Confessions of a Meta-Modeller

Meta-modelling tools are a very useful technology in software engineering tool development, increasing a tool developer s productivity and permitting more focus on the new tool s metaphorical abstractions and notations rather than the technical features of implementation. Constructing meta-modelling tools is, however, a challenging occupation with many interacting technical needs. In the process of managing these needs, the question of diagram layout support has typically been seen as being of low priority. This results in an inability for meta-tool users to specify their notational metaphors efficiently or appropriately, and for the generated tools to be unable to effectively manage diagrams of significant scale and complexity. In this presentation I will examine the deficiencies of current meta-tool layout approaches and the problems these cause for notational designers, tool implementers and end users. I will then discuss some directions we have been taking to enhance diagram layout capability in our own meta-tool work before examining broader issues regarding software tool layout support. This will raise a set of challenges for the community to permit the provision of more understandable and scalable interactive software engineering diagrams while retaining the productivity benefits of a meta-tool approach for their specification

The Integration of GIS-Based Information Mapping into an Ethnohistorical Seminar

A GIS-based project constructing a digital, interactive map of the Native American experience served as a useful tool for creating student ownership of the learning process in an undergraduate seminar on the indigenous cultures of the Americas. Student researchers collected primary documents, linguistic data, maps and other images, bibliographic resources, links to relevant web resources, and brief encyclopedia-style essays. The information was then integrated into a GIS dataset for use with ArcMap software, with the ultimate goal of compiling a digital resource that would be refined and expanded by future waves of students in this course

Designing, developing and implementing a software tool for scenario based learning

The pedagogical value of problem-based and inquiry-based learning activities has led to increased use of this approach in many courses. While scenarios or case studies were initially presented to learners as text-based material, the development of modern software technology provides the opportunity to deliver scenarios as e-learning modules, providing learners with a more accessible and engaging learning experience. Scenario Based Learning - interactive (SBLi) has been specifically developed to provide teachers and trainers with a generic tool that enables them to easily build interactive, multimedia scenarios without requiring programming skills. The software consists of a builder and player application, for constructing and playing scenarios from hard drives or from a CD/DVD, and a server-based player and manager, for deploying scenarios on the web, either for public use or for restricted and managed use in specific courses. This paper describes the history of SBLi, its design and operational features, how SBLi is being used to achieve innovative and effective learning experiences, and the practical issues that need to be addressed in supporting and sustaining e-learning software such as SBLi

Qucs Equation-Defined Device modelling with a Verilog-A Prototyping Platform

Since it was first added to Qucs in 2007 Equation-Defined Device (EDD) modelling has become an established model building technique. Originally implemented as a convenient interactive method for constructing experimental compact models, today it is widely used for developing non-linear models of established and emerging technology devices.This presentation introduces a new Qucs EDD to Verilog-A compact model synthesis tool. The background, operation and application of this new Qucs feature are introduced in the presentation, together with a number example modelling cases. The synthesis tool has been released under the General Public Licence as open-source software in support of compact modelling research. It forms part of the Qucs Development Team commitment to the MOS-AK Verilog-A standardisation initiative

SCoRe: a Self-Organizing Multi-Agent System for Decision Making in Dynamic Software Developement Processes

International audienceSoftware systems are becoming more and more complex. A common dilemma faced by software engineers in building complex systems is the lack of method adaptability. However, existing agent-based methodologies and tools are developed for particular system and are not tailored for new problems. This paper proposes an architecture of a new tool based on SME for self-constructing customized method processes. Our approach is based on two pillars: the process fragment and the MAS meta-model. These two elements are both defined and considered under a specific agent-oriented perspective thus creating a peculiar approach. Our work is based on the self-organization of agents, making it especially suited to deal with highly dynamic systems such as the design of an interactive and adaptive software engineering process

Towards a synthesis of multimedia and intelligent tutoring systems : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Computer Science at Massey University

Multimedia is being used in almost every field. This study is about the use of multimedia in the area of intelligent tutoring systems. This project studies the advantages and disadvantages of interactive multimedia and intelligent tutoring systems, and analyses the ways of combining these technologies in search of an interesting, learnable, flexible, compelling and technology-enhanced educational tool. Educational packages need to be evaluated for effectiveness. When it comes to computer-based instruction, technical concerns such as multimedia effects are taken seriously and there is not enough emphasis on its educational value. There is not much concern about the appropriateness of the instruction method to the computer medium. This research proposes a framework for evaluating educational packages which include a number of issues. Several pieces of educational software were evaluated using this framework and Diagnosis for crop protection, a multimedia software package that aids in teaching the process of diagnosing crop problems, was selected for modification, as a practical application of the theoretical work. We studied different multimedia system development models and methodologies. We also analysed the cognitive issues and intelligent features that enhance the learnability. Finally, the appropriate intelligent features and other factors that could enhance Diagnosis for crop protection to be a more 'active knowledge constructing' environment have been identified. The current version of Diagnosis for crop protection was represented using an appropriate methodology and the proposed changes were described in detail

RepoGraph : a novel semantic code exploration tool for Python repositories based on knowledge graphs and deep learning

This work presents RepoGraph, an integrated semantic code exploration web tool that combines information extraction, knowledge graphs, and deep learning models. It offers new capabilities for software developers (from academia and industry) to represent and query Python repositories. Unlike existing tools, RepoGraph not only provides a novel search interface powered by deep learning techniques but also exposes the underlying features and representations of repositories to users. Additionally, it offers several interactive visualizations. We also introduce RepoPyOnto, a new ontology that captures the features of Python code repositories and is used by RepoGraph for representing the captured knowledge. Finally, we successfully evaluate RepoGraph against several criteria, including function summarization performance, the correctness and relevance of search results, as well as the processing time for constructing graphs of various sizes.Postprin

Emerging from the MIST: A Connector Tool for Supporting Programming by Non-programmers

Software development is an iterative process. As user re-quirements emerge software applications must be extended to support the new requirements. Typically, a programmer will add new code to an existing code base of an application to provide a new functionality. Previous research has shown that such extensions are easier when application logic is clearly separated from the user interface logic. Assuming that a programmer is already familiar with the existing code base, the task of writing the new code can be considered to be split into two sub-tasks: writing code for the application logic; that is, the actual functionality of the application; and writing code for the user interface that will expose the functionality to the end user. The goal of this research is to reduce the effort required to create a user interface once the application logic has been created, toward supporting scientists with minimal pro-gramming knowledge to be able to create and modify pro-grams. Using a Model View Controller based architecture, various model components which contain the application logic can be built and extended. The process of creating and extending the views (user interfaces) on these model components is simplified through the use of our Malleable Interactive Software Toolkit (MIST), a tool set an infrastructure intended to simplify the design and extension of dynamically reconfigurable interfaces. This paper focuses on one tool in the MIST suite, a connec-tor tool that enables the programmer to evolve the user interface as the application logic evolves by connecting related pieces of code together; either through simple drag-and-drop interactions or through the authoring of Python code. The connector tool exemplifies the types of tools in the MIST suite, which we expect will encourage collabora-tive development of applications by allowing users to inte-grate various components and minimizing the cost of de-veloping new user interfaces for the combined compo-nents