Embedding Requirements within the Model Driven Architecture

The Model Driven Architecture (MDA) brings benefits to software development, among them the potential for connecting software models with the business domain. This paper focuses on the upstream or Computation Independent Model (CIM) phase of the MDA. Our contention is that, whilst there are many models and notations available within the CIM Phase, those that are currently popular and supported by the Object Management Group (OMG), may not be the most useful notations for business analysts nor sufficient to fully support software requirements and specification. Therefore, with specific emphasis on the value of the Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) for business analysts, this paper provides an example of a typical CIM approach before describing an approach which incorporates specific requirements techniques. A framework extension to the MDA is then introduced; which embeds requirements and specification within the CIM, thus further enhancing the utility of MDA by providing a more complete method for business analysis

A Model Driven Approach to Model Transformations

The OMG's Model Driven Architecture (MDA) initiative has been the focus of much attention in both academia and industry, due to its promise of more rapid and consistent software development through the increased use of models. In order for MDA to reach its full potential, the ability to manipulate and transform models { most obviously from the Platform Independent Model (PIM) to the Platform Specific Models (PSM) { is vital. Recognizing this need, the OMG issued a Request For Proposals (RFP) largely concerned with finding a suitable mechanism for trans- forming models. This paper outlines the relevant background material, summarizes the approach taken by the QVT-Partners (to whom the authors belong), presents a non-trivial example using the QVT-Partners approach, and finally sketches out what the future holds for model transformations

Semantic Modelling of e-Solutions Using a View Formalism with Conceptual and Logical Extensions

In industrial informatics, there exists a requirement to model and design views at a higher level of abstraction. Since the classical view definitions are only available at the query or instance level, modelling and maintaining such views for complex enterprise information systems (EIS) is a challenging task. Further, the introduction of semi-structured data (namely XML) and its rapid adaptation by the commercial and industrial systems increased the complexity for view design and specification. To address such and issue, in this paper we present; (a) a layered view model for XML, (b) a design methodology for such views and (c) some real-world industrial applications of the view model. The XML view formalism is defined at the conceptual level and the design methodology is based on the XML semantic (XSemantic) nets, a high-level object-oriented (OO) modelling language for XML domains

Semiparametric Causality Tests Using the Policy Propensity Score

Time series data are widely used to explore causal relationships, typically in a regression framework with lagged dependent variables. Regression-based causality tests rely on an array of functional form and distributional assumptions for valid causal inference. This paper develops a semi-parametric test for causality in models linking a binary treatment or policy variable with unobserved potential outcomes. The procedure is semiparametric in the sense that we model the process determining treatment -- the policy propensity score -- but leave the model for outcomes unspecified. This general approach is motivated by the notion that we typically have better prior information about the policy determination process than about the macro-economy. A conceptual innovation is that we adapt the cross-sectional potential outcomes framework to a time series setting. This leads to a generalized definition of Sims (1980) causality. We also develop a test for full conditional independence, in contrast with the usual focus on mean independence. Our approach is illustrated using data from the Romer and Romer (1989) study of the relationship between the Federal reserve's monetary policy and output.

Review of Requirement Engineering Approaches for Software Product Lines

The Software Product Lines (SPL) paradigm is one of the most recent topics of interest for the software engineering community. On the one hand, the Software Product Lines is based on a reuse strategy with the aim to reduce the global time-to-market of the software product, to improve the software product quality, and to reduce the cost. On the other hand, traditional Requirement Engineering approaches could not be appropriated to deal with the new challenges that arises the SPL adoption. In the last years, several approaches have been proposed to cover this limitation. This technical report presents an analysis of specific approaches used in the development of SPL to provide solutions to model variability and to deal with the requirements engineering activities. The obtained results show that most of the research in this context is focused on the Domain Engineering, covering mainly the Feature Modeling and the Scenario Modeling. Among the studied approaches, only one of them supported the delta identification; this fact implies that new mechanisms to incorporate new deltas in the Domain specification are needed. Regarding the SPL adoption strategy, most of the approaches support a proactive strategy. However, this strategy is the most expensive and risk-prone. Finally, most of the approaches were based on modeling requirements with feature models giving less support to other important activities in the requirements engineering process such as elicitation, validation, or verification of requirements. The results of this study provide a wide view of the current state of research in requirements engineering for SPL and also highlight possible research gaps that may be of interest for researchers and practitioners.Blanes Domínguez, D.; Insfrán Pelozo, CE. (2011). Review of Requirement Engineering Approaches for Software Product Lines. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/1023

A Health-care Application of Goal-driven Software Design

In this paper we focus on goal engineering by addressing issues such as goal elicitation, specification, structuring and operationalisation. Specification of business goals is regarded as a means to raise the level of abstraction (and automation) at which business logic is incorporated in model driven software design in the context of service oriented architectures. More specifically, the proposed goal modelling approach consists of an abstract syntax (metamodel) and a concrete syntax (graphical notation) for the specification of business goals. We also proposed a framework for the goal-driven design of service-oriented software applications. In particular, we illustrate our approach by means of a case study carried out in the healthcare sector and we explain the role business goals (operationalised in the form of business rules) can play in software design. This research also outlines a number of areas that have significant research potential

RED-PL, a Method for Deriving Product Requirements from a Product Line Requirements Model

International audienceSoftware product lines (SPL) modeling has proven to be an effective approach to reuse in software development. Several variability approaches were developed to plan requirements reuse, but only little of them actually address the issue of deriving product requirements. Indeed, while the modeling approaches sell on requirements reuse, the associated derivation techniques actually focus on deriving and reusing technical product data.This paper presents a method that intends to support requirements derivation.Its underlying principle is to take advantage of approaches made for reuse PL requirements and to complete them by a requirements development process by reuse for single products. The proposed approach matches users' product requirements with PL requirements models and derives a collection ofrequirements that is (i) consistent, and (ii) optimal with respect to users' priorities and company's constraints. The proposed methodological process was validated in an industrial setting by considering the requirement engineering phase of a product line of blood analyzers

Alternative representations for visual constrainst specification in the layered view model

Extensible Markup Language (XML), with its rich set of semantics and constraints, is becoming the dominant standard for storing, describing and interchanging data among various Enterprises Information Systems (EIS) and databases. With the increased reliance on such semi-structured data and schemas, there exists a requirement to model, design, and constrain semi-structured data and the associated semantics at a higher level of abstraction than at the instance or data level. But most semi-structured schema languages lack the ability to provide higher levels of abstraction, such as visual constraints, that are easily understood by humans. Conversely, though Object-Oriented (OO) conceptual models offers the power in describing and modelling real-world data semantics, constraints and their inter-relationships in a form that is precise and comprehensible to users, they provide insufficient modelling constructs for utilizing XML schema like data descriptions and constraints. Therefore, it is interesting to investigate conceptual and schema formalisms as a means of providing higher level semantics in the context of XML-related data engineering. In this paper, we present a visual constraint specification model for an XML layered view model. First we briefly outline the view model and then provide a detailed discussion on modelling issues related to view constraint specification using two OO modelling languages, namely OMG's UML/OCL and XML Semantics (XSemantic) nets. To demonstrate our concepts, we also provide an illustrative case study example based on a real-world application

A use case of service-based knowledge management for software development

Large, international cooperative efforts pose high expectations for knowledge management support. In this paper we present a use case of a knowledge management solution in an inter-national research project, which offers several novel features applicable in other cases as well. The primary goals are to make the implicit knowledge explicit, to organize knowledge objects according to multiple criteria of multiple user roles and to serve this knowledge to users in an interactive way adapting Web 2.0 principles. A Knowledge Management System called the BREIN Roadmap has been realised applying service-based knowledge management using PROMOTE® supporting developers and externals who want to make use of the know-how and software components of the project