Modeling Faceted Browsing with Category Theory for Reuse and Interoperability

Faceted browsing (also called faceted search or faceted navigation) is an exploratory search model where facets assist in the interactive navigation of search results. Facets are attributes that have been assigned to describe resources being explored; a faceted taxonomy is a collection of facets provided by the interface and is often organized as sets, hierarchies, or graphs. Faceted browsing has become ubiquitous with modern digital libraries and online search engines, yet the process is still difficult to abstractly model in a manner that supports the development of interoperable and reusable interfaces. We propose category theory as a theoretical foundation for faceted browsing and demonstrate how the interactive process can be mathematically abstracted in order to support the development of reusable and interoperable faceted systems. Existing efforts in facet modeling are based upon set theory, formal concept analysis, and light-weight ontologies, but in many regards they are implementations of faceted browsing rather than a specification of the basic, underlying structures and interactions. We will demonstrate that category theory allows us to specify faceted objects and study the relationships and interactions within a faceted browsing system. Resulting implementations can then be constructed through a category-theoretic lens using these models, allowing abstract comparison and communication that naturally support interoperability and reuse. In this context, reuse and interoperability are at two levels: between discrete systems and within a single system. Our model works at both levels by leveraging category theory as a common language for representation and computation. We will establish facets and faceted taxonomies as categories and will demonstrate how the computational elements of category theory, including products, merges, pushouts, and pullbacks, extend the usefulness of our model. More specifically, we demonstrate that categorical constructions such as the pullback and pushout operations can help organize and reorganize facets; these operations in particular can produce faceted views containing relationships not found in the original source taxonomy. We show how our category-theoretic model of facets relates to database schemas and discuss how this relationship assists in implementing the abstractions presented. We give examples of interactive interfaces from the biomedical domain to help illustrate how our abstractions relate to real-world requirements while enabling systematic reuse and interoperability. We introduce DELVE (Document ExpLoration and Visualization Engine), our framework for developing interactive visualizations as modular Web-applications in order to assist researchers with exploratory literature search. We show how facets relate to and control visualizations; we give three examples of text visualizations that either contain or interact with facets. We show how each of these visualizations can be represented with our model and demonstrate how our model directly informs implementation. With our general framework for communicating consistently about facets at a high level of abstraction, we enable the construction of interoperable interfaces and enable the intelligent reuse of both existing and future efforts

Survey of Template-Based Code Generation

L'automatisation de la génération des artefacts textuels à partir des modèles est une étape critique dans l'Ingénierie Dirigée par les Modèles (IDM). C'est une transformation de modèles utile pour générer le code source, sérialiser les modèles dans de stockages persistents, générer les rapports ou encore la documentation. Parmi les différents paradigmes de transformation de modèle-au-texte, la génération de code basée sur les templates (TBCG) est la plus utilisée en IDM. La TBCG est une technique de génération qui produit du code à partir des spécifications de haut niveau appelées templates. Compte tenu de la diversité des outils et des approches, il est nécessaire de classifier et de comparer les techniques de TBCG existantes afin d'apporter un soutien approprié aux développeurs. L'objectif de ce mémoire est de mieux comprendre les caractéristiques des techniques de TBCG, identifier les tendances dans la recherche, et éxaminer l'importance du rôle de l'IDM par rapport à cette approche. J'évalue également l'expressivité, la performance et la mise à l'échelle des outils associés selon une série de modèles. Je propose une étude systématique de cartographie de la littérature qui décrit une intéressante vue d'ensemble de la TBCG et une étude comparitive des outils de la TBCG pour mieux guider les dévloppeurs dans leur choix. Cette étude montre que les outils basés sur les modèles offrent plus d'expressivité tandis que les outils basés sur le code sont les plus performants. Enfin, Xtend2 offre le meilleur compromis entre l'expressivité et la performance.A critical step in model-driven engineering (MDE) is the automatic synthesis of a textual artifact from models. This is a very useful model transformation to generate application code, to serialize the model in persistent storage, generate documentation or reports. Among the various model-to-text transformation paradigms, Template-Based Code Generation (TBCG) is the most popular in MDE. TBCG is a synthesis technique that produces code from high-level specifications, called templates. It is a popular technique in MDE given that they both emphasize abstraction and automation. Given the diversity of tools and approaches, it is necessary to classify and compare existing TBCG techniques to provide appropriate support to developers. The goal of this thesis is to better understand the characteristics of TBCG techniques, identify research trends, and assess the importance of the role of MDE in this code synthesis approach. We also evaluate the expressiveness, performance and scalability of the associated tools based on a range of models that implement critical patterns. To this end, we conduct a systematic mapping study of the literature that paints an interesting overview of TBCG and a comparative study on TBCG tools to better guide developers in their choices. This study shows that model-based tools offer more expressiveness whereas code-based tools performed much faster. Xtend2 offers the best compromise between the expressiveness and the performance

A knowledge based approach to integration of products, processes and reconfigurable automation resources

The success of next generation automotive companies will depend upon their ability to adapt to ever changing market trends thus becoming highly responsive. In the automotive sector, the assembly line design and reconfiguration is an especially critical and extremely complex job. The current research addresses some of the aspects of this activity under the umbrella of a larger ongoing research project called Business Driven Automation (BDA) project. The BDA project aims to carry out complete virtual 3D modeling-based verifications of the assembly line for new or revised products in contrast to the prevalent practice of manual evaluation of effects of product change on physical resources. [Continues.

Identifying key factors and actions: initial steps in the open science policy design and implementation process.

The coronavirus pandemic has illustrated the lack of a holistic approach in implementing Open Science (OS), leading to an inability to fully utilise its potential to inform prompt, evidence-based policy responses. In this view, this study aims to identify and categorise the factors influencing the adoption of OS and proposes possible actions for decision-makers to develop relevant policies. To achieve this, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 36 experts from Australia, France, the Netherlands, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States as well as eminent international entities. During the interviews, they were asked to answer a range of questions that emerged from a systematic literature review. The responses were coded and analysed using a grounded theory approach. This led to the identification of four thematic clusters, containing a total of 24 factors that can either enable or inhibit OS practices, namely, (a) external; (b) institutional and regulatory; (c) resource-related; and (d) individual and motivational. Drawing upon Ostrom’s Institutional Analysis and Development framework, we also propose a conceptual model that integrates these factors, accompanied with corresponding actions, into a tangible process of OS policy design and implementation

Exploring digital preservation requirements: a case study from the National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC)

Purpose This case study is based on an MSc dissertation research undertaken at Northumbria University. The aim was to explore digital preservation requirements within the wider NGDC organisational framework in preparation for developing a preservation policy and integrating associated preservation workflows throughout the existing research data management processes. Design/methodology/approach This mixed methods case study used quantitative and qualitative data to explore the preservation requirements and triangulation to strengthen the design validity. Corporate and the wider scientific priorities were identified through literature and a stakeholder survey. Organisational preparedness was investigated through staff interviews. Findings Stakeholders expect data to be reliable, reusable, and available in preferred formats. To ensure digital continuity, the creation of high quality metadata is critical, and data depositors need data management training to achieve this. Recommendations include completing a risk assessment, creating a digital asset register, and a technology watch to mitigate against risks. Research limitations/implications The main constraint in this study is the lack of generalisability of results. As the NGDC is a unique organisation, it may not be possible to generalise the organisational findings although those relating to research data management may be transferrable. Originality/value This research examines the specific nature of geoscience data retention requirements and looks at existing NGDC procedures in terms of enhancing digital continuity, providing new knowledge on the preservation requirements for a number of national datasets

ネットワーク情報環境におけるメタデータの長期利用性向上のためのメタデータスキーマの来歴記述に関する研究

筑波大学 (University of Tsukuba)201

An Adaptive Integration Architecture for Software Reuse

The problem of building large, reliable software systems in a controlled, cost-effective way, the so-called software crisis problem, is one of computer science\u27s great challenges. From the very outset of computing as science, software reuse has been touted as a means to overcome the software crisis issue. Over three decades later, the software community is still grappling with the problem of building large reliable software systems in a controlled, cost effective way; the software crisis problem is alive and well. Today, many computer scientists still regard software reuse as a very powerful vehicle to improve the practice of software engineering. The advantage of amortizing software development cost through reuse continues to be a major objective in the art of building software, even though the tools, methods, languages, and overall understanding of software engineering have changed significantly over the years. Our work is primarily focused on the development of an Adaptive Application Integration Architecture Framework. Without good integration tools and techniques, reuse is difficult and will probably not happen to any significant degree. In the development of the adaptive integration architecture framework, the primary enabling concept is object-oriented design supported by the unified modeling language. The concepts of software architecture, design patterns, and abstract data views are used in a structured and disciplined manner to established a generic framework. This framework is applied to solve the Enterprise Application Integration (EM) problem in the telecommunications operations support system (OSS) enterprise marketplace. The proposed adaptive application integration architecture framework facilitates application reusability and flexible business process re-engineering. The architecture addresses the need for modern businesses to continuously redefine themselves to address changing market conditions in an increasingly competitive environment. We have developed a number of Enterprise Application Integration design patterns to enable the implementation of an EAI framework in a definite and repeatable manner. The design patterns allow for integration of commercial off-the-shelf applications into a unified enterprise framework facilitating true application portfolio interoperability. The notion of treating application services as infrastructure services and using business processes to combine them arbitrarily provides a natural way of thinking about adaptable and reusable software systems. We present a mathematical formalism for the specification of design patterns. This specification constitutes an extension of the basic concepts from many-sorted algebra. In particular, the notion of signature is extended to that of a vector, consisting of a set of linearly independent signatures. The approach can be used to reason about various properties including efforts for component reuse and to facilitate complex largescale software development by providing the developer with design alternatives and support for automatic program verification