Combining Diagrams to Enhance Understanding: Forging a Common Language for Different World Views

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) has become the de facto standard in object oriented systems design. It has, however, been subject to considerable criticism by analysts due to its complexity and inability to communicate complex systems models. This paper introduces ‘Modular UML,’ a modified presentation and communication format of the UML to more effectively understand multiple UML diagrams as a conceptual model of a complex system. The challenges modular UML are designed to address, the process of developing a modular UML set of exhibits, and an example are discussed

Process and Object Models in Software Engineering: A Study of Their Choice and Subsequent Use

This paper provides a research model to analyze how decisions relating to the choice of modeling approach are made in the context of software engineering and how behavioral variables account for the intention and actual use associated with conceptual modeling frameworks. Modeling approach refers to the part of system development that involves investigating the problems and requirements of the users community and from that, developing a specification of the desired system. To that extent the choice of the conceptual modeling approach is a function of the methodology adopted for the entire software development lifecycle. We consider two broad classes of methodologies – the process-oriented approach (also known as the structured approach) and the object-oriented approach. We formalize the question whether there is a difference between object-oriented and structured approaches when it comes to requirements modeling. Secondly, we study decisions processes regarding the adoption of either an object-oriented, structured or combination approaches

A Business User Model-Driven Engineering Method for Developing Information Systems

This thesis is all about raising the level of abstraction at which information systems are built, using business end-users knowledge and MDE to achieve the result. The work intro- duces, first, Micro-Modelling Language (μML), a lightweight modelling language that is used to express basic structural and behavioural aspects of information systems using effectivily business-users knowledge of their desired system. Throughout the work, graphical notation and semantics for the language concepts are identified, providing a simpler and semantically cleaned modelling language than standard UML and other UML-based languages. The work also proposes BUILD (Business-User Information-Led Development), an End- User MDE approach to support the construction of information systems using high-level specifications and accelerate the development process using layered model transformation and code generation. Throughout the thesis, a number of development phases and model transformation steps are identified to allow the low-level technical detail be introduced and developed automatically by rules, with less end-users engagement. Domain-Specific code generators, for generating executable Java Swing Applications code and MySQL script, are used to demonstrate the validity of the research

THE FERRY SERVICE OFFER AN ANALYSIS OF FERRY SERVICES OPERATING FROM AND WITHIN THE UNITED KINGDOM

The objective of this study is to investigate the market offer of passenger-car ferry services within and from the United Kingdom. The study is approached from the pomt of view of the provider of the ferry service offer. Initially, it seeks to analyse the existing ferry services offered within and from the United Kingdom by the various operators, and subsequently undertakes an empirical investigation based on the appropriate marketing and management theory. The role of the consumer is, of course, crucial to an understanding of the marketing of ferry services. However, this particular study focuses on the supply of the ferry offer, and may be seen as complementary to earUer studies of ferry consumers and benefits sought. A comparison of on-board facilities and services on 70 ferries operating in the UK in 1994 resulted in the development of a basehne model explaining differences between services according to a wide range of criteria. This led to the development of a conceptual model of the ferry service offer using concepts from services marketing and corporate culture theory. Using cluster analysis it was concluded that the ferry service offer can be described in terms of core, augmented, and inter-product levels. In addition to these three ferry service offer levels the preferred service provider of each particular ferry service element has been identified. Using multiple discriminant analysis it was concluded that the augmented ferry service offer can be explained by differences among Miles & Snow corporate culture types (prospectors, analysers, and defenders). Combining these results, this study provides an explanation of the ferry service offer in terms of product level, preferred provider, and dominant corporate culture, which should prove of both practical and theoretical value