15728559
Preface to FP-UML 2007
The unified modeling language (UML) has been widely accepted as the standard object-oriented (OO) modeling language for modeling various aspects of software and information systems. The UML is an extensible language, in the sense that it provides mechanisms to introduce new elements for specific domains if necessary, such as database applications, business modeling, software development processes, data warehouses and so on. Furthermore, the latest version of UML 2.0 got even bigger and became more complicated with a larger number of diagrams, with some good reasons. Therefore, heuristics, design guidelines, and lessons learned from experiences are extremely important for the effective use of UML 2.0 and so to avoid unnecessary complication. Moreover, UML plays a central role in model transformations in the software development life-cycle, and therefore novel proposals on UML model transformations are also needed.
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Experimental Research on Conceptual Modeling: What Should We Be Doing and Why?
This panel considers a number of contentious issues in the conduct of experimental research on conceptual modeling. The panelists will present a range of perspectives on the issues to encourage audience input and discussion.
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Property-Based Semantic Reconciliation of Heterogeneous Information Sources
Integrating information from diverse sources is of great importance in the database area. The main difficulty in information integration is reconciling data semantics. Common approaches to semantic reconciliation are based on first identifying similar entity types in various sources, and then reconciling entity type properties (attributes and relationships). Such approaches assume all instances to be reconciled belong to well-defined types. We suggest an alternative approach based on two fundamental principles. First, reconciliation does not require that instances be assigned to specific types. Instead, sources can be reconciled by analyzing similarities of properties. Second, properties that appear different may be manifestations of a higher-level property that has the same meaning across sources. We present the fundamental ideas underlying our approach, analyze its potential advantages, suggest how the approach can be formalized, demonstrate with examples the feasibility of using it for semantic reconciliation, and suggest directions for further research.
36768622
An Ontological Metamodel of Classifiers and Its Application to Conceptual Modelling and Database Design
Classification is a key concept in conceptual modeling. However, the recognition that there might be different kinds of classes has received limited attention in conceptual modeling research. Most work has focused on the concept of role. However, confusion exists on the definition, properties, and representation of role. In this paper, we propose a metamodel of classifiers based on ontological foundations. We focus on the notion of role in the object-oriented and conceptual modeling literature. The metamodel conforms to the fundamental role features identified in the literature and handles several problems associated with role modeling. Furthermore, we contrast conceptual models created using our metamodel to those created using traditional ER or class modeling approaches, and highlight the database design implications of the differences. Using examples, we demonstrate that relational database schemata generated using our approach are more stable with respect to changing requirements.
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What do the pictures mean? Guidelines for experimental evaluation of representation fidelity in diagrammatical conceptual modeling techniques
It is important to articulate the objectives and underlying assumptions behind a growing body of experimental research in conceptual modeling. We provide four guidelines for developing materials for experiments that evaluate conceptual modeling techniques, under the assumption that a primary purpose of conceptual modeling is to facilitate communication between analysts and users in validating domain knowledge during systems development. These guidelines assist in developing experimental materials that support meaningful tests of domain semantics. We present empirical evidence indicating the value of two of the guidelines. We also evaluate selected recent experiments on conceptual modeling with respect to the guidelines.
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Dimensions of UML Diagram Use: A Survey of Practitioners
The UML is an industry standard for object-oriented software engineering. However, there is little empirical evidence on how UML is used. This article reports results of a survey of UML practitioners. We found differences in several dimensions of UML diagram usage on software development projects including; frequency, the purposes for which they were used, and the roles of clients/users in their creation and approval. System developers are often ignoring the â€œuse case-drivenâ€ prescription that permeates much of the UML literature, making limited or no use of either use case diagrams or textual use case descriptions. Implications and areas requiring further investigation are discussed.
7550336
Model driven middleware: A new paradigm for developing distributed real-time and embedded systems
Distributed real-time and embedded (DRE) systems have become critical in domains such as avionics (e.g., flight mission computers), telecommunications (e.g., wireless phone services), tele-medicine (e.g., robotic surgery), and defense applications (e.g., total ship computing environments). These types of system are increasingly interconnected via wireless and wireline networks to form systems of systems. A challenging requirement for these DRE systems involves supporting a diverse set of quality of service (QoS) properties, such as predictable latency/jitter, throughput guarantees, scalability, 24x7 availability, dependability, and security that must be satisfied simultaneously in real-time. Although increasing portions of DRE systems are based on QoS-enabled commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and software components, the complexity of managing long lifecycles (often ~15-30 years) remains a key challenge for DRE developers and system integrators. For example, substantial time and effort is spent retrofitting DRE applications when the underlying COTS technology infrastructure changes. This paper provides two contributions that help improve the development, validation, and integration of DRE systems throughout their lifecycles. First, we illustrate the challenges in creating and deploying QoS-enabled component middleware-based DRE applications and describe our approach to resolving these challenges based on a new software paradigm called Model Driven Middleware (MDM), which combines model-based software development techniques with QoS-enabled component middleware to address key challenges faced by developers of DRE systems - particularly composition, integration, and assured QoS for end-to-end operations. Second, we describe the structure and functionality of CoSMIC (Component Synthesis using Model Integrated Computing), which is an MDM toolsuite that addresses key DRE application and middleware lifecycle challenges, including partitioning the components to use distributed resources effectively, validating software configurations, assuring multiple simultaneous QoS properties in real-time, and safeguarding against rapidly changing technology.