widget { attribute size : Real default = 1.0; }
    requirement def SizeReq {
        subject widget : Widget;
        require constraint { widget.size <= 5.0 }
    }
    requirement sizeReq : SizeReq;
    verification def SizeCheck {
        subject widget : Widget;
        #verificationMethod = VerificationMethodKind::test;
        objective {
            verify sizeReq;
        }
    }
}
'''
m = conn.load_from_content(src, strict=False)
print(m.ok)        # False
print(m.diagnostics[0].message)  # 'expected a body member'

Expected

ok=True — the metadata shorthand #feature = value should parse per SysML v2 formal/2026-03-02 §7.24 Table 22.

Spec citation

SysML v2 formal/2026-03-02 §7.24.1 (p.141), Table 22 (p.143): Verification Methods Compartment textual notation:
metadata VerificationMethod { kind = (VerificationMethodKind::inspect, ...); }

The #verificationMethod shorthand is the textual notation for this metadata block.

Context

Reported from Open-MBEE/toaster#19 while building an executable SysML v2 tutorial.

[HuiJun]

Turns out this one isn't a bug. #verificationMethod = VerificationMethodKind::test; is not valid SysML. In the grammar, #X only names a metadata def as a prefix on a declaration (e.g. #VerificationMethod part def W;) and can't take a value. It's only a type reference.

Try metadata VerificationMethod { kind = VerificationMethodKind::test; } or @VerificationMethod { kind = VerificationMethodKind::test; }

[devin-ai-integration]

Outcome of the follow-up on the valid forms (metadata VerificationMethod { kind = VerificationMethodKind::test; } and @VerificationMethod { kind = …; }):

• Not visible without an import, by design. VerificationMethod and VerificationMethodKind are members of the library package VerificationCases. Only a root namespace's public top-level members are globally visible, and no library package is implicitly imported ([SysML, 7.2] over [KerML, 8.2.3.2, 8.2.3.5]). The pinned pilot validator (2026-08 / 0.62.0) behaves the same way: it rejects both names unimported (Couldn't resolve reference to …) and accepts the model with private import VerificationCases::*; or with fully qualified names. So no implicit-import or parser change was made.
• Diagnostic improved (fix(resolve,export): name the import for unresolved library names; export metadata body members as MetadataBodyUsage #688): the message now names the import, e.g. unresolved reference: VerificationMethod — did you mean VerificationCases::VerificationMethod? To use the bare name, import its package: private import VerificationCases::*;. The qualified VerificationMethodKind::test now reports "VerificationMethodKind" is not visible here; did you mean VerificationCases::VerificationMethodKind::test? … with rewrite and import fixes. Before this, it reported a misleading "no namespace is loaded" hint that pointed at ControlFunctions::…::test.
• kind resolves and type-checks against VerificationMethodKind once imported. VerificationMethodKind::bogus is unresolved, and VerdictKind::pass or 3 are type errors (the pilot only warns on those two).
• Export fix (fix(resolve,export): name the import for unresolved library names; export metadata body members as MetadataBodyUsage #688): the body's kind = … now exports as a MetadataBodyUsage per SysML.xtext. That means no declared name and an owned Redefinition of VerificationCases::VerificationMethod::kind (the pilot library's elementId). It round-trips through Turtle and API JSON.

Working model:

package P {
    private import VerificationCases::*;
    verification def T {
        metadata VerificationMethod { kind = VerificationMethodKind::test; }
    }
}